27 CHAPTER -II
RESIQNAt SETTING AND THE ECONOMY
The settintji
Shirpur Tehsil is one of the ten Tehsils of Dhule districtj, occupying a strategic position on the North Eastern i boundary of the Maharashtra StateI It is bounded by the
Satpuda hills in the North, the Titipi River in the South,
Chopda Taluka of Jalgaon district in the East and Shahada
Taluka of Dhule district in the west, situated near the border areas of Maharashtra, C-jujr^ith, and Madhya Pradesh, it is regarded as an important iGhsil from the point of view of inter-state trade, cofnmerce and industry. Shirpur Tehsil is the fiart of Dhule district, which I lies in the upper Tap>i basin between and 2 2 ”"03' North Longitude and
47' and East longitude. It covers a area of 200.3 sq. kms. which forms 15,,23 percent of the total areaof Dhule district (131143 sq. kms) which accounts for 4.27 percent of the Maharashtra state. Its population is 2.75 lakhs which is about 10.39 percent of the total population of the district, which ranks 14th in the state. It is spread over in 149 villages and one town of Shirpur. The average height above sea level is 600-700 feet, which varies upto 3000 feet in the
Satpuda ranges. Out of the 952 03rampanchayatas in the district, Shirpur Tehsil accounts for 105, with one municipal council at Shirpur and a agricultural produce Market committee also at Shirpur, the Taluka headquarters. Dhule district is a distinct typographical unit drained by the Tapi and its tributaries. A small area in the Extreme North-West 2 8
drains into the Narmada river. TheI Tapi river passes through the center of the district frofii east to West with deep cut up and black fertile, plains along its banks. parallel with the Tapi, there are well marked belts as following s irSy*....lYAnfl._Elg,ins aVgng the Tapi ; |
This middle-rich soil tretct of Tapi Valley comprises of Nandurbar, Shahadfi, Shirpur;, parts of
Akkalkuwa, Taloda and Sindkheda talukas.
Hilly Region in North ; occupied by Batpuda hills, covers
Akrani and Akkalkuwa, Taloda and the hilly parts of Shahada and Shirpur Tehsils, rich in forest;produce like Teak Sag and others.
Southern Region of Scattered Rocky Ijiills ;
It covers Dhule, Sakri, Nava pur ^ind parts of
Sindkheda and Nandurbar Tehsil, consisting of bare ridges and well 5 watered valleys flanked by the Sahyadri ranges in the south. There are large forests in Dhule and Sakri talukas w i t l -i s o m e pass e s 1 i k e L a 1 i n g a n d k o n d a i, b a r i .
Derived from the Deccan 'Trap, the soils in the district can be broadly classified into three categories, light, medium, black and deep black. About 5B percent of the soil is of the light type, 30 percent medium bl 20 percent is deep black soil., Shirpur Tehsil along with Akkalkuwa, Nandurbar, Shahada and Taloda Tehsil have mostly deep black soil on bc>th the banks of the Tapi river. 29 R iy ^ r a Tapi, the main river of the district, on it=. way to Gujrath fronri east to West, enteres Dhule district at Thalner in Bhirpur taluka. Having about 36 kms. court in this district, it runji through the northern boundry of Shirpur and Shahada talukats. Due to the silt deposited by the Tapi and its tuibutaries, construction of wells in this region is very difficult. The high banks of the tapi do not enable the use of its water for- irrigation also. The Tapi river belt is very fertile?. Though causing a lot of damage during floods, this river has been aptly called the life giving river of this district„ Other important rivers in the district £ire Narmada, Pansara, Anerj Arunawati, Bori, E G^emai and kfitn. Out of these rivEvrs, aner, arunawati, Gemai have their courses through the Shirpur Tehsil. The Southern Tributaries of the Tapi river, as compared to the northern ones drain much wider tracts and are useful to some extent f o r .i. r r i g a t i o n Forest The forest area in Dhule district is 3919.7 sq. kms. i.e. about 29.32 percent of thte total geographical area of the district, which is optimum from the national standard of forest cover. Shirpur along with Akrani, Dhule and Sakri Tehsil have very large areas under forest. MOre than 6G types of trees are found in these forests which are commercially very importisnt. The most valuable species found is Teak along with khi^ir, Palas, Sadoda, Shism, Tiwas, 30 Haldu, kalam, Ain, Biva, Dhavda Shaman, Sal , Ber, Hiver, Anjan etc. other important forest products are Tendu and Apta leaves, Mohwa flowers and fruits, kadhari, Bamboo, Charoli and Roisha grass,. Out of the total area of the district under forest ?(573700 hq.) Shirpur Tehsil accounted for : I 89100 hectare?5 (15.53 percent). Climate ■% As the district is far removed from coastal tracts, the climate is generally extreme and dry, resulting in large veiriation in day and night temperature except in rainy se£ison. The year may be divided into four seasons. The cold season from, December to February is followed by the hot season from March to May, The Southwest monsoon season which follows there after last till September, October and November, constitute the post-mansoon season. The records of the meteorological observatory at Nandurbar may be fairly taken as representative of the Meteorological conditions in. the district . From about F’c7?bruary to May, temperatures increase steadily. The mean daily maximum temperature is 40-- 7 c(105.3 F) and the minimum is 23,S c (78,4 F ), Hot dry winds below, with the onset of the monsoon by June, There is an appreciable drop in day temperatures and the weather is pleasant. When the Mansoon withdre^ws by October, dry temperatures begin to rise. The night temperatures, however, steadily decreases. From November, both day and night temperatures drop rapidly till January, which is the coldest month at 30,3 c(96,5 f) and 16,2 c (61„2 f) respectively. 