AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION Land Reclamation and Utilization The district had a geographical area of 6,31,600 ha. in 1971 of which 4,75,839 ha. was utilized for agricultural purposes. The statement below gives the figures of area of land utilization in the district in 1951, 1961 and 1971: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Utilization purposes Area in hectares --------------------------------------------- 1951 1961 1971 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total geographical 6,74,539 6,44,425 6,31,600 area Forest 77,456 59,911 55,628 Area not available for cultivation 51,946 52,156 52,058 Other uncultivated area excluding current fallows 64,248 38,348 41,844 Current fallows 20,530 17,998 7,711 Total cultivated area 6,58,421 7,74,160 6,56,616 Net cultivated area 4,61,137 4,75,951 4,75,839 Area cropped more than once 1,07,284 2,98,208 1,80,807 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cultivated Area During the period between 1856 and 1871,average area under tillage was 6,16,828 hectares or 62.9 percent of the total of the district,excluding the large extent of forests. Appreciable progress in cultivation was recorded in subsequent years. At the time of the settlement carried out between 1856- 1857 it was found that 1,01,171 hectares of land was reclaimed in Mahrajganj and Gorakhpur tahsils of the district. The average cultivated area four years ending with 1887-88 was recorded to be 7,37,337 hectares. In the following decade the average rose to 7,95,618 hectares and this would have been even higher but for the temporary decline due to a cycle of bad seasons in the second half of the decade. The recovery was however, rapid and in the decade 1898-99--1907-08 cultivation reached a higher figure than ever before, the average for the ten years being 8,26,549 hectares while in the second half of the decade it was 8,35,292 hectares or 71.17 percent of the total area of the district. In 1907-08 cultivated area on record was or 8,44,503 hectares. The following statement gives the decennial figures of net cultivated area in the district from 1911 to 1970-71 and in 1972-73: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year Cultivated area* in hectare Percentage of total area --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1911 8,60,511 73.3 1921 8,50,364 72.5 1931 8,76,308 74.8 1941 8,70,109 74.3 1951 4,61,137 68.2 1961 4,75,951 73.8 1970-71 4,75,839 75.3 1972-73 4,92,075 78.6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Culturable Land Land under this category in the district includes waste lands,forests, groves, new or old, fallow lands and also land otherwise classed as waste due to sandiness, barrenness, re-infection, soil erosion etc. The statement below gives the decennial figures of culturable land in the district from 1951 to 1970-71 and in the year 1972-73: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Year Culturable Land in hectares ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1951 2,14,585 1961 1,68,474 1970-71 1,00,721 1972-73 78,529 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The culturable land in the year 1970-71 mentioned above included 55,628 hectares under forests, 16,688 hectares under groves, 11,334 hectares under culturable waste, 467 hectares under postures and grazing grounds besides the fallow land which measured 16,604 hectares. In the same year barren and unculturable land in the district measured 4,462 hectares. Besides, the total area of the land in the district which was covered under water, occupied by buildings and habitation sites, railways, etc, was 52,058 hectares in that year. Precarious Tracts The precarious tracts of the district are few and not extensive. The main river of the district are Rapti and Ghaghra. Besides, Rohini, Ami and Kuwana Nadi flow through this district. The slope of land is from north to south. The southern portion of the district is low-lying and there are numerous small rivers and nalas in this part as a result this part is usually most affected by floods and water- logging in rainy season. Ghaghra's fury is almost an annual calamitous feature. Vast areas and villages get submerged resulting in colossal loss to life and property and cultivation is worst affected. Precariousness assumes yet another shape in the tracts situated close to the banks of the rivers. In these areas the soil is usually sandy. An early cessation of rains plays havoc with the cultivation, the sandy nature of the soil precluding the construction of kutcha wells by the cultivators. Irrigation There are extensive irrigation facilities in the district. Little irrigation is needed in the Kacchar except in very abnormal seasons, for the natural moisture in the soil ordinarily sufficient for the needs of the Rabi crops. Again in the great rice tract of the north, where