AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS

AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS VARY ACCORDING TO RAINFALL, soils of the tract and the nature of crops. These operations consist of opening of the land by digging or ploughing, further pulverising the soil, cleaning the fields, spreading manure and mixing it with the soil, sowing the seed or planting the sets of seedlings, interculturing, weeding, earthing up, irrigation, applying quick-acting manures as top dressing, spraying or dusting of insecticides, protecting the crops from birds, stray cattle and wild animals, harvesting, threshing and preparing the crops for the market and storing. In addition to these, occasional operations for permanent improvement of the soil such as bunding, levelling, trenching, draining the excess water from the soil, and reclaiming lands for cultivation are also undertaken by the farmers.

Ploughing.

Ploughing is done almost every year by wooden or iron ploughs to open the land to dig out deep rooted weeds or stubbles, to aerate the soil and to trap and store water for the crops. In the western zone of the. district, in order to remove the stubbles of the previous crop, the land is ploughed by an iron plough or sometimes by tractors after the harvest of paddy and sugarcane. In the hilly tract, where only paddy is grown without rotational change, ploughing is done by small wooden plough worked by a pair of bullocks, preferably after the first shower of ante-monsoon or monsoon. On an average, one plough, opens about half an acre to one acre of land, depending upon the season and the type of ploughing done e.g., deep ploughing for sugarcane and sweet potatoes. Deep ploughing is done either by iron ploughs worked by two or three pairs of bullocks or by tractors, the hire charges in the latter case being Rs. 30 per acre.

For ordinary crops in the eastern zone, land is ploughed by iron ploughs worked by two pairs of bullocks upto a depth of five or six inches. When the soil is moist enough, about one acre of land is ploughed; but when the soil is hard, hardly half an acre of land can be ploughed.

Pulverisation.

Pulverisation of the soil is done by one of the three kinds of implements (1) the beam harrow known as maind, (2) the wooden plank called phali, and (3) the blade harrow called kulav. The maind is worked by five bullocks to crush the big clods. Above two or three acres of land are covered daily. The phali is generally used when the clods are soft and small and when all the pulverising operations are over and the land is ready for sowing. It is worked by a pair of bullocks and covers generally three or four acres a day. The kulav is used after a shower or two or when the clods have become brittle. It is worked by a pair of bullocks and covers about two acres a day. The clods which escape the above operations are generally broken by beating with wooden hammer called mogari. This practice is followed generally in the western zone of the district.

Cleaning the field.

Cleaning of the field is generally done with the help of women labour. The remains of the previous crops, such as stubbles of sugarcane and jowar which hinder further operations and also provide shelter to insects, are collected and removed. The fields are kept clean and ready for sowing or planting before monsoon.

Manuring.

The farmer takes out the well-rotten farm yard manure or compost from the pits, by means of a phavada (spade) and a botti (basket) and carts the same to the field. The manure is heaped in small lots at convenient places in row. It is evenly spread over the field and then-mixed with the soil by means of a kulav (harrow). In some places, especially in garden lands, sheep and goat folding is carried on all over the field. The dung and, especially the urine, serves as a good manure. It is estimated that about a thousand of these animals, when quartered for a night, give manure equal to about near to six cart loads of farm yard manure. The manure prepared: from night soil and town sweepings is applied also to sugarcane crop on a large scale in the district. Generally, about 5 tons of this manure are applied per acre.

In most of the crops, seeds are sown for starting the crop; but in some in which seeds cannot be produced and even if produced, are costly, parts of plants are planted either after irrigation or rains. In the case of paddy, nagli, tobacco, chillies and such other crops, where the seed is very small and young and plant requires special care, seedlings are first raised in a specially prepared seedbed and then transplanted. The seeds are sown either by a seed drill (kuri) in lines or dibbled into the soil by hand. After sowing is accomplished, it is necessary to cover the seeds and press them lightly, otherwise the seeds are likely to be picked up by the birds. To achieve this object a light plank or harrow with only the headpiece is dragged over the land.

The practice of dibbling the seed is more popular in the district than that of sowing by a seed-drill. Dibbling of seed is followed throughout the district in the case of groundnut, and also to an appreciable extent in the case of kharif jowar and paddy. Before dibbling, the land is marked by a specially prepared marker (tikatane) both ways and dibbling of seed is done at each cross. Sowing commences generally soon after outbreak of the monsoon.

Statement showing sowing periods of some of the important crops in the district.

Intercultivation.

Intercultivation means culturing or tilling or stirring the soil in between the lines of crop. This is done by an implement called kolapi or dubi (a hoe) or by khurpi or by hand. It is done to remove the weeds that take away large quantities of moisture and plant food, to aerate the soil to prepare the mulch (a loose layer of dry soil as covering), to conserve soil moisture useful for the crop, to prune the roots so as to encourage a deep root system, and to kill the harmful insects hibernating in the soil. Generally, two or three hoes are worked by a pair of bullocks and each hoe is handled by one man. This team; can intercultivate about three to five acres a day. The frequency of intercultivation would depend upon the life and habit of growth of the crop and the soil condition. But generally it is done about three four times during the life period of most of the crops.

Weeding.

The weeds that are round about the plant or in line with the plant escape the hoe and thus are required to be removed by hand with the help of weeding hook (khurpi). Eight to ten women labourers are required to weed an acre of land, depending upon the kind and extent of the weed growth. Two to three weedings are generally done for most of the crops. After hoeing labour requirements for weeding are reduced by 30 to 40 per cent.

Earthing up.

