AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

DRUGS AND NARCOTICS

Betel and tobacco constitute the only drugs and narcotics of the district, the total area under them being only ten acres in 1965-66.

Betel leaves

Betel is a garden crop and grows well in clayey and alluvial soils. It requires abundant supply of water throughout its growing period and cool and shady conditions, these latter being often provided by trees like Shevri, pangara, hadga and shevga on which the vines are made to climb. For a bumper crop the vines should be adequately manured with farmyard manure. The vines are planted in October with cuttings obtained from the best shoots of older plants. As the vines grow they should be loosely tied to the supporting trees. After two years of plantation the leaf-picking is begun and if tended properly, the vines continue to yield good quality leaves for over twenty-five years. The cultivation of pan involves heavy expenditure and hence requires strenuous and sustained efforts and adequate finance. Besides medicinal uses to which pan is put, it is the common practice to chew it alongwith betel-nut, lime and catechu and spices like cloves, cardamom and nutmeg.

Tobacco.

Tobacco, since 1904-05 when it occupied about 1000 acres in the district has considerably dwindled in importance and occupied only two acres in 1965-66. Tobacco crop thrives well in rich alluvial soils, its cultivation in the district being mostly confined to patches of land adjacent to the village and to gardens at the backs of houses, which are naturally fertilised by drainage, while manure and sweepings can easily be deposited on them. The seed is sown in June or July in well manured nursery beds, the seedlings being transplanted in the fields in August. The fields where the seedlings are to be transplanted are thoroughly ploughed and bakhared after applying ten to fifteen cartloads of farmyard manure per acre. After about a month of transplantation the lower most leaves are removed and in another month the tips of the plants are nipped leaving the good leaves. The crop receives several hoeings and dressings with fresh earth from time to time. The crop requires careful protection against caterpillar menace. In February or early March the leaves are cut down and allowed to dry for a week after which they are made into heaps and covered with grass and straw. After being cured by this process for a few weeks they are made up into large heaps and so far as the cultivator is concerned the tobacco is ready for the market.

Table No. 16 gives tahsil-wise area and out-turn of Drugs and Narcotics in Wardha district.

TABLE No. 16.

TAHSIL-WISE AREA [Area in acres.] AND OUT-TURN [Out-turn in tons.] OF DRUGS AND NARCOTICS IN WARDHA DISTRICT, 1957-58 TO 1965-66.

TABLE No. 16-contd.

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