DEVELOPMENTAL DEPARTMENTS

the AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.

AGRICULTURE.

Organisation.

THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE IS THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, who is assisted by two Joint Directors, four Deputy Directors, at headquarters, each in charge of (1) research and education, (2) intensive cultivation, (3) agricultural extension, and (4) agricultural engineering and soil conservation. One Deputy Director of Agriculture for crop research, with his headquarters at Poona for the whole State, working under the Director of Agriculture, concerns himself with the technical side of crop research in the State. The Divisional Deputy Directors are in charge of extension work in their respective divisions and the District Agricultural Officers of the respective districts are in turn responsible for all extension work in their districts.

The work carried out by the Department of Agriculture in the Kolhapur district may be grouped under the following items:-

(a) Agricultural Extension and demonstrations.

(b) Agricultural Engineering including Mechanical Cultivation and Soil Conservation.

(c) Animal and Poultry Husbandry.

(d) Agricultural Research and Education.

Agricultural Extension and Demonstration.

Agricultural Extension and Demonstrations.-The officer in-charge of extension work in the district is the District Agricultural Officer, who is responsible to the Divisional Deputy Directors. The District Agricultural Officer is assisted, by one Assistant District Agricultural Officer at his headquarters and two Agricultural Officers-one for the North Division and the other for the South Division of the district. Six of the nine talukas and two of the three mahals of the district are divided into 29 circles, each taluka or mahal having three or four circles and there is one Agricultural Assistant in-charge of each circle. In the remaining three talukas and one mahal, independent National Extension Service Blocks having been formed, the department's Agricultural Assistants have been with drawn and work at village level is being looked after by Gramsevaks who are trained in agriculture, and by Agricultural Officers attached to each Block at the Block Level.

The District Agricultural Officer is responsible for all extension work in the district. The following are the important extension activities of the district: -

(1) Execution of all " Grow More Food " schemes.

(2) Establishment of agricultural demonstration centres on cultivators fields and holding field demonstrations in respect of various improvements.

(3) Extension of intensive cultivation of paddy by the Japanese method and organisation of demonstration plots.

(4) Organisation of demonstration plots showing various; cultural, manurial and other improvements.

(5) Organisation of agricultural and cattle shows in the district.

(6) Organisation of crop protection services.

(7) To help and guide all National Extension Service Blocks in planning of agricultural extension programme in their respective blocks.

(8) Organisation of crop competitions of various crops to encourage the cultivators to maximise their production per acre.

(9) Supervision of crop-cutting experiments.

(10) Extension of sugarcane development scheme.

(11) Organisation of special weeks such as Vana Mahotsava Saptah, Gram Sudhar Saptah, Fertilizers Week, and Crop Competition Fortnight.

(12) Extension of horticultural, vegetable and kitchen gardening.

Each circle of a taluka or mahal has a depot wherein improved seeds, insecticides and fungicides are stocked for sale to needy cultivators. Dust guns, spray pumps and improved implements are also stocked for the use of cultivators on nominal hire charges. Agricultural extension work is carried on in each circle by the Agricultural, Assistant, who is supervised by the Agricultural Officer of the division concerned.

The distribution of fertilizers is done through co-operative bodies and individual 'traders.

Mechanical Cultivation.

Mechanical Cultivation.-There is one Bulldozing Unit, with four bulldozers, in charge of a Foreman Supervisor who works under the control of the Mechanical Cultivation Engineer to Government. The bulldozing programme, however, is chalked out by the District Agricultural Officer, and the work is undertaken according to that programme. Bulldozers are sent wherever there is concentration of work in a compact block, the minimum required being at least 70 hours of work for each bulldozer in the first instance. All charges for bulldozing are required to be credited in advance to the District Agricultural Officer, and on receipt of advances necessary job orders are issued to the Foreman Supervisor for executing the work. The charges for bulldozing work are as under:-

Soil Conservation.

Soil Conservation.-The Sub-Divisional Soil Conservation Officer, Miraj, is in-charge of soil conservation work in Kolhapur district. Soil conservation work has been started in a few villages of the eastern portion of the district. Bulldozers are also utilised for soil conservation work wherever necessary.

The soil conservation works are executed by the soil conservation staff after obtaining the written consent of 67 per cent. of the land owners of the villages for which soil conservation schemes are approved by the Land Improvement Board of the district. The total cost of the work is met by Government in the first instance, and 50 per cent. of the cost of the work or Rs. 10 per acre, whichever is less, is considered as subsidy from Government and the remaining amount is recovered from the land owners concerned in 15 equal annual instalments (free of interest) commencing one year after the date of completion.

Boring.

Boring Machines.-The two boring machines belonging to the Agricultural Department are handed over to the District Local Board for execution of boring work in the district.

Water-finding.

Water-finding Machine.-One water-finding machine has been allotted to this district. The charges for the water-finding machine are Rs. 10 for agricultural purposes and Rs. 20 for non-agricultural purposes.

Animal Husbandry.

Animal Husbandry.-Live-stock (Cattle) improvement work is undertaken in the district by the District Agricultural Officer under the guidance of the Live-stock Expert to Government. Premium bulls and premium cows are located in the villages for improvement of cattle by the grading system. For this purpose intensive cattle improvement zones are selected and improvement work is undertaken in these areas. Pure breed animals are tattooed and registered in the herd-stock.

The Khillar breed of cattle is very popular in this district, especially in the eastern and central parts. In the western part, which is rather hilly and has heavy rainfall, the Dangi breed is recommended.

Artificial insemination work has been undertaken by the Animal Husbandry Department at Kolhapur very recently and it is getting popular.

Poultry Development.

