AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

HOLDINGS

THE SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS have undergone considerable change since the publication of Kolhapur State Gazetteer in 1881-82. In that year, including alienated lands, the total number of holdings was 75,345. Of these, 35,362 were holdings of not more than five acres; 16,787 were of six to ten acres'; 12,778 of eleven to twenty acres; 7,800 of twenty-one to fifty acres, 2,145 of fifty-one to a hundred acres; 453 of 101 to 500 acres; and 20 above 500 acres (including two of more than 2,000 acres). The following table gives the number of holders, and the area held by them in Government Rayatwari area in Kolhapur district in 1952-53:-

TABLE No. 13.
QUINQUENNIAL STATEMENT OF HOLDINGS IN GOVERNMENT RAYATWARI AREA IN KOLHAPUR DISTRICT, 1952-53.

continued.

Class ' A '.-Those persons who cultivate land themselves with or without the help of hired labour.

Class ' B '.-Those persons who do not cultivate land themselves, but supervise and direct cultivation by labourers or farm servants.

Class ' C '.-Those who receive rent but do not directly or indirectly take part in cultivation.

Note-In view of the definition of "personal cultivation" given in the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Amendment) Act, 1955, the distinction between classes. A and B disappears with the result that there will generally be only one class. Most of the lands will fall in this class and in the present C class, which will have to be classed as B, the tenanted lands will be very small in extent.

The size of an average holding ["Holding" is the area of land (may be consisting of scattered fragments in different areas) registered in the name of a " holder".] works out to about 5.6 acres for the district. It seems to have been influenced by the preponderance of holders having their holdings of less than five acres each. Nearly 72.6 per cent, of the total holders belonged to this class and held only 26.3 per cent. of the total area held. Holdings of 19.6 per cent. ranged between five and fifteen acres; they held 27.2 per cent. of the total area. A large number of them cultivated the land themselves with or without the help of hired labour.

It is interesting to note that nearly 46.5 per cent. of the total area held was in the charge of a handful of persons (about 7.8 per cent.). Their holdings stood between 15 and 500 acres (and above). The existence of jagirs and inams in the former Kolhapur State was probably responsible for this concentration of ownership in land. Those with large holdings showed a tendency to rent out the land to others. Irrigation facilities or an assured rainfall in parts of the district might have stimulated the tendency to lease out land in places where much land was held in large holdings instead of hiring labour for cultivation as is usually done in the case of large holdings in dry crop regions. Thus, though there were 52 holders, with an average landholding of more than 500 acres, majority of them were absentee landlords.

The size of holding varies from taluka to taluka and is dependent on rainfall, soil, crop pattern, pressure of population, financial condition of the rayats and the extent of absentee landlordism prevailing. In Kagal taluka the highest average of 10.39 acres was recorded while in Radhanagari it was the lowest, namely 4.14 acres. The following table gives the quinquennial statement of holdings in various talukas of the district:-

TABLE No. 14.
QUINQUENNIAL STATEMENT OF HOLDINGS IN GOVERNMENT RAYATWARI AREA IN KOLHAPUR DISTRICT (TALUKAWISE), 1952-53.

TABLE No. 14-contd.

TABLE No. 14-contd.

TABLE No. 14-concld.

Preventing of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings.

WITH A VIEW TO PREVENTING FRAGMENTATION and initiating the process of consolidation of holdings, the Government of Bombay enacted a law called the Bombay Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947. It was made applicable to Kolhapur district in 1954.

The first part of the enactment deals with prevention of further fragmentation of land. Government has been empowered to fix the "standard area" (i.e. the minimum area necessary for profitable cultivation as a separate plot) for any class of land in any local area. The "standard area'' is such as is expected to keep the cultivator fully employed on the field, and the yield from it is expected to be sufficient to cover the cost of cultivation and Government revenue assessment and also to yield a reasonable profit. On account of difference in quality of soil, climate, standard of husbandry and other factors, the standard areas for different types of land vary from district to district. The range of the standard area applicable to various types of land in the district is as follows:-

Under the law, the standard areas are fixed by the Collector in consultation with the District Advisory Committee and after consideration of any objection from the public to his provisional figures which have to be published for general information inviting objections. All existing holdings which are smaller than the standard area are declared as fragments and entered in the Record of Rights as such and the fact is notified to the fragment holders. By 1958, the work of entering the fragments in the Record of Rights had been completed in respect of over 850 villages and notices to this effect had been issued for about 817 villages. The work of certification of mutation regarding fragments was completed for over 838' villages.

The fragment holder and his heir can cultivate and inherit the fragment, but if at any time the fragment holder or his heir wants to sell or lease the fragment, it must be sold or leased to a contiguous holder who can merge it with his field. In case the contiguous holder is unwilling to take it or purposely makes a low bid, Government purchases the fragment in question at the market value according to the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and leases it out to any of the neighbouring holders. In this process tenants of the fragments are protected and they are not to be discontinued. Creation of fragments in future is prohibited. It cannot be done either by transfer or partition. Transfer or partition contrary to the provisions of the Act is void and persons guilty of breach of the law are liable to pay a fine upto Rs. 250.

Side by side the Act also provides for the consolidation of holdings into compact blocks. This involves valuation of all holdings in a village and then redistribution in such a manner as to secure to each cultivator the same return from land which he had got prior to consolidation. Every effort is made to ensure that exchange is made only of lands of equal fertility and outturn. Where such exchange is not possible, compensation is paid to the owner who is allotted a holding of less market value than his original holding and this compensation is recovered from the owner who is allotted the holding which has greater value than his original holding. This amount of compensation is fixed according to the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. After the process of consolidation is over, the tenure of the original holding is transferred to the new consolidated holding. Similarly, leases, debts and encumbrances, if any, are also transferred, adjusted and fixed up. The interests of tenants are safeguarded, as far as posssible, and tenancies are usually transferred to the exchanged land. If there is any difference in value, between the original holdings and the exchanged ones, adjustments in rents are made.

In Kolhapur district by 1958, 50 villages had been selected for implementing the schemes of consolidation of agricultural holdings and duly notified in accordance with section 15 of the Act; nine and 26 villages respectively were from the talukas of Hatkanangle and Karvir and 15 were from Panhala mahal. An area of 92,644 acres was available for the purpose. The work of consolidation had been taken up in 26 villages (area available 53,164 acres) viz. Padli, Manpadle, Wathar, Talsande, Chaware, Pargaon, and Ambap in Hatkanangle taluka; Kurdu, Isphurli, Nandwal, Kavane, Mahalunge, Yewati, Nigave Kh., and Khebavade in Karvir taluka; and Amatewadi, Shahapur, Borpadale, Pokihale, Jakhale, Dewale, Mohare, Arale, Kekhale, Bahirewadi, and Male in Panhala mahal. The execution of consolidation schemes had been completed in eight villages, namely, Padle, Wathar, Talsande, Amtewadi. Shahapur, Borpadale, Pokhale, Jakhale. Consolidation schemes have been published in about three villages viz., Ambap, Isphurli, and Kekhale. The area actually consolidated was 14,380 acres. The number of holdings and fragments reduced from 11,084 and 7,273 before consolidation to 5,735 and 2,460 respectively after consolidation.

In addition, consolidation schemes were in progress in nine villages, namely, Pargaon, Mohare, Kurdu, Chaware, Arale, Kavane, Bahirewadi, Nandwal, Mahalunge, and it was proposed to take up consolidation work in the remaining four villages (Male, Yawati, Nigave Kh., Khebawade) by 1958-59.

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