Agricultural population in the district mainly consists of Marathas, Malis, Kolis, Vanjaras, Thakurs, Kathodis and Konkanis who migrated from the neighbouring district of Thana in the past. The following para from the old Nasik District Gazetteer published in 1883 gives an account of the agricultural population then prevailing in the district:­

"Husbandmen are of fourteen classes, with, in 1872, the strength of 2,93,460 souls (males 1,50,215, females 1,43,245) or 42.32 per cent of the whole Hindu population. Of these, 2,05,099 (males 1,04,057, females 1,01,042) were Kunbis; 49,563 (males 25,940, females 23,623) Konkanis; 21,416 (