31 Cold waves sometimes affect. thcT; district. The highest maximum temperature recorded at Nandurbar was 46.1 c on May, 19, 1955. The lowest minimum was 8.9 c on January 10,1954. (in April ) and 7.3 c( in December). Except during the mansoon season the air is rather dry over the district during the rest of the year. Except during rainy season, dctys are mostly clear or highly clouded. Winds are generally light to mansoon seasons. In association with the ;special weather phenomena the district gets wide-spread, heavy ;rains and strong winds and Thunder storms during Summer and post monsoon seasons. Within the district, there are local variations. In the Satpuda rangei the heat is some what temper and Western parts of Tapi valley though hot in summer, area little coller. The valleys of Panzara and other, streams in the West have cool and bracing nights even in the 1 hottcsst season. they are hardly ever visited by hot winds. Rainfall In this district rains start about the middle of June and lasts till the middle of October. Local rains occur in May and scantly rains in November. Records of rainfall in the district are available for nine raingage stations for periods ranging from 5S to 93 years. The average rainfall is 674.0 mm.(26,53 ). The rain fall during the South West monsoon constitutes about 88 percent of the annual rainfall. July is the rainiest month. Some rainfall is received mostly as thunder-showers in the 32 post-cfionsoon season. On an average, there are about 42 rainy days(.i.e., days with rainfall of 2,5 .. 10 cents or more) in I a year in the district. This number varies from 31 art Sakri to 58 at. Navapur. There are variations in the rainfall from place to place and year to year,, the rainfall is heavier in the hilly regions of the Satpudas and the Western ghats. Nava pur near the Western border receives maxiiTium annual reiinfall of 1116.00 mm. while Sakri gets the minimum of 486,3 mm „ in. the district. The remaining parts -- especially the tapi valley get lesser rain fall. They are comparatively dry. Dependability of Rainfall and Scarcity Area Mean rainfall at Nandurbar is 644 mm (26,36") and the standard deviation is 224 mm (S.82"). The co-efficient of variability workout to 34.76, percent. The rainfall re 1 iabi 1 ity as recor ded by cjbservator■ y at Nandi.irbar may thesrefore be said to be slightly 1ov*j. Certain villages in thivi district are occasionally affected by scracity. But there exists no large tract frequently affected by total failure of rains. The fact finding committee appointed by the Government of Bombay in 1960 concluded that the entire Dhulia District msiy be regarded as free from Scarcity. However, the history of scarcity after 1960,does not fully support this , ' I conclusion. During 1967-68, 194 villages in Dhulia., Nandurbar, Sakri and Shindkheda Tahsile, during 1963--69,26 villages from Nandurbar and Sindkh^'da Tehsil, during 1969-- 70,30 villages from Nandurbar and S^kri Talukas, during 1970-- 33 "71, 443, villages in Dhulia, N^ndurbar ,Sakri, Shahada, Shirpur and Sindkheda Taluka during ; 1971--72, 384, villages in D|-iu 1 ia , Nandur-bar , 3ak r i., Shiirpu.r arhd Sindk heda Tahsi 1 e wet-"e affected by scarcity condi tioriS-, Areas with precarious rainfall and scarcity are rnainj.y observed in Dhulia, i 2 Nandurbar, Shirpur and Shindkheda Tehsil of this district. TABLE : 2;1 Talukawise Distribution of Villages areas and Population in Dhule district in .1.991. Sr. District Area in F'Dpulation Population Inhabitable No. Taluka sq. kf»s. per sq.km. villages 1. Akrani 600.9 97000 ; 161 163 Ak kalkuwa 346.0 134000 : 158 185 3 Dhule 1946.8 603000 310 164 1 4 Nandurbar 1100.0 248000 226 150 5 Nawapur 919.8 197000 214 150 6 Shahada 1112.4 289000 260 184 7 Sakri « 29998.9 170000 111 212 B Shirpur 2002.3 275000 137 147 9 Sindkheda 1280,2 263000 205 143 10 Taloda 355.2 98000 276 91 Total 13150.0 2536000 193 1 586 bource ■ (1) D i s t r X c t S t a t i s t i c a 1 A b s t r a c t s. j Dhule District, 1984-8$, 1991--92. (2) District Census Handbooks, Dhule 19S1 and 1991 31 Table 52;! indicate the talukawiBe distribution of villages., areas and population in Dbulia district in 1991, The total areas of the district is 13,150 sq. kms is 4.27 percent of the state. As per census 1931 the total population of the district was 25;' 6 lakhs which accounted for 3,22 percent of the state populrition . It happened to be I 9th in respect of area . There were 15EJ6 inhabitated villages and 7 towns in the distrit+t , During the seventy years from 19(31 to 1971 the F'opulation of the district city increase per decade during the period was 2C*j--77 percent. During 1961--71 the population of the district grew at the i rate of 23,01 percent. The district recorded 23,35 percent population growth during 1971~-Eilj, nhich increased by 23.37 percent during 19ai--91. The district happens to be one of the specially populated districts in Maharashtra, According to 1991 c£?nsus the density of population of the district vjas 194 per sq. km, as against 256> for Mfiharashtra s,tate. It is more than the district £-iverage in Dhule, Wavapur, Sindkheda, Wan durbar, £s ha had a and Taloda taluk as . Agricultural backoround of Shirpur Tehsil Of the total geographical areas of Shirpur Tehsi 1 ,( 15940 hq - ) 69700 hectares is cultiv^ible, which forms 8.71 percent of the cultivable area of the district as a whole. In 1991--92 the total cultivable area of the district V'ias 7.7^3 Lakhs hectares (54 percent). The net area sown in Shirpur Tehsil v-JCirked out to be 61600 hectares. The lov-i proportion of cultivable area was the result of a high proportion of forest area, barren and cultivable 'waste land. 35 In .1990-9.1, the percentage of area sown more than once to net falls, under two mstjor heads- Jirayat (dry land) and Bagayat (irrigated land) . The main-1 and ratio in the tehsil v-^as decl ing as in the district owing to increase in population. Not only land per head wae small but the total area shown al-Bo badly- distributed among the farmers. (Table ; 232) 3G TABLE ; 2:2 Holdingwise classification of Agricultural land, in Dhule District in 1990-91. or. Sise of Individual Holdings Joint Holdings Total Holdings Area ^ 2 3 4 5 6 7 a Less Than ' 1 0.5 19,090 4,075 1,871 471 20,961 4, 546 0.5 - 1.0 36,297 27,546 3, jt30 2,357 39,427 29,903 3 1.0 - 2.0 95,686 1 ,37,059 6,049 8,689 1 ,01,735 1 ,45,748 4 2.0 -~ 3.0 50,974 1,21,541 3,471 8,429 54,445 1, 29,970 5 3.0 - 4.0 92,004 82,004 2,642 9,180 36,473 91,184 i> 4.0 -• 5.0 15,378 68,343 1,890 8,407 17,263 76,750 7 5.0 - &.0 9,956 54,264 1,575 8, 530 11,531 62,793 8 6.0 7.5 9,389 62,296 1,371 9,135 10,760 71,431 9 7,5 - 10.0 6,544 55,245 1,120 9,622 7,664 64,866 10 10.0 - 20.0 3,921 49,701 779 10,043 4,700 59,744 11 20.0 - 30.0 232 5,320 52 1,267 284 6,587 12 30.0 - 40.0 31 1,038 2 78 33 1,115 13 40.0 -- 50.0 12 498 3 •154 15 652 14 50.0 above 46 4,389 - ... 