little attention is paid to the scanty rabi, irrigation is not needed except for the late rice, which is watered by means of channels from the tarai streams. The returns of 1869-70 show an irrigated area of 3,67,225 hectares or 59.5 per cent of the net cultivation. Owing to the variation in the requirements of different seasons quoting only the figures of any single year may be misleading and consequently a fair idea of the irrigated area can be derived only from the averages of a more or less prolonged period. For the four years ending with 1887-88 the actually irrigated area averaged 2,09,581 hectares or 28.42 per cent of the total cultivation and the corresponding figures for the ensuing decade were 2,06,457 hectares and 29.51 per cent. From 1898-99 to 1907-08 the average was 2,65,667 hectares or 32.14 percent of the area under the plough the maximum being 2,98,065 hectares or 37.24 percent in 1900-01. The general average was considered very high. The proportion of irrigated and cultivated land varied in different parts of the district. The percentage of the irrigated area to the total sown area was 36.5 in 1971-72 whereas the state average was about 40 percent. The following statement gives the decennial figures of total irrigated area in the district from 1951 to 1971: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year Irrigated area in hectares percentage to cultivated area --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1951 1,54,186 33.4 1961 1,80,341 37.8 1971 2,39,402 53.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Means of Irrigation For irrigation purpose the district has a network of canals tubewells and minor irrigation works like pakka wells fitted with pumping sets and persian wheels. The following statement shows the area (in hectares) irrigated by different sources in a number of years between 1950-51 and 1972-73 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year Canals Tube-wells Wells Tanks,Lakes and Reservoir Others Ponds ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1950-51 1,680 4,273 86,703 -- -- 71,376 1961-62 10,606 14,100 63,788 53,998 36 33,052 1970-71 28,156 71,762 36,989 44,639 -- 53,317 1972-73 34,424 1,12,338 30,813 23,069 -- 35,817 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canals :- The numerous rivers have been incessantly brining havoc in this area in the shape of flood and water logging in abnormally wet years. The wayward monsoon also resulted in drought and worst famines in the area. Wells and tanks were too insufficient and often of no use in years of acute drought. Canals from the perennial rivers were considered the only hope to solve the problems and to guard the people against the vagaries of monsoon, drought and floods. As early as the beginning of 20th century the Tharus adopted a system of canals for the tarai streams of the Binayakpur and Tipur parganas, the water being collected by means of earthen embankments and conducted to fields along channels called kulas. In 1907 it was proposed to construct a gravity canal from the right bank of river great Gandak near Bhaisalotan or Valmiki Nagar in Nepal.The scheme was, however, rejected by the state Government on the ground that the area produced, mainly paddy which did not require any irrigation in normal years. Food shortage in the country during and after the second world war brought the problem again to the fore. In 1947 the central Government requested the government of Bihar State to investigate the possibilities of taking off canals from both sides of Great Gandak river for providing irrigation facilities, in the districts of Gorakhpur and Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and also a large area in Bihar State. In 1954 a preliminary project report was prepared and submitted to Government of India by Bihar. It envisaged an expenditure of Rs 3,194.0 lakh. As a measure of immediate relief the construction of an inundation canal, namely Naraini-Pokhra canal was taken up by the U.P. Government in 1954. This canal takes off from the right bank of the great Gandak at Pathrawa ghat. The canal was completed in 1956. It commands a culturable area of 55,037 hectares in the district. Total length of the canal and its distributary channels is 206 km. The U. P. Government has also prepared a project plan for the portion of western Gandak canal system covering part of Nepal and the two district- Gorakhpur and Deoria in this State- envisaging a total cost of Rs 1,547.40 lacs. In 1961, the U.P. Government submitted to government of India a revised plan for the works in the state entailing an expenditure of Rs.1,515.69 lakh proposed to provided irrigation to an area of 2,84,089 hectares. Work on the western Gandak canal project (for the area falling in U.P.) was started in the same year, the existing Naraini canal system was merged with the new project.