The Gazetteers Department

The advantages of manure, both organic and chemical are appreciated by the agriculturists and they do what they can to afford a provision to their fields. Even the poorest of the cultivators manure their fields at least once in three years. The amount of manure to be applied varies from crop to crop and also depends upon the fertility of the soil. In irrigated areas the amount of manures applied should be more than the non-irrigated ones. Lands under cotton, banana, citrus fruits, chilli cultivation require heavy manurial replacement to provide adequate nutrition to the plants. Richer farmers even import manures from outside the district if they fall short of them or if they are not available locally.

Sugar-cane, oranges, bananas and chillis require to be manured every year. Orange trees are manured at the rate of 100 lbs. of farmyard manure per tree per annum. Other garden crops and vegetables require upto 20 cart-loads per acre. Generally kharif jowar can do without manure as it is taken on the same land after cotton, but yet if farmyard manure is applied at the rate of 10 to 15 cart-loads it yields good results. Cotton rotated with groundnut is manured once in three years.

Farmyard Manure.

The principal source of farmyard manure supply is from cattle dung, but this is also required for fuel. Since the expansion of cotton in the district many cultivators save the greater part of the cattle dung for manure both in the rainy and the open season and take their carts to the forests to buy supplies of fuel before and after the rains, bringing three to four cart-loads on each occasion. In olden days the dung was collected in surface heaps by which much of its value was lost and sometimes in pits either open or closed to which the sweepings of the house and the cattle sheds were added. But now the agriculturists are increasingly adopting the compost method of preserving this manure where by it does not lose its value. In this method rectangular pits of 20' x 5' x 3', 15'x 4'x 3' dimensions or depending upon the requirements are dug, filled up properly with cowdung and other cattle shed refuse in layers with adequate moisture and closed up with earth. The pits are opened after about six months and the contents applied to the fields. The earth surrounding the pits is also dug up and added to the fields. The bulk of the liquid manure is wasted but some of the cultivators dig up the silt from the sides of the tanks and spread it in the cattle stalls so as to retain the urine, afterwards removing it to the fields.

Yet another method of manuring the fields is by burning the stalks and stubs left over of the previous crop by adding to it tree branches and cut bushes. In this process, however, it is found that there is much loss of volatile gases and organic matter and hence the stalks and stubbles are also turned into manure by the compost method.

Sheep and Goat The Folding.

The excreta of sheep and goats is also a very valuable manure. Hence the sheep and goats are penned in the fields on contract basis. shepherds and the dhangars who keep large flocks of these move from place to place entering into contracts and earning much in return. It is estimated that one thousand of these animals yield from five to six cartloads of manure in one night. Realising the value of the manure yielded by them some cultivators have also started maintaining sheep and goats.

Green Manuring.

Another method of enriching the soil is by green manuring. Till recently this method was not followed by the cultivators in this district. Green manuring is only feasible in areas having irrigational facilities or in those where the rainfall is sufficiently heavy to rot the plants used for this purpose. Though this method has now been adopted by the agriculturist, inadequate irrigational facilities in the district limits its scope severely. Generally sann hemp crop is used for green manuring.

Town compost.

In the past a majority of the cultivators in the district were averse to the use of sewage and night soil for manuring though the soil of disused pits round Wardha had a demand and was mainly used in manuring cotton crops. They have now realised the high manurial capacity of sewage and night soil and are increasingly seeking it. The department of agriculture has initiated a scheme under which all the six municipalities viz., Wardha, Arvi, Hinganghat, Pulgaon, Deoli and Sindi, and nine grampancliayats having a population of over 3,000, viz; Waigaon, Nachan-gaon, Salod, Pavnar, Seloo, Hingni, Allipur, Ashti and Karanja of the district are subsidised for the preparation of town compost. The department, besides paying subsidies, also affords expert technical guidance in its preparation on scientific lines. While all the municipalities have started production, of the grampancliayats only Nachangaon and Seloo have done so. It is expected that the remaining grampanchayats would undertake the preparation of town compost shortly. Since the inception of the scheme the district produced 75,514 tonnes of this manure of which 65,824.60 tonnes were distributed amongst the cultivators. This manure is especially congenial to garden crops. The agriculture department has, to a large degree, succeeded in popularising its use.

Chemical Fertilisers.

Under the grow more food campaign the agriculturists were encouraged to use chemical fertilisers. Due to the inadequacy of organic manures and the necessity of increasing food production, the use of chemical fertilisers has become incumbent. Chemical fertilisers are known to produce immediate effect, they are easy of application and help raise the per acre yield substantially. For these reasons the agriculturists are inclined towards their use. The agriculture department does its best to provide substantial quantities of these fertilisers to the agriculturists. Commonly used chemical fertilisers are ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrate, urea and super phosphate.

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