AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

CEREALS

In view of the extensive propaganda undertaken by government and its readiness to extend a helping hand, co-operative farming movement is gradually gaining ground in the district. The societies already formed have helped the members not only to produce more but also to earn more.

In Wardha district, a variety of food and non-food crops are grown. Among food-crops, jowar, wheat, rice, bajri, gram and tur occupy the pride of place. Of the non-food crops, cotton and groundnut are the most important, the former occupying the largest acreage under any single crop in the whole of the district. In what follows is given a brief description of the various stages of cultivation of these crops till harvesting including the types of implements used in each case. Tahsil-wise area under each of these crops as also their outturn from 1957-58 to 1965-66 is given in tables appended to each section. The pests and diseases to which these crops are susceptible along with the remedies found efficacious are dealt with in a separate section.

Jowar.

Next to cotton, jowar is the most important crop grown in the district. It is the staple food of the people inhabiting Wardha district. The kadbi or the stalks are used as cattle feed. It is mostly taken as kharif crop, though rabi crop is not altogether unknown. Area under jowar in 1965-66 was 3,38,595 acres. Sometimes jowar is taken as a mixed crop along with mug, the proportion generally being seven parts of jowar to one of mug. The reason for sowing mug along with jowar may be sought in the fact that besides mug in itself being an important food crop is shedding leaves serve as a good manure for the jowar crop. The old Wardha Gazetteer mentions the following important local varieties of jowar grown in the district then:

" The principal local varieties of juar are ganeri, generally grown on good soils, dukeria of white juar sown on poor soils, and red juar or lalpakri. a variety which is not extensively grown but which has the merit of not finding favour with birds. Another variety occasionally found is moti-tura or moti-chura. This has spreading heads upon which birds cannot obtain a footing. Its grain is used solely in the manufacture of sweetmeats. There are a number of distinct varieties and the determination of the best ones for grain and fodder is important." [ Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Wardha District, Vol. A., 1906, p. 120.]

Though the above noted varieties still continue to be grown, the farmers are increasingly taking to the cultivation of high yielding hybrid and improved varieties of jowar. In this respect it can be safely assumed that government propaganda and efforts to educate the agriculturist about the benefit of using improved varieties are meeting with success. The agriculturist is gradually shedding his apathetic approach towards the hybrid varieties.

Today, the improved variety of sooner jowar and CHS-1 and CHS-2 hybrid varieties are predominantly grown. For the cultivation of local varieties of jowar including the improved saoner variety the field is prepared with the bakhar or the paring-plough in the same manner as for cotton. A level piece of land with good drainage is selected and is brought to fine tilth by repeated ploughings and harrowings. Before the last ploughing a good deal of farmyard manure or compost is applied to the land. The land is bakhared twice or thrice during the hot weather, the cotton stalks of the preceding year being removed. Two bakharings are given in June and by the end of that month the seed-bed is ready. Sowing begins in the second or third week of July and is completed by the end of that month. The sowing operation is carried out with the tifan or three-coultered sowing plough, each prong having a hollow bamboo tube behind it. Sometimes it is also sown like cotton with the bakhar. The seed is drilled not more than four centimetres deep. On an average about twelve and a half kilogrammes of seed are required per hectare. After sowing a brush-harrow consisting of a bundle of branches of the babhul or tamarind tree weighed down with stones used to be dragged over the field in order to press the seed into the earth. But this method is going out of vogue now. This process of levelling is called bhasoli. Sometimes the bakhar is taken over the field after sowing and this improves germination. In poor soils the seed is sown with the bakhar or even with the nagar or the regular plough, and a larger quantity of seed is used to allow for defective germination. When purely local varieties are grown principally for fodder the seed is put in plentifully so as to increase the number of stalks, but in good soils it is sown sparsely for the yield of grain and the plants are further thinned to increase their vigour and the size of the crops produced. The crop is weeded with the daura or small paring-plough and again with dhundia, a slightly larger implement of the same nature, about a fortnight afterwards and the operation is repeated every fortnight if the rains permit until the crop comes to a good height. If the crop is sown on loose soil there is considerable risk of lodging by rain or wind and hence a firm seed-bed is a must for jowar. As a rule on a wellprepared ground jowar requires only one hand-weeding. A thriving crop soon shades the ground and weeds are more or less suppressed. But the seedlings when they first spring up are so small and delicate that the weeds, if unchecked, soon make greater progress than the crop with disastrous results.

