INDIGOFERA 

 BENGAL PRODUCTION itivation 



The area in which the cultivation of indigo reaches the highest develop* 



is Northern Bihar, the chief district** of which are Champaran, 

 ir, Darbhanga and Saran. In these districts the concerns are 

 entirclv under European management. In other areas the specialisation 

 in the mcth<U of cultivution and manufacture is not carried to the same 

 It will IH- sulliciont, therefore, to refer in detail to this area alone, 

 mid in t IK- case of other areas to draw attention merely to the points of 



divergence " (Leake). 



HHNQAL. Area and Production. In 1904-5 the total area under D.E.P., 

 the crop, according to the Agricultural Statistics, amounted to 223,100 iv.,40O-6. 



and the outturn to 24,300 cwt. Cultivation reaches its highest 

 development in Northern Bihar, the chief districts of which are Champaran, 

 which in 1904-5 had 84,000 acres; Muzaffarpur, 35,000 acres; Darbhanga, 

 .'>_'.'. K) acres; and Saran, 18,000 acres. The final forecast for Bengal in 

 1906 estimates the total area as 137,800 acres and the yield as 1,323,400 

 Ib. (11,816 cwt.). By way of contrast it may be added that the area 

 ed to the crop in Bengal during 1894-5 was 629,100 acres, which 

 yielded 104,485 cwt. of dye. 



Bihar. " As cultivation is at present practised, indigo forms a ' 16- 

 anna ' crop. Preparation of the land commences at the end of the rains 

 early in October, as soon as the land is cleared of the previous crop. It is 

 thoroughly ploughed and finally levelled by the application of the choki 

 or hanghar a log of wood with the lower surface flat or hollowed, drawn 

 by two or four bullocks. Usually the land is again ploughed and levelled 

 or ' compacted ' after a few days a process which may be repeated as 

 many as four times. In the intervals between the ploughing, gangs of 

 coolies with short sticks are sent over the land. These men collect the 

 stumps of the previous crop, weeds and such like matter, thus clearing the 

 land, and at the same time use their short sticks to break down any clods. 



" The whole of this process is aimed at reducing the surface soil to a 

 state of fine division which will admit a further compacting to be readily 

 effected. It is clear, therefore, that the extent to which the land is alter- 

 nately ploughed and ' choki-ed ' will depend on the nature of the surface 

 soil. In the high, light (sumbe) lands a relatively small number of plough- 

 ings will be sufficient ; while in the low-lying clay (mattyar) lands, a greater 

 number will be required before a sufficiently fine texture is obtained. When 

 the soil is reduced to a sufficiently fine state of division, the plough is no 

 longer used and the choki is only applied at intervals two or three times 

 a month until the time of sowing. 



" The reasons for the adoption of these somewhat intricate processes 

 will become plain when certain peculiarities of the soil and climate of these 

 districts are explained. 



" Indigo is sown at the commencement of the hot weather late Feb- 

 ruary or early March. Since the end of the previous rains early October 

 only an inappreciable amount of rain has fallen, for in these districts 

 the average total rainfall from November to May, inclusive, is under three 

 inches. The planter, therefore, is entirely dependent on the moisture 

 retained by the soil from the previous rains, both for the germination of 

 the seed and for the support of the young plant until.the break of the rains Bin. 

 in June. It will be readily understood that, with the temperatures and 

 low atmospheric humidity which prevail at the time of sowing, the surface 

 soil would soon lose all moisture unless this be constantly replenished by 



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