September, 1909.] 



219 



Edible Products 



In his inspection note on these farms 

 Mr. F, G. Sly, I. 0. S., Director of Agri- 

 culture, writes :— " It has been fairly- 

 demonstrated that the outturn of rice 

 can be very largely increased, indeed 

 almost doubled, by adpoting transplant- 

 ing instead of biasi. All the villagers 

 frankly agreed to this conclusion, and 

 have been evidently much impressed 

 with this demonstration. In discussing 

 the matter with them, I found that 

 most had decided to transplant some 

 of their land next year. Two objections 

 were put forward to a large extension 

 of the practice. The first is that trans- 

 planting is more insistent iu its demand 

 for water at a particular time ; but 

 they agreed that this is no difficulty 

 under good irrigation tanks. The second 

 is that it demands a large supply of 

 labour at the particular time of trans- 

 planting, although the total expense 

 is smaller owing to saving of seed and 

 to the avoidance of all weeding after 

 transplanting. This objection has some 

 force, but it is hardly likely to stand 

 in the way of the adoption of such a 

 profitable practice. A third objection 

 is that the system is difficult iu parts 

 where the holdings are very much 

 scattered (the survival of the lakha- 

 bhata system) ; but this should not 

 militate much against a large increase 

 in the transplanted area. So far as our 

 experience goes both on the Government 

 farm and on the demonstration plots, I 

 cannot point to any strong reason why 

 transplanting should not succeed and 

 extend in Chhattisgarh ; although if this 

 is the case, it is extraordinary why it 

 should not have been introduced earlier, 

 seeing that it is practised in the neigh- 

 bouring districts of Balaghat and Bhan- 

 dara, and to a very limited extent in 

 Chhattisgarh itself." The introduction 

 of transplanting in a paddy tract is an 

 enormous boon in the increase in outturn 

 due to this method of sowing. It is a 

 means, too, of inducing the cultivator to 

 irrigate his crop, as the department 

 recommends that for the present trans- 

 planting should be restricted to irrigated 

 areas where late paddies can be grown. 

 The importance of irrigation alone to 

 this tract can scarcely be estimated, for 

 the Chhattisgarh cultivator is more 

 dependent on water than any other in 

 these Provinces. In a year like that 

 just past, irrigation for him meant a 

 bumper crop, while the want of it meant 

 a very poor yield, much suffering and 

 the necessity of Government relief to 

 tide him over a year of indigence. 

 Despite these facts, the Irrigation 

 Department has experienced very great 

 difficulty in inducing the cultivators of 

 this division to utilize the water of 



Government tanks, for that the Chat- 

 tisgarh does not yet fully appreciate the 

 value of watf r as a factor in increasing 

 the yield of his crops, is evident from 

 the fact that of 2.830,074 acres of rice in 

 this division only 23,528 acres were irri- 

 gated during 1907-08. It was clearly the 

 duty of the Agricultural Department to 

 take up this line of work in earnest, and 

 these demonstration farms were, there- 

 fore, started last yeai (1907), mainly with 

 the view of getting this backward class 

 of cultivators to iuco-operate into the 

 general farm practice of their villages, 

 the results of t!ie work done at the 

 Raipur station, by transplanting and 

 irrigating their staple crop. 



Demonstration work has so far been 

 beset with many difficulties, and has in 

 the past been the least successful of all 

 the lines of work undertaken by the 

 Agricultural Department. The success 

 of the work last year was due to the 

 following reasons : — (1) that it was under- 

 taken and carried through with a 

 definite aim ; (2) that the department 

 only attempted to demonstrate methods 

 which had beon clearly proved by 

 experiment at the Raipur Experimental 

 Station to be practicable and profitable ; 

 (3) that the work was carefully super- 

 vised ; and (4) that the cultivators were 

 made to feel that the work was done 

 solely in their interests. 



Other steps taken to popularise this 

 method may be described. Cultivators 

 are encouraged t inspect the Raipur 

 Experimental Farm and see for them- 

 selves the results obtained from trans- 

 planting there ; this farm was visited 

 last year by 4,203 visitors. All the 

 meetings of the Raipur District Agri- 

 cultural Association are held on the 

 farm, and the members ate shown plots 

 of transplanted and biasi rice growing 

 side by side, which is an object lesson 

 that appeals to all. A statement of the 

 results obtained from transplanted and 

 biasi plots, respectively on the experi- 

 mental and demonstration farms, is 

 prepared iu the vernacular on large card- 

 board sheets, and the results explained 

 at meetings of the Agricultural Associ- 

 ation and at Fairs. Short articles on the 

 same have appeared in the vernacular 

 editions of the Agricultural Gazette 

 published by this department; and 

 finally, transplanting was demonstrated 

 last year on the demonstration farms. 



As a result of these methods of bring- 

 ing the advantages of transplanting to 

 the notice of cultivators, it was felt this 

 year that the time had come to induce 

 cultivators to attempt this important 

 improvement on a large scale iu their 

 villages. 