Poultry Development.-Poultry development work is undertaken in the district under the guidance of the Poultry Development Officer, Poona. Improved birds and hatching eggs are supplied to deserving poultry keepers at concessional rates. There is also a poultry farm at Kolhapur and it is to be developed into a technical institution for training students in poultry husbandry. The farm is now only engaged in maintaining different birds and supply of pure birds and hatching eggs to cultivators. [All sheep, poultry and animal husbandry works have been transferred to the Director of Animal Husbandry, Bombay State, Poona 1, on 1st July, 1957 as per Government, Resolution, Agriculture and Forests Department, No.' LVS-1056-D, dated the 28th June 1957. Transfer of extension work in animal husbandry and poultry etc. at the district level is, however, not done and is still looked after by the District Agricultural Officer.]

Research and Education.

Research, and Education.-Agricultural research is done in this district mainly on paddy and sugarcane crops, which are the main crops of the district.

The Agricultural Research Station (Sugarcane) in the district is in charge of an Agricultural Officer who is working under the Sugarcane Specialist, Padegaon, and is located at Rajputwadi-four miles from Kolhapur on the Kolhapur-Ratnagiri Road. This is a sub-station under the Sugarcane Specialist, Padegaon, started in the year, 1950, to carry out research on manurial and cultural practices of sugarcane and to help in increasing the yield. The area of the farm is 21 acres and is taken on lease from the Kolhapur Sugar Mills. The present area of the farm is very small and it is, therefore, difficult to carry out experiments on a large scale.

One permanent Sugarcane Research Station with laboratory facilities has been sanctioned for Kolhapur in the Second Five-Year Plan and it is to be placed in charge of a Class II Officer. The work of acquiring land on the Kolhapur-Poona road for this Research Station has been taken up with the Revenue department.

At present Co. 419 is popularly grown in the district on more than 95 per cent, of the area. New promising strains evolved are Co. 740 and Co. 775. Co. 775 is good both in regard to yields and sugar recovery and is getting popular with cultivators.

The sugarcane development work has been going on in the district since 1954 and an area of 15,000 acres covering areas of Kolhapur and South Satara districts has been selected for carrying out sugarcane development work. The scheme is in charge of an Agricultural Officer with his headquarters at Kolhapur, working under the Sugarcane Specialist, and the Agricultural Officer is assisted by four Agricultural Assistants of which three are located in the Kolhapur district and one in the South Satara district. The main activities undertaken in the Scheme are control of pest and diseases, propaganda for departmental schedule of manuring, maintenance of seed nurseries, use of improved implements, competition for highest production of gul, advice to cultivators in respect of preparation of gul and improved furnaces, manurial trials, etc.

The Agricultural Research Station (Paddy) in the district is in charge of an Agricultural Officer who works directly under the Deputy Director of Agriculture Crop Research, Poona. The station is located at Radhanagari. The area of the farm is about five acres. As the latter is very inadequate, the work of acquiring additional lands is in progress (1957).

The object of the Research Station is to evolve suitable strains of paddy, both for drilled and for transplanted tracts.

Government Orchard at Ajra.-This is in charge of an Agricultural Officer working under the Horticulturist to Government, Poona. The Horticultural Section has taken over possession of mango gardens of the old State and the work of improvement of the gardens is in progress. A horticultural nursery has been established, and grafts of various fruit trees are supplied to cultivators.

Agricultural Education.

Agricultural Education.-There are two institutions connected with agricultural education in Kolhapur district:-

(1) The Shahu Agricultural School, Bavada.

(2) The Extension Training Centre, Bavada.

The Shahu Agricultural School, with an agricultural farm of 65 acres 34 gunthas attached to it, is located in Kasba-Bavada, three miles away from Kolhapur town. The school is in charge of a Superintendent who is in Maharashtra Agricultural Service, Class II, and is assisted by an Agricultural Officer and Agricultural Assistants. Annually 30 students selected by a Committee are admitted to the school. Each student gets a stipend of Rs. 20 per mensem, and two sets of Khaki uniform during the period of training.

With a view to making an adequate number of trained Gram Sevaks available, the Agricultural school is being utilised in 1956-57 for giving training in basic agriculture for the Gram Sevaks selected by the Divisional Officer. These Sevaks will undergo further training for six months in the Extension Training Centre. The Extension Training Centre was established at Kasba-Bavada, a suburb of Kolhapur, in 1956, in pursuance of the Second Five-Year Plan to meet the increased demand for trained personnel under the National Extension Scheme. The Agricultural School has been integrated with it. The centre admits annually about 130 trainees. The trainees are of two types, viz., direct recruits selected by a committee and also in-service personnel from Revenue, Agricultural and Co-operative departments. Two courses are given at the Extension Training Centre, one is for trainees who have successfully passed either the two year agricultural course or the S. S. C. Examination with Agriculture as a subject. These are given a six months course. The other is for those who have not undergone any training in Agriculture. They are given a one-year course. The six month course usually commences on the 16th April and the 16th October. The one year course commences from the 16th April every year. A stipend of Rs. 50 per mensem is given to direct recruits admitted to the centre and a stipend of Rs. 25 per mensem to men of service personnel of Agricultural, Co-operative and Revenue departments admitted at the centre.

The staff at the Extension Training Centre consists of one Maharashtra Agricultural Service, Class I Officer as Principal, three lecturers in Co-operation, Education and Public Health in Class II, and one lecturer in revenue matters (2nd grade Mamlatdar) and one Veterinary Officer from the Veterinary department and one Officer of the Subordinate Agricultural Service, I grade, and one officer of the Subordinate Agricultural Service, II grade.

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