Of the two hybrid varieties viz., CHS-1 and CHS-2 the former is mostly suited to the irrigated summer tracts. As the crop matures within 90 to 100 days it is hardly affected if no rains fall after the Magha and Purva Nakshatras. Early harvesting allows a second crop to be taken. CHS-1 is a dwarf variety with long ears and creamy white bold grains. CHS-2, the second of the two hybrid varieties, has a duration of 115 to 120 days. It is a little taller than CHS-1 variety. In the areas where late rains are likely to inflict damage on the already matured ears of CHS-1 variety because of its comparatively shorter duration, CHS-2 yields better results. Both these hybrids are better suited to grain production rather than fodder production because of their high grain-to-straw ratio. But even for fodder these are advantageous as their leaves remain green even when the crop matures and hence preferred by cattle to the dried up leaves of local varieties.

The rain fed crops if treated with nitrogen manure at the rate of 37.5 kg. per hectare and 35 kg. of potash, if recommended, yield excellent results. On application of nitrogen at the rate of 57 to 68 kg. per hectare and phosphoric acid at the rate of 62.5 kg., the yield considerably increases.

The process of rakhwali or watching the crop is very laborious in case of jowar. In the early stages it has to be watched by night to keep off the pigs if pig menace exists and by day, when it comes into ear, to scare away the birds.

While the harvesting of the early varieties begins by the end of November and onwards, that of late or local varieties begins by the end of December. The harvesting is done by means of vila or sickle. The stalks are looped off a foot from the ground and tied up in bundles. Sometimes only the pods are cut off and the stalks left standing so that they remain fresh and can be cut as and when required.

Jowar is a hardy plant and its growth immensely varies with the quality of the soil. It grows well in medium to heavy type of soil. The crop in the land owner's field near the village may be so high as to conceal a man on horseback, while a patch on an outlying stony ridge or lighter type of soil will hardly afford cover to a jackal. Jowar is a favourite food and the pods when raw are excellent for eating. Farm servants and their children are allowed by custom to go to the field and pluck enough to eat while the crop is standing, while the harvesters always receive some heads for their midday meal. The labour involved in the cultivation is very great. In olden days the crop was frequently given out on contract to labourers on the condition that they do all the work of cultivation and take half the produce less the seed-grain. Today, however, this practice is rarely met with. On the other hand, the crop is popular because the initial expenditure is much less than it is for wheat cultivation, and the out-turn is nearly as large as that of wheat and it does well in a dry year.

The stalks and the chaff known as kadbi and kutar respectively form a very valuable by-product, supplying fodder on which cattle depend for the greater part of the year. The value of the stalk may be about 30 percent, or even a little more than that of the crop and the two put together are worth not less than the standard wheat crop on the same area.

Wheat.

Wheat, gahu, is the third important crop in the district next only to cotton and jowar. In 1965-66 it occupied an area of 91,384 acres. It is essentially a rabi or spring crop and grows well in heavy type of soils with good moisture-retaining capacity. It is most extensively grown in the fertile land lying along the banks of the Wardha river in Hinganghat tahsil. A part of Wardha tahsil is also congenial for wheat cultivation but the acreage under this crop in Arvi tahsil is negligible.

The principal varieties which were generally grown and which even today continue to be largely grown are haura, hatha and bansi, the last to a very small extent. Haura and hatha which are hard white and hard red respectively are both bearded varieties. Bansi is another white wheat somewhat softer than haura and is described as a golden-coloured variety sometimes mistaken for pissi. Though not on a large scale this latter variety is also grown in the district, and is considered to be the least liable for rust. Of the improved rust resistant varieties Hy 65-4 and Hy-11 are grown, the former variety gaining more popularity because it can be taken dry as well as an irrigated crop without material loss in the yield. However, recent experiments have shown that if taken as an irrigated crop it gives a better yield.

Land is prepared with some care, being ploughed with bakhar immediately after the harvesting of the previous crop to clear it of the stumps. It is again ploughed in summer and about five to six bakharings are given during monsoon. Five to ten cart-loads of farmyard manure are added per acre in summer. Except in case of irrigated crops chemical fertilisers are not generally used. Before sowing, the soil is levelled by dragging a pathar or a plain log of wood over it. The nagar or regular plough is not used unless the field is much overgrown with grass. Sowing commences by the middle of October and is done by means of a tifan or three-pronged sowing plough, which is heavier and of a larger size than the one used for sowing gram and jowar. It is drawn by three pairs of bullocks. The most congenial rain for wheat is in the first week of October, and if a good fall is received then a full crop is obtained even without cold weather rain. Neither wheat nor other cold weather crops need weeding, and once the seed is sown little further labour is required except two or three interculturings in some cases. In case of irrigated crops the first irrigation is given 21 to 30 days after sowing. The number of irrigations vary from 4 to 6 depending upon the nature of the soil. When the crop comes into ear, watchmen are employed to scare away the birds. The crop becomes ready for harvesting by the end of February or the middle of March. The plants are cut close to the ground as in the case of paddy, tied into sheaves and brought to the threshing floor. The sheaves are allowed to dry for some time and then threshing is done either by beating with sticks or putting it under the feet of bullocks which is known as malni. Very few farmers can go in for winnowers and hence manual labour is employed for this operation.