46 4,390 Total 2,71,387 6,73,313 23,955 76,362 2.95,342 7 ,, 49 , 67' Source District statistical Abstract Dhule District, 1992..93. Land Utilisation ; The data regarding the land utilisation in Dhulia District and also in Shirpur Taluka is given in Table ; 2;3. 37 TABLE ; 2:3 Land Uti 1 in Dhule district and Shirpur Taluka in 1932-83 and .1991-92, (Area in "aa" Hectares) Sr. I tem Dhulia District N o . Shirpur Talu 1982--83 1991-92 1982-83 1991-' 1. Total geographical area 14380 14380 1594 1594 2. Area under Forest 5516 5737 £391 891 3 . Area not available for 4. Other uncultivated land 755 485 29 15 5. Fallow land i.41 6 4 3 6 10 6 . Met area sown 7367 7020 594 616 7. Area sown more than once 584 319 111 45 8. Gross cropped area 7951 7339 705 697 9. Percentage of gross cropped area tcj Net area sown. 107.9 118.7 113 Source (1) Districtwise General Statistical information o-f Agricultural Departrnent Part --H-Epitome cf Agricultural in Maharastra, Govt, of M.S. 19S6- 87,P17 (2) District statistical Abstract, Dhule District, 1992--93, Land i.iti 1 isation pattern of the district and the Tehsil is shown in Table : 2s3. Agriculture which is the mainstay of the p«50ple in the district happens to be? the primary occupjation of nearly f o u r • • - f i f t h o f t ^ i s w o r k i n g p o f :< u 1 a t i o n . 3B I Crop-pattern - The crop pattern in Sjhirpur Tehsil as in the district as whole is conditioned by physical characteristics techno-.economic factors and government policy. Bajra, Jowar, Cotton, Chilly, Groundnut, Wheat, mug and pulses, Grain sugercane and bananas are the main:crops in Shirpur Tehsil. Rabi Jowar ( popularly known as jdadar) -wheat, grain and groundnut are the main crops of the rabbi season. Within the district the cropping pattern varifed according to rain fall and soil t'/pes. It happens to be inferior to the averaige crop pattern of the state and the country as a vjhole due to higher proportion of Jowar, bajra and other low value crops. The proportion of rice and sugercane were lower than the average for the state. One remarkable feature was double cropping. The proportion of net area sown under double crops to total net are shown in the Tehsil accounted for IB.4 percent in 1980--31 which increased to 14.1 percent in 1990-- 91, as against 10,33 percent and 8,8 percent in the district respectively. The double cropped area in the rich soil \ talukas of the Tapi valley. Such as Shirpur Shahada, and Nandurbar and also in the talukas having larger of irrigated \ land,w£AS morethan that in the remaining talukas of the 3 district. 3B Table ; 2:4 gives the yield rates per hectare of important cropB. TABLE :2:4 Yield Rates of Important crops in Dhule district in 1950-51, 1960-61, 1970-71, 19S0-$1,1984-85 and 1991-92. Crop Yield per Hectare in t gs. in the years 1951 1961 1971 1981 1985 1991--92 Rice 355 491 419 734 909 691 Wheat 742 730 786 943 1032 1299 Jowar 662 539 296 785 826 1281 Bajara 459 530 292 634 564 Tur 675 659 620 636 800 Mug 187 279 Groundnut 985 635 442 18 Cotton 248 142 117 119 190 (b a1e s ) 7042 Chillies 909 879 864 861 855 Sources : (1) District Statistical Abstracts, Dhule Dist. 1970-71, 1980-81,1934-85 and 1991-92 and 1992-93. (2) District Census Hand books, Dhule 1981,1991. The yield rates per hectare of rice, wheat, cotton, sugercane and bananas, showed increasing trend while those of Jowar, Bajra,tur,groundnut and Chillies indicated 4 fluctuating trend. l^rriqatipn With se-'/eral packe?ts of uneven low and irregular rainfall, the? importance of irrigation in the agrarian economy of tha tehsil and the district needs no emi3hasis, Agricultural Development of this region is closely linked with the development of irrigationjal facilities. About 531 villages in the district are jjrought prone. Hence irrigation constitutes the only remedy not only to the recurring drought taut also tp enhance agricultural productivity. | In 1991-92 the net area under cultivation in Shirpur Tehsil is 616 hectares as against "702000 hectares in the district as a vvhole. Out of the total cultivable area in the tehsil 7'473 vjere under irrigation, (10,2 percent) as compared to 75460 hectares for the district (8.6 percent) Of the total area under well irrigation and 2153 hectares were under Canal irrigation , There were 2665 wells in use in the tehsil, as against 26923 in the district in 1991--92 . Development of Irrioation ; Q / 3 ^ The oldest Irrigationsystem popularly known as "phad" systeiTi has been practised in the districts of Nasik and Dhule particularly in the valleys of Mes'am and F'an;^:ara rivers since more than two centuries. There were 45 Bandharas on the river Panzara irrigating about 3035 hectares of area of which 14 bandharas -were in operation till the year 1964, However, Shahada canal which is a over a century old irrigation of about 4815 hectares. Although a large number of bandharas and tiKnks v*)ere ccjnstructed before the Five year plans, the irrigation developfiient got momentum only during the planning era. There is no major irrigation project in Dhule District but, a 41 number of medium schemes have b€?en .implemented such as Karwand, Kanoil. Pansra, Rangawali, Burai, Amrawati, Sonwad, 5 Delhi etc.. In Shirpur Taluka, some bandharas like Ajand Mai la (.1962-63) ,Sangvi (,t9&.t--6'4) , Boradi U757-62 ) and Burki were constructed