The next important operation is earthing up i.e., digging the soil around that plant and heaping it up at the base of the plant. The earth is dug up by a pick axe (kudali) and brought at the base of the plant by a phavada. Sometimes it is also brought by hand at the base of the plant. This is done in order to give support to the plant, to prevent lodging and to keep the tubers and roots under the soil. Earthing up is required in the case of crops like sugarcane, tubers like potatoes and some vegetable and fruit trees. Earthing up is done to a certain extent in the case of jowar crop dibbled by hand. For crops like sugarcane, a plough or a ridger is used to dig and bring the soil near the base of the plant and then it is attended to by human labour to give a finishing hand and to see that it is uniformely done and the soil is well pressed.

Top dressing.

Top-dressing, i.e. applying quick-acting manures on the surface of the soil and then mixing it up with the soil is done by stirring the soil. Some crops require additional amount of manure after germinating. The sugarcane crop usually requires four top dressings. Especially to the ratoon crop are given four top dressings in the root zone by making a hole therein by a crow-bar and filling it up with manure.

IRRIGATION.

IRRIGATION IS DONE FROM WELLS AND RIVERS. All the irrigation in the district is lift irrigation except small areas under tanks. Water is lifted by pumps worked either by oil engines or by electric power. In some parts mots are also used for the purpose.

In the case of tanks, one man is sufficient to irrigate one acre of land. In the case of pumps, one man is sufficient if he knows working of the engine. When water is supplied by a contractor, he maintains an engine-driver for the working and upkeep of the engine. The charges for water supply, when taken on contract basis, are about Rs. 250 to Rs. 300 per acre.

Fields are frequently irrigated and the interval between two waterings varies according to the soil, season and the crop under irrigation. The interval varies from eight to ten days for sugarcane crop and for other crops, such as vegetables, it is eight days. The quantity of water supplied per acre is about 2.5 acre inch. (An acre inch of water roughly measures 3,630 cu. ft or 101 tons or 22,687 gallons of water).

Crop protection.

The farmer has to provide for some protective and curative measures as well. He has to take precautionary measures to avoid certain pests and diseases. It has been found customary in the district to treat jowar seeds with sulphur for the control of the smut diseases of jowar known as kani. The practice of treating seed of paddy with perenox solution against the blast disease is gaining ground. Whenever any insect or disease appears on the crop, the farmers either spray or dust special insecticides or fungicides recommended by the Department of Agriculture. The use of Benzene Hexachloride (B.H.C.) 10 per cent, and 50 per cent, is universal and quite effective. The standing grain crops have to be watched during the season lest beasts, birds and other animals eat away the grain. The farmers shout and throw stones by slings (gophan) to scare away the birds. Kerosene oil tins, with small stones inside, are tied to the branches of trees with a string tied at the bottom. This string the farmer carries to his place from where, by giving it a pull off and on, a ratting noise is created to scare away the birds. Stray cattle are generally caught and compounded in the cattle pound. Wild animals are either shot or hunted individually or through gun clubs established for the purpose. The animals are shot only when they visit fields and not in the forest. Monkeys are caught in traps specially prepared for the purpose.

Harvesting.

One of the most important agricultural operations, next only to ploughing and sowing, is the reaping or harvesting of standing crops. Crops are harvested only when they are fully ripe. The period of ripening varies from crop to crop. The following statement gives the harvesting time for some of the important crops:-

Foodgrain crops such as rice, jowar, bajri and wheat are harvested by cutting the plants close to the ground by a sickle (kurpa). The cut plants are put into swaths (alasya) and the earheads, in the case of jowar, are removed by cutting and then carted to the threshing yard (khola). In the case of others, the swaths are bundled and carried straight to the threasing yard where they are kept well stocked. The earheads of bajri are removed by breaking at leisure time and when required and are threshed. Paddy bundles are threshed after two to three days of stocking, by beating the bundles on stone or log of wood in the threshing yard. The stems or stalks are dried, bundled and stocked as fodder.

Pulses are mostly cut as whole plants and are removed directly to the threshing yard. Vegetables are picked by hand and the leafy ones are uprooted. Root crops like sweet potatoes and turmeric are harvested by digging with kudali. Groundnut is reaped and collected by hand after harrowing the crop with wooden harrow.

The sugarcane crop is harvested by cutting it close to the |ground and carted to the crushing yard where it is crushed by power crushers. The juice is pumped directly into the boiling-pan and, after boiling for about three hours becomes thick and can then be moulded into blocks after cooling off for half an hour or so.

Threshing and preparing for market.

Grain crops such as jowar, nagli, bajri and pulses are trampled under bullocks' feet till the material is broken completely into chaff and grain. The grain is separated from the chaff by winnowing against the breeze. Some of the root vegetables are dug out cleaned well by rubbing out the soil after drying, and sold in the market. Crops like turmeric are dried after being specially cured.

Storing.

Grains are stored either for purposes of seed or for consumption at a later date. When they are meant for purposes of seed, the quantity is usually small, especially when an individual farmer preserves his own seed. On the other hand when it is meant for future use, the quantity stored is usually large. Therefore, storage methods vary from place to place depending upon the use of grain. Before storing any grain, it is thoroughly dried. The seed, mixed with household ash, is well preserved in bamboo bins and well plastered on all sides with cowdung so as to keep off the insects that may attack it from outside. The grain for consumption is preserved either in gunny bags or in corrugated iron bins. In both the cases dry leaves of nim are mixed with the grain; use of five per cent B. H. C. is also now made for this purpose. Storing of paddy is done in specially prepared rooms. Seed of paddy is stored in specially prepared bins of rope prepared from the paddy straw called mudha.

Jaggery is not preserved by cultivators. Merchants preserve this in godowns either in cotton seed or paddy husk after covering each block with a piece of gunny.

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