As has been already stated wheat is very rarely manured as the cultivator gets better returns from the application of the same amount of manure as he would have done for wheat by applying it to cotton. Dry crop may be taken in the same field for several years in succession without material loss but it is commonly grown in rotation with jowar and cotton. Irrigated wheat cannot be thus grown and has necessarily to be rotated with crops like jowar, bajri, cotton etc., if better returns are desired.

About 40 to 60 lbs. of wheat seed has to be sown per acre. In irrigated areas the seed rate has to be more. It is further said that the seed is sown more thickly in good land and thinly in the poorer soils.

Paddy.

Compared to jowar and wheat, rice is a minor crop of the district, but in recent years the area under it has been progressively increasing. In 1965-66 it stood at 13,249 acres, Arvi tahsil claiming the maximum acreage among the three tahsils and Hinganghat standing second. Although it is predominantly a dry crop in the district, of late some area has also been brought under irrigation.

Rice grows excellently well in warm and moist climate which the rice growing tracts of the district afford. More than any other cereal it requires a fairly heavy but graduated rainfall. It is the only crop which can stand a higher temperature. Besides the usual local varieties Taichung I-BIR is also grown on a small scale. If heavily manured, it gives a very high yield. Again it takes about 120 days only to mature.

The land is harrowed twice before sowing and if an additional ploughing is given in summer the crop prospers. Before the monsoon breaks five to six cart-loads of farmyard manure is applied per acre, the seed rate being 30 to 40 lbs. per acre. The seed is sown by an implement known as argada and sartas. Taichung variety has to be necessarily transplanted and not broadcast. Sowing is done by the last week of June or the beginning of July and the crop is harvested from the middle of October to December. Rice requires three to four hoeings and an equal number of weedings. It is reaped close to the ground by means of a sickle or vila, tied in sheaves and brought to the threshing ground where after allowing it to dry for some time it is threshed either by beating against a log of wood or treading it under bullocks' feet. If the reaped field continues to retain sufficient moisture pulses like gram, tur and wal are grown.

Bajri is a minor cereal of the district and occupied a total of 2,998 acres in 1965-66. It grows well in areas enjoying moderately dry climate and a rainfall ranging from 7 to 40 inches. It is primarily a kharif crop and is sown immediately after the first monsoon showers. Even in soils of six to nine inches depth, it can grow well. The land is prepared by harrowing it twice or thrice during the months of April and May, one Bajri. more harrowing being given after the first showers. In the second fortnight of June the seed is drilled, compost manure being applied to the land prior to the actual sowing. The crop requires two hand weedings and two interculturings. Towards the end of October when the crop becomes ready for harvesting it is reaped close to the ground with a sickle, allowed to dry up for about two days and then taken to the threshing floor. Here the cobs are separated from the reaped plants and then trampled under the feet of bullocks. Winnowing is done by taking advantage of the breeze by means of a winnowing sieve.

In recent years, though on a negligible scale, cultivators in the district have taken to the growing of high yielding hybrid bajra varieties. About 3.75 to 5 kg. of seed per hectare (3½ to 5½ lbs. per acre) are sown. The hybrid seed is sown five centimetres deep by keeping a distance of 45 to 60 cms. in between the rows. At the time of planting 35 kg. of nitrogen and 57½ kg. of phosphoric acid (30 lbs. of nitrogen and 50 lbs. of phosphoric acid per acre) per hectare are applied. If potash is recommended, it should not exceed 35 kg. per hectare. However, for irrigated crops the quantity of nitrogen applied per hectare should not be less than 112 kg. Grasshoppers and other pests can be kept away by spraying the crop with 10 per cent BHC at the rate of 12 kg. per hectare a fortnight after germination. Poison baiting of zinc phosphide can be used to put in end to the rat menace which causes heavy damage to the crop.

In the district, bajra is rarely taken as a pure crop but is generally taken mixed with either jowar or cotton. As a pure crop it is taken only in lighter type of soils where other crops cannot be grown advantageously.

Besides the ones noted above a variety of other cereals and millets are grown in the district. These include maize, kodo, kutki, rala, bhadali etc. The area occupied by these and the yield therefrom is so negligible that they do not warrant any detailed description.

Tables No. 7 and 8 give tahsil-wise area and out-turn of cereals in Wardha district.

TABLE No. 7

TAHSIL-WISE AREA [Area in acres] UNDER CEREALS IN WARDHA DISTRICT, 1957-58 TO 1965-66

TABLE No. 8

TAHSIL-WISE OUT-TURN [Out-turn in tons.] OF CEREALS IN WARDHA DISTRICT 1957-58 TO 1965-66

TOP