initially. But the irrigated area h£;B increas-ed considerably due to the construction of Karwand and Aner medium Projects, Salient features of Karv*jand and Aner Projects are presented in Table 2s5. TABLE : 2:5 Salient FeatureB of Karwand and Aner project in Bhirpur T e h s i1 Sr. I tem Karwand Dam Aner Project 1. Name Karwand Aner 2. Location Near Kgrwand Near vi 1 1 „ Gatipiur V ill. Shir pu r C tio p a d a 3. Year of completion 1969 1979 4. Estimated cost 169.00 B36.00 ( Rb. Lakhs) 5. Height of the Dam ( In Metres) 36.27 47.00 6. Length of canna1 12.80 20.00 7 „ M a >! i m u m s t ora g e capacity (In mm.) 33.34 103.24 8 . Gross area commanded (In Ha.) 82 IS 7613 9 . Cu11 u r a b1e a r e a c o m m a n d e d (In Ha.) 6575 6045 10. Irrigable area (Ha.) 4534 4933 11. A r e a i r r i g a t e d 1984-85 (In Ha.) 1S51 3125 Source Statistical Abstracts -- Dhule District 1985--36 and 1988-89, The total Irrigable command area of Karwand and Aner projects and villages benefitting therefrom are indicated in Table ; 2:6. 43 TABLE : 2:6 Irrigable corrimand Area of The Karwand and Aner Projects in Shirpur Te?h5 il. (in hectares) Sr. Vil lage Area to be Sr. Village Area to be Nd . Irrigated ^Jo. Irrigated (ha . ) ( ha. ) 1. Mandal 161 1 . Tonde 56 2. Varwade 156 Hisale 423 3 . Shirpur (Ah) 217 •» Bhaver 527 4. Shirpur (Bk) 232 4. Tairdi 475 5. Shingave 236 5 . Gidhade 48 6. Hindoni 411 6„ Babhlaj 480 7. Borgaon 170 7 . Aj and 482 8. i!) a t o d a 330 8. Hoi 480 9, v'anwal 526 9. Nanthe 126 10. Rudavali 330 10. Aj ande 314 11 . Waghadi 330 11. Ghodisgaon 404 12. Art he 228 jC.'. u Pi lode- 270 13. Bharv‘ 14. Tembhe 57 14, Manj rod 225 1'5. Chandpuri 57 15. Bhatpure 603 Source !- Distr■ i c t S t a t i B t i v a 1 A b s t r a c t s, Dhule Di 1985-■86 and 1988--89 . Source-Wise Area Irrigated The cultivable areas in the district is 67.40 percent of the total area and the irrigated area accounts for less than 10 percent of the net cropped area. The principal 44 and traditionalsource of irrigation has continuously been the well irrigation. The area irrigated under canals has also increased.Table ;2;7 shows the area irrigated by different sources during the year 19182-83, TABLE : 2:7 Area irrigated by Different sources in Shirpur Tehsil and Dhule district in 1982-83 and 1991-92. (In Hesctares) Sr. Dhule district Shirpur Taluka 1. Surface irrgation 12,154 9713 2,039 1472 (23’3) (16„72) (34.0) (21.&&) 2. Well Irrigation 39,912 48399 3,973 5325 (76.7). (83.28) (&6.0) (78.34) 3. Net area irrigated 52,066 58112 6,0.1,2 6797 (100,0 ) (100.0 ) (100.0 )(100.0 ) 4. Area irrigated more 19,415 17348 458 681 than once. (27.16) (22.98) (7.07) (9..10) 5. Gross area irrigated 71,481 75460 6,470 7478 6. Percentage of gross 137.3 130.0 108.0 110.0 area irrigated to net a r e a i. r r i g a t e d . 7. Net area sown 694,100 702043 59,400 61200 8. Gross cropped area 755,300 733914 70,500 69700 9. /I of net area 7. 8.3 10,1 irrigated to Net area sown. 10. 7. of gross irrigated 9„5 10 , 9.: 10.7 to gross cropped area, 11. 7, of gross irregated 10.3 10.8 11.0 to Net area sown. Nc Source s - Statistical Abstracts - Dhule District 1982--83. It is clear that well, are st.i, 11 a dominating source D-f irrigation in both Dhule district land Shirpur Taluka were the total area irrigated by well was about more than three- I •fourth and two-third respectively in 1991-92, The area irrigated by canals was more in Shirpur Taluka (21,66 percent). But the proportion of area irrigated more in than once was small in Shirpur taluka than in the district average due to the cultivation of perennial crops like sugercane and banana as well as sidequate rainfall which is enough for the maturity of rabtii crops. The percentage of net irrigated area W to ^et area shown was higher in the taluka as compared with the district percentage. (Table : 2:7) The percentage of net irrigated area to net area shown and grass irrigated area to net irrigated area in Shirpur Taluka is presented in Table s 2;3. TABLE 2 :8 Percenti^ge of Wet. and Bross Irrigiited Area in j Shlrpur Tehsil betwec-?n 1962--63 and 199.1-92, Year '/. of net area irrigated to '/. of Gross irrigated area Net area shown to Net irrigiited area 1962-63 1 .0. 105. 3 1971-72 5.0 133,,© 1978-89 9.0 135.8 1979-8C3 7.5 1 1 2 . 1 1980-81 10.6 1 1 B .8 1981-82 10.3 .108.0 1982-83 10.1 107.! & 1985-86 6 .1 :.05.3 1991-92 104.4 ^Source ; cofTipi 1 ation frorn the Statistical Abstracts, Dhule District 1971 to 199:^ It will be seen from above table that the percentage of net I irrigated area to net irrigated area has constantly been decreasing since the year 1980-Sl as against thd period from 1962-63 to 1978.79, during which it showed ^n increasing !i trend. As noted earlier, well irrigation is chief source of irrigation in Shirpur taluka, irrigating nesti'+ly two-third of the total irrigated area. Table 5 2^9 shows the numbe?r J t irrigation wells and the area irrigated there firm during i different years in thcv Taluka between 1952-53 and 1991-92. 4/ TABLE -.2:9 Number of Irrigation wells and area irrigated in the Shirpur talukft, between .1952-53 and 1991..92- Year Irrigated wells in use Area irrigated (ha) 1952-53 189 150 1956-57 343 384 1961-62 250 578 1970-71 467 2305 1980-81 1045 3960 1981-82 1080 3960 1982-83 1130 3973 1991-92 2665 5325 Sou r c. ; (1) D i s t r i c t. S t a t i. b t i. c; a 1A ta s t r a c, t s , D hi..i 1 e District. The data reveals that the number of irrigation wells has increased from 139 to 1130 during the period from 1952-53 to 19S2“83„ Also, the irrigated area has gone from 150 hectares to 3973 hectares during the same period. This considerable increase in the number of dug-wells, could be attributed to the assured underground V'Jater, modern outlook and commerci1 isation of agriculture, improvement in the financial position of the farmer, credit facility etc. Wells are concentrated mainly in the areas of Shirpur town, Kharde, Mandal, Amode and Kalamsare;, Arthe, Bhamte, Savalde and Thalner. At present, Tube..well