PRODUCTION IN MADRAS 



INDIGOFERA 



Cultivation 





local growth and partly brought from Upper India, was one of the chief 

 -rta of Gujarat. Towards the close of tin- l*th nturv (1777) the 

 < ultivjition, chiefly for local use, would seem to have been on a very 

 |i-r;il)lc scale. But in the early part of the present centurv it 

 tell ot! mid in 1827 had almost altogether ceased. At that time. 

 \vere high and the demand was strong." The attempt then made 

 suscitate the industry, however, failed, and " indigo has never again 

 lie a product of any importance." In an official letter of date 1889, 

 ue, however, speaks of the indigo cultivation of Bombay having 

 4,182 acres. In 1904-5 there were only 806 acres under the crop. 

 Tin- following account of the cultivation in Western India is an abbrevia- 

 tion from Mollison (Textbook Ind. Agri., iii., 279-83). The best crops 

 an- urown on gorddu soil (deep sandy loam). In the Deccan, medium 

 black soils of fair depth are deemed most suitable. The crop is grown in 

 the kharif (rainy) season. " Thorough tillage and a liberal application of 

 manure are necessary. Well-rotted manure in a dressing of twenty cart- 

 loads per acre should be given in May. The plough and harrow should 

 he used after the first fall of rain to prepare a clean, smooth seed-bed. 

 The crop is either sown alone or with subordinate rows of cotton. One row 

 of cotton may alternate with two of indigo. When sown alone, the rate 

 is 12 to 15 Ib. seed per acre. The seed should be drilled if possible in June 

 in rows 18 inches or less apart and the drill should be worked near the 

 surface, so that the seed is not buried too deeply. The crop should, after 

 the seedlings are well up, be intercultured two or three times with the 

 bullock hoe and be once hand-weeded with the weeding-hook (khurpa). 

 The first cut is ready in September-October. With favourable late rain, 

 a second cut may afterwards be obtained without irrigation." 



The area in 1904-5 was in Sind 5,621 acres, chiefly located in Hydera- 

 bad, 3,985 acres, and Sukkur, 1,404 acres. After the land has been weeded 

 and moistened during the inundation season in May and June, it is ploughed 

 two or three times and the seed sown broadcast. When the plants have 

 germinated, they are watered once a week, and this is continued till Sep- 

 t en i her, when the crop is ready to be reaped. A second year's crop is raised 

 after cutting by frequently watering the old plants. [Cf. N. B. Beyts, 

 Gujarat Agri., 1878, 44.] 



MADRAS. Area and Production. The area under cultivation in 

 1904-5 was 126,300 acres, and the outturn 16,700 cwt. The principal 

 districts are ordinarily Cuddapah, which in 1904-5 had 32,149 acres ; 

 South Arcot, 28,784 ; Nellore, 14,618 ; North Arcot, 7,352 ; Karnul,7,056 ; 

 Anantapur, 5,098 ; and Kistna, 3,208. The forecast for 1905-6 shows 

 an estimated area of 212,300 acres and an outturn of 1,896 tons. Com- 

 menting on this result, the Board of Revenue in their final report for 1906-7 

 show that this area is 86 per cent, more than in 1905-6, but 1 per cent, less 

 than the average of the five previous years and 25 per cent, less than the 

 ten previous years. Indigo appears to be cultivated under very diverse 

 conditions throughout the Presidency. " Returns show that somewhere 

 in the district sowing is normally being accomplished in every month of 

 the year. This, no doubt, is due to the more even distribution of tempera- 

 ture and rainfall throughout the year " (Leake). 



In Cuddapah, the chief indigo district, the land is ploughed and manured 

 after it has been moistened by rain. This takes place in April if the rain is 

 sufficiently heavy ; if not, in July or August. The ground is then allowed 



677 



Modem Traffic. 



Mixed Crop. 



Bind. 



D.E.P., 

 iv., 413-5. 

 Madras. 



Chief 



District*. 



