PROVINCIAL PRODUCTION 



Upper 

 India. 



DOLICHOS 



LABJLAB 



Cultivation 



hut that IK- never found it wild. Basu (Agri. lahardaga, 79) remarks 

 that it i.s xiwn in .July to August. It is allowed to .climb on tn-eH or 

 hedges, and the green pods are procurable in January to March. Mukerji 

 Utook Ind. Agri., 1901, 263) writes that the time for sowing is July 

 (tin- i|iiant ity of seed JMT am- heing 5 to 8 lb.) and that the time of harvest- 

 .lanuarv and February, the yield being 250 to 400 lb. per a 

 1 i'i (.lijri. Cuttack, 1893, 118-9) observes that it is planted in suon>. 

 !lv prepared holes or pits about the middle of June. The pi 

 I lower in November-December and the crop is obtained in February- 

 March. Speaking of Assam, it is met with not only in the valley proper but 

 aUo in the Naga, Garo, Khasia hills and Manipur each locality having 

 distinctive indigenous names for it. About 45 seers of pods are obtained 

 from <>ach plant in the year, and the average price is six pice a seer. 



United Provinces. Duthie and Fuller (Field and Garden Crops, 

 pt. ii., 23) observe that in these provinces this pulse is commonly grown 

 the borders of tall crops and allowed to twine itself on the plants 

 st a in ling on the margin. Castor-oil is a favourite support. It is never 

 L r n>wu as a field crop by itself, as it requires artificial support. Duthie 

 (Fl. Upper Gang. Plain, 229) remarks that it is extensively cultivated 

 for its pods, which are harvested in the cold season. 



Central Provinces and Berar. It is often met with as a field crop Two Forms, 

 in these provinces. Two forms are seen, one with white, the other with 

 dark purple flowers. They are usually grown in lines through the fields, 

 special supports being furnished, or they are left to crawl and to take such 

 support as they can from the stubble of the associated crop. 



Bombay. There are several very distinct varieties or races of this 

 pulse met with in Western India. These might be grouped into garden 

 and field varieties. The former (as with the other provinces) can 

 be spoken of as late Man'/ plants, since they come into season about 

 December to January. Mollison (Textbook Ind. Agri., 1901, iii., 80) 

 furnishes an interesting account of this Bombay crop. He says that Garden Crop, 

 the form known as surti pdpdi is grown extensively in gardens in the 

 Surat district. The beans are plucked early and eaten like French beans. 

 The field variety of Surat is a second crop, bitter to taste and called kadva Field crop. 

 vdl, but in Southern Gujarat there is still another field form that has 

 smaller pods and is drilled with rice and tuver (Cftjaims iti(finis) 

 during June-July. The principal crop is the rabi, which usually follows 

 rice. It is sown alone or with castor-oil (the dwarf variety). Vdl is also Associated 

 grown among other pulses subordinate to juar or bdjri. When the juar Cr P 8 - 

 is reaped, a long stubble, 3 to 4 feet high, is left. This, with the vigorously 

 growing castor-oil and tuver, affords support to the climbing vdl, and 

 heavy successive crops of green beans may be plucked from November to 

 March. The most suitable soil for rabi vdl is a heavy black clay retentive Soils. 

 of moisture. When the leaves turn yellow and begin to drop off, the crop 

 of ripe beans may be gathered. Mollison adds that on good soil and 

 with careful cultivation 1,300 lb. of pulse and an equal weight of useful Yield of Beans, 

 fodder per acre may be obtained, off the same field from which a crop of 

 rice has been previously harvested. And this is supplementary to the 

 supply of green pods that may have been collected as a fresh vegetable in 

 the early months of growth. The Department of Land Records and 

 Agriculture, Bombay Presidency, in their Season and Crop Report for 

 1903-4, gave 94,993 acres as the total area under this crop ; and for 1905-6, 



509 



Bombay. 



Several Forms. 