irrigation is gaining 48 mcjmenturn particularly among th(s medium and rich j farmers -' On account. of deplsited ground water level , need -for perennial crops like sugercane and banana, tendency to irrigate a large area as possible and also demonstration effect. The number ground Water level has gradually been going dovijn because of the digging of new wells and continuous lifting of water through them in a huge quantity, the cultivation of heavy water consuming crops, inadequate rainfall and recurring 6 droughts, slow rate of recharging of water through ses? page, CrBPPina, Pattern Cropping pattern for a region depends! on a number of factor such as soil type rainfall pattern, method of cultivation and tradition, availability of irriglation water, prices and marketing facility. In Shirpur taluka, a variety i of food and non-food crops are cultivated of whith food crops account for more than 70 percent of the total cropped area. In the case of irrigated cropping pattern, the important crops grown in the taluka are v^heat, cotton chillis, summer i groundnut, sugercane and banana- Data on the area irrigated under different crops during the period 197i~72| to 19S50S6 are presented in the Table : 2; .1.0. It is seen from the Table that the nonj-food ,1982--83 but their percentage has reduced to 40 in 1985.....86 due to the extensive cultivation of rabi crops in the command area of Aner and karwand Projects. Since the rainfall in the taluka is adequate and fairly distributed, there is seldom need for providing 4!) TAKE : 2:11 Area irrigated Under Different Crops in Shirpur Taluks in different years between 1971-72 and 1991-92. (Area in Hectares) Sr.Crop 1971-72 1975-7i 1977-78 1988-81 1981-82 1983-84 1985-86 1991-92 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 Bajra ( ------jowar 2 Rice 118 312 373 354 291 275 159 77 14.6) (2.8) (5.7) (5.2) (4.8) (4.6) (3.4) ( ) 3 Hheat 1461 2868 2888 1918 883 882 587 469 m.i) (51.9) (43.6) (28.4) (13.2) (15.8) (12.6) (431) 4 Rabbi Joitar 28 117 227 288 1573 Hai2 (-) (-) («.3) (1.7) (3.7) (3.4) (33.8) (431) 5 Crai etc. 48 184 384 187 457 518 496 212 (1.5) (2.6) (4.6) (2.9) (7.5) (8.6) (18.6) ( ) Total Food 1619 2484 3577 2568 1777 1867 2815 1189 crop m.l) (i2.3) (54.1) (38.1) (29.3) (31,6) (t8.4) ( ) 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 <> Cotton 259 493 1888 2169 2181 2857 25 1199 (10.0) (12.4) (16.3) (32.2) (35.9) (34.7) (8.5) ()( ) 7 Chillies 682 538 1888 762 638 641 628 586 {2i.4) (13.3) (15.1) (11.3) (18.4) (18.8) (13.5) ( ) 8 Sugarcane 21 488 958 223 388 268 692 1925 (8.9) (12.8) (14.4) (3.3) (5.1) (4.4) (14.8) ( ) 9 Banana -- - 518 382 488 494 528 (-) (-) (-) (7.6) (5.8) (6.7) (18.6) ( ) 18 Groundnut --- 588 875 788 8 1472 (-) (-) (-) (7.4) (14.4) (ll.S) (8.2) ( ) Total Hon food962 1583 3838 4164 4296 4891 1847 5718 crops (37.3) (37.7) (45.9) (61.9) (78.7) (64.4) (39,6) ( ) 6RAND TOTAL 2581 3987 6687 6732 6873 5918 4662 6899 (188.8) (188.8) (188.8) (188.8) (188.8) (188.8) (i88.8)(i88.8) M e !- Figures in brackets indicate percentage to total irrigated area. Source ;(1) District Statistical Abstracts, Dhule District 1971-72 to 1991-93. 51 irrigation water to k'narif crops like Jowar and | Baj ra. But Khariff rice requires some waterings,! particullarly at the^' time of long breaks in the rains. Wheat is an important rabi crop but the area under it has gradually decreas(€o?d from 2063 I hectares in 19'75-76 to 587 hectares in i9a5-ci6j due to lov-j price and yield. Area irrigate^d under gram is rrjore than the rabi jowar during the period under considevyation but a I highest area of 1573 hectares was brought undeH rabi crops ofi 1 y i n t !'i a t y e a r . Ill the case of non..food crops, cotton is one of the major cash crops in the Taluka where the area irjrigated under it increased from about 2o0 hectors to 20o0 hectares during the period from 1971--72 to 1932--83, but it 'was only 25 hectares in 19S5-"086.„ Cotton is followed by 'chillies and I sugercane. Areairrigated under chillies f’luctuated in betweevi 500 hectares to 1000 hectare?s. Area under sugercane has down an increasing trend during the aforesaid period. This was mainly due to the reasonable prices, jeMpansion of irrigation facilities like wells, tube-welljs and lift i irrigation schemes. Banana is also equally an important cash crop in this taluka. This crop is popular beqause of its heavy prices, availability of transportation f^^cilities and ready markets at Indore, Akola, Surat, Eiombay , Sangli etc. Summer groundnut occupies a very imporjtant place in the irrigated cropping pattern as the areas under it has continuously been increasing on account of the government policy,the availability of irrigation water from Karwand and Aner F’rojects, digging of new wells and tube..well Is and high 5^ prices« In short, the cropping pattern in the taluka has shown as considerable shift from rain-fed and subsistence agriculture to the irrigated and commercial farlming. Under irrigated pattern, about 90 percent area was occupied by food crops land more than half of the area was : under wheat ! cultivation. But with expansion of irrig^^tion facilities,. ; the irrigated cropping pattern has gone und^r re^markable change. At present the cash crops like sugarctane, banana, summer groundnut and chill iess are grown extensiively and the area 1 irrigated under them was nearly 70 percent. Animal Husbandry The liv€?stock population population in the district vihich was 1.1. ,40,571 in 197S, increased to 14544606 (9.6 perccint) in 1987., During the same period the livestock population in Shirpur tehsil increasejd from 1,44,380 to 161672. The density of livestock in the district was estimated to be .95 per Sq.km. as against 96 per sq.km. for ' the V:'itate. Iri 19S7 total livestock in the district; numbered 1454606 of which 36041 were cows, 322394 v*4ere bulls 59845 were bufffelows 135593 were goats 39260S were sheeps 1519 horses. As a result of the distribution of milk animals under i the IRDF' other programmes of rural devel opfisent, Ito the? weaker sections, viz. agricultural laborer and smitll and marginal farmers, the number of milk animals had considerably increased. Out of them 26.7 percent were buffel lows, 10.2 percent were cows and 34.2 percent were the ;sheeps. The poultry population was estimated to be 787912. 53 The total earnings from the 1ivestock;produce which was Rb. 2343 lakhs in 1984--85 increased to Rs. 4948 lakhs in 1991-92 of which Rs. IQ lakhs came froffl poultry. The number of slaughteered animal was estimated to be 35,195 e;;c lading pigs. In 1934“35 there were 4 veterinary hospitals, 31,195 excluding pigs. In 1984-85 there were 4 veterinary hospitals, 31 dispensaries and 108 aid centres in the district with 41 doctors, 110 livestock supervisors, treating 3,21,597 .animals. the number of artificially insesminated animals accounted for 30,317. In the same year the figures for Shirpur tehsil were, 1,5,14 with 6,14 treating 41,332 animals and 3739 respectively. The live stock mortality accourited for 34 only. T f"I e d i s t r i c t. i s f a m o u s f o r m i 1 k -- c d 11 e c: t i o n . I n 1991, it had 9 milk unions and E!74 milk societies with 74,000 members. There is milk pausturination and cold-^storage plant with 50.000 liters capacity at Shirpur. Nearly 1,60,000 liters of milk is daily collected and transported to Bombay. In addition the earnings from butter and ghee was estimated to Rs. 35 Lakhs. These were E!7B villages in the district as a whole covered by milk routes under the dairy Scheme of which Shirpur tehsil reporteed 109 villages , Aaco-Indus_tria 1 . Deyg | ogmen t Despite the availability of abundant natural resources such as agricultural and forest raw material, different crops and livestock products and expandirig facilities of infrastructure, Shirpur teh si 1 a s the whole of the Dhule district continues to be industrially backward, as 54 compared to the neighboring districts of Jalgadn and Nasik. i r-'kf minerals of any economic importance are? reporjted. Factors like traditional e^gricul ture, large proportion | of tribals., underuti 1 isation of re^sources, underu.ti 1 isation lof resources, i 1 a c k o f i n d i.( s t r i a 1 e n t e r p r e n e i“ iii. h i f , skilled 11 a b o u r, ha v e hired the progress of industrie?s, Hov'jever, after independence, agro-'processing industries have got momentum. The master plan of I960, package programme nationalisation of banks, district a credit planning and decentralisation. Rural Industries Project, District Industrial Center, industrial co-operatives. Nev-.i 20 point programme? and the Tribal sub-pul an are the important landmarkB in the industrial history of the tehsil. The working population of Shirpur : tehsil was estimated to be 46.24 percent of v*^hich the industrial workers engaged in diffe;rent industries numbered only 5 percent. Cifetween 1931 and 1991, Urban population of Shirpur taluka went up from 34,000 to 45,000, the proportion of urban population to total population increasted from 16 perct?nt to 20 percent , This points towards the low growth of u r b 51 n i s a t i o n a n d hen c e o f i n d u s t r i a 1 i s a t i o n . There are seven large scale industries cotton and weaving mill, one solvent extraction plant, one Vanaspati factory, one paper mill (at Karwand in £3hirpur Tehsil ) , one Universal Starch Chem. factory, one Cattle feed factory and five sugar factory(one? of them located at DiAhiwad in Shirpur taluka) providing daily employment to 7000 workers. Recently, under the Dairy Development programme 91 dairy co 55 operatives had biaen estatalished in the district.! The present structure of agro industries in I Shirpur tehsil, consisted of agro based and proce-r'ssing I industries like bakeries, edible oil, cotton, i ginning and pressing, dal-making etc. Forest-taased industries such as saw mills, wooden furniture’s and agricultural implements, cocil, Rosha oil, Bidi maiking,, gathering of Mohwsi fruits and flowers and collection of gum, units based on animal products, viz. Leat h(-3r ‘foe t..K' a V■■ e a n d o t !"i e i ■ p r o d u c t s . , I n addition Motor vehicle repairj truck body building, steel furniture, fabrication, mechanical workshop, sheet metal works, ice unit, manufacturing of bricks and tiles land cement pipes, grills etc, have developed side by side. However, within the tehsil as in the district, the regional imbalance is noteworthy. Industrially taack--ward pockets such as the Adiwasi are-as in the vicinity of Boradi, Rcjhini are in existence along with rather advanced area in and around the Shirpur tovm. ! In 1991--92, these were 49710 estabjlishme?nts in rural areas of the district employing 1.(32035 workers, of vjhich agro..industrial units numbered 13,552 and non---agro units, 36159. In the same years there were 25,697 establishments in urban areas employing 85,751 ' workers, of which agro..based industries accounted for 676 units and non agro for 25,021 units. At the end of 1992 ,th0re were 364 working registered factories in the district providing employment to 12348 workers. In addition thefre were 110 private and 3 public limited Joint stock Companies. There 5o was ons Sugar mill, 2 spinning inilks, one fei'ti 1 iser factor/j 14 small scale registered units, IS regis-itered factories providing employment to 150 workers. One village oil ghanis, 30 shoe making units, 9 household processing units, 2 other handicraft units and 9 other services units. Trade and commerce Cotton is the most important item of export form t h e t e hi s i 1 a n d t h e 5 d i s t. r i c t. G r- o u n d n i.i t, c h i 1 1 i e s , o i 1 s e e d s , starch,, milk, jowar and pulses are other items of export along with Charoli from Akrani and Rosha oil which is highly in demand from Western Countries. The chief article imported are foodgrains, hardware, iron and steel, salt, coconuts, machinery and cloths. Eshirpur along with Dondaicha, Nandurbar, Shahada, Nawapur, Taloda and Sakri are the important trade centres for agricultural produce, Dhule , Nandurbar and Dondaicha, Shirpur happens to be the famous wholesale trade centres. Markets is held in 81 yillages, in the district, villages and tribals from remote areas come to Shirpur for weekly or daily marketing as most of the villages mainly the tribal ones do not have the marketing facilities. These is one regulated market and one cc’-operative marketing society at shirpur,, There are 522 unregulated markets, 9 vi 11 age mandies cDmmi.uiicatiori „ About 90 (percent) villages in the tehsilhave the availability of bus stoop, water way etc. serving about 8© percent of rural population as against about 858 (56.60 percent) villages serving 77percent of the rural' population, 57 658 villages in the district do not have any kind of communication facility. .1.7,1. villages have been providec! wi th broadcasting sets serving .117660 population as against 1376 villages with 1166BS6 in the district. Railways and Roads There is no railvjay line within the tehsil however t he c en t ra 1 and Wes t.ern ra .i. 1 way s have 17.1. . 61 krns . of t.o ta 1 railway length with 23 railway stations in the district. Nardana, is the nearest railway station on the Eijhusawal Surat Western Railway , from Shirpur. the total road length in tht^ district measures 7382 kms. Nearly 75 percent | villages in the district are approachable by pucca-roads. |Shirpur, the taluka h£^adqv.iarters lies on the Bomtaay-Agra f'4at.tonal highway and also on the Burhanpur-Ankale^shwar State highway. The traffic intensity near the Shirpur town 'worked dut to be 3038 vehicles. In 1993, there were 548500 motor vehiicles of all types in the district on an average 500 S.T%.;busqs ran per day Pp^ t _and... Te ^ ear,3Bh There are 37 posts and one offices in^ the Shirpur tehsil as against 445 and 185 in the district .respectively. The number of post offices per lakh population iis 7 in urban areas and 24 in rural areas. 1100 villages do not have any kind of post and telegraph amenity, in the district. There are 503 telephones in the tehsil as against 101142 telephones in the district as a whole. 36 community T.V. sv3ts have been installed in the tehsil as against 268 in the district. Education i Dhule is one of the educationally backward district 58 o t t h e s t, a t e . E d u c a t. i o n a 1 f a c .13. i t. i e s a r e a v a i 1 a b 1 e i n 1319 (87.02) percent villages. There are 35 preliminary, 2080 priiTiary, 243 secondary, 79 higher secondary and .18 colleges in the district. Students on roll in schools numbered 435813 while those in colleges numbered 44469, The number of students ion primary schools per lakh population was 14232, in highschools 8687 and in colleges 1271. „ In 1992--93 there were 353 Adult Education cente-;rs andj 1707 Anganwadies in the district. Primary schools per lakH population in shirpur Tehsil in 1992--93 numbered "72 ! with 14459' students, Highschools and higher secondary schools, 16 with 7311 students and colleges 2 V'Jith 917 student on roll per lakh population. i Drinking Water Facility In all the 147 inhabited villaiges and Shirpur town in the tehsil as against in the 1516 villages in the district. IS villages are sen“ved by Water pipeline's, 0.,B£^rAcity..and Powgr Supply All the 8 cities and 1603 villages in the district have been electrified. The respective figures for Shirpur tehsil work out to be 1 arid 147,, The per capital consuiription of electricity which was estimated at 56.72 ! Medical and Health Facilities In 1992, 12 hospitals, 46 dis-pensaries, 71 primary health centers, 83 danlily welfare cienters in public sector and 584 hospitals in private sectors were functioning , in Dhule District. The birth rate per thousands was estimated at 5?) 2.1 ;.l.while the death rate as 5s 1 . In the SHuTiS year, Shirpur tehsil accounted for 1 cottage hospital 6 dispensaries and: 8 primary health centers in addition to a number of private hospiteils and maternity and nursing homes. ; Batihs. There are more than .130 branches of the nationalised scheduled and unsheduled banks in the district of which Shirpur tehsil accounts for 32 .66 percent of these branches are located in rural areas, and 34 percent in urban areas. The £iverage population served by each branch accounts for 18471 as against the Nationsil average of 20,0B0, In additional 160 branch£?s of co.operative banks are functioning in the district. The Central E-fank of India is the Lead Bank of the district. CQ-QB^ratives There are 3S36 co-operatives of all types in the district out of V'jhich Shirpur tehsil accounts fc^r 85. Of them 540 are agricultural credit societies which number 81 in Shirpur tehsil and with 4 LAMPS The beginning of thf? co--operating movement in Dhule district can be traced back to the arganisation of the first co-operative society at Holnanthe, in Shirpur taluka in 1907. The late Shri, Chandrasing Girase who took a lead in sponsoring this society was a big money lender. The movements since then made a rapid progress. The Acts. 1912, 192S, 1925 and 1960 gave it a fresh impetus and orientation. Firmly, established on sound footing, it acquired a unique place in the district econgmvk. Almost all villages in the district were covered by the co-operation. Originally confined to agricultural credit it embr£-iced an array of economic activities. Thus the district was heeiding towau"ds a co-operative commonwealth. It aptly reminds us of the inspring remarks of the All India Rural Credit Survey Committee that "Co-operation has failed but C0”0perati0n must 7 succeed. The progress of the^ movement assumed grater significance in view of the peculiar backv'jardness of the district having the largest proportion of tribal fjopulation (40 percent). The progre^ss of the? movemcent assumed greater significance; in viev*4 of the pecular backwardness of th(5 district having the? largest proportion of tribal population (40 pet' -cen t.) The fnove(nen t pt--oved a b 1 essings to the weakey~ sections, workers and farmers especially the ignorant tribals, vjho were exploited by the moneylenders, and traders and forced to sale their psroduce at improper time and at improper rate. It enabled them to reap the benefits of improved agriculture and modernised industries. In 1991-92 there were 3836 co-operatives with S.94 lakhs members if! Dhule District of all the co-operatives A g r i c 11 u r a 1 c r e d i t c o - o p e i-' a t i v e s f o r m s d 71 p e r c e n t w hi i 1 e t h e non agricultural credit co-operatives 29 percent. The non credit co-operatives numbered 2301 i.e. 73 percent out of them the milk co.operatives accounted for33.4 percent, housing co--operatives 21,9 percent and industri^il co operatives 7.2 percent. £ 1 Within the district the distribution of co operatives in different te.luka 'was unerven, Dhul e talLika was at the top and Akkalkuwa was the last. Shirpur taluka along with Dhule, Sindkheda, Bhahada, Bakri and Nancurbar taluka made a rapid headway, while Nawapur Taloda, Akkalkuwa and Akrani taluka of mostly tribal concentration liiigged behind. Milk Societies made a rapid advance in Shirpur, Shahada, Dhule and Sindkheda, taluka. Forest laborers Bqcieties were organised mainly in Akrani, Nawapur and Shirpur■Taluka. PrifflarY Agricalt^Lal Credit and Lamg Societies The post-independence period from 1951 to 1?85 witnessed more than 21 times expansion in ' the Loading o p e r a t i on o f t !"i e s e s o c i e t i e s i. n D h u 1 e d i s t i c h , w hi i c !"i 1 occupied the third position in respect of number of these soc i. e t i e s i i~i M a h a r s t r a , 52 TABLE ; 2:11 Position of the primary Agricult ural Credit societies in Sbirpur Tehsil in comparison with T 'hul0 District in. 1986-87 and 1992-93 „ (Rs .in thousand) Sr. I tem 1986 - 87 1992 - 93 No. Shirpur Total Shi rpur Total Tehsil Dhule Tel-isil Dhule Dist. Dis ttrict 1. No.of £)OCieites 81 539 81 543 2. No. of members 17718 143014 20£:52 184705 3. Share Capitis 1 8764 63594 18079 126575 4. Reseve and Other funds 1997 13612 7Cl27 26264 5 . W o r k i n g C- a p i t a 1 51354 312674 B4934 761746 6. Loans advanced 35609 140138 16407 101363 7 . L. o a n s r e c o v e r■ e d 293328 128429 3, Loans outstanding 41193 240343 10S107 79864 9. Loans over dues 7126 118577 6002 56859 Source ; Reports from DistrictDeputy Registrar, Co operativeSocieties, Dhule District for the ye4r 1936-37 and 1992.93. Table : 2:11 Shows the progress of the PACSt in Shirpur Taluka in comparison wiLh Dhule district a^ a whole , Shirpur along with certain other tehsils wa 5 placed in favorable position in respect of viable PACS. E shoviGd iricreas-ing trend. Reserve and other funds, working capital also showed increasing trend 351,37' pc^rcent and .165.33 percent respectively but the indicatoi'ies of loans showed decreasing trend. ! Gram-swaraj and Adivasi societites were organised mainly in Shirpur, Akrani, Akkalkuwa, Naw5ipur‘ and Taloda Taluka. Shahada taluka followed by Shirpur Taluk:a topped all other taluka in respect of Share capital, fund^ and working capital, loans and overdues. There were 4 LAMPS in '.Shirpur Tehsil iout of 59 in the district. The number of members was 7062, share capital Rs. 6,49 lakhs, Preserve and other funds F;s. 67,000/-- working capital Rs. 36.95 lakhs,, loans advanced Rs. 4.58 lakh,and overdues Rs. 44 lakhs. There figures indicate not so happy position of these societies. The PACS in the district coverage was Lore than the district average (6C3) in Dhule, Shirpur, Sakri and Sindkhede, Taloda and Shahada talukas. The proportion of villagtes covered in Shirpur taluka was 147 population covered 17S54 as against the district total of 1516 and 1,650,113 respectively. Effective coverage in terms of borrowing members to total members increased from, 61,024 in 19Ei5l--82 to 702216 (23.60 percent) in 1989. It was more than the district average in Shirpur, Shahada, Sindklheda, Sakri and Nandurbar Taluka, while it was lower in Akrani,, Taloda, AkkalkuvMa, Dhule and Nsiwapur taluka. It was observed that a large number of rural population like rural artisans and craft men and agricultural laborers were G1 B siti .11 outside the coverage of these societies. These were 11 Adiwasi co.ofjerative Societies in the tehsil in 1992-93 as against 1S4 in the district as a whole. The khate-dar ffiembers were 4981 and others 17S, including 724 as small farmers. Share capital of these Societies amoL^nted to Rs. 4.97 lakhsj borrov-jed capital Rs. 17,25 lakhs, working capital Rs. 23.15 lakhs. They advanced Rs. 13.15 Lakhsj as Loans to \ 2431 borrowers, as against 234.55 lakhs to 1713p’ borrows in the district as a whole?. Loans out-standing accounted for Rs. 16.35 due to 3392 borrowers as against Rs. 205.35 Lakhs for he district as whole. ' I i ftdm j.ni5trati.y.e Set-up D hi u 1 e d :i. b t r i c t i s d i v i d e d i n t o 1 ® t a 1 u k a , A t D 1 e , t h e district headquarters, Collector is the head as far sis law and order, the Collection of revenues are concerned, Tahsildar look after the taluka administration and revenue collection. Since 1st May, 19&2, a district level Local self Government body, Zilla Parishad, has been constituted with elected members. There are 1® panchayat siamitis at the block level one in each taluka. There are sesen municipal I I councils in the district. Co Reference and footnotes. (1) District Census Handbook Dhule District, 1961,1971,1981 and 1991. ■ (2) Gazetter of India, Maharastra state, Dhule District (Re?vised Edition 1974) „ (3) Sdc io--EconDfnic F^eview and District Statistical Abstracts, Dhule District 1979--30 to 1991-92, (4) F;ane (Mahajan) Dr. D, . A F’h.D. Thesis " Socio-Economic Develc!piTiGnt erf Dhule District,(University of Poona, 1977) Chapter II. | (5) Ibid i i 6 ) Gite MnR.Reasearch Article '' Irrigational Develcjpment and Changing Cropping patten-n in Shirpur TaluV;.a. (7) Fleserve Bank of India, All India Rural Credit Survey Report (1954) vol .II. (8) Patil Dr.S.G. " A Ph.D. Thesis "Problems of Co-operative Credit in Dhule District ” (University of Poona, May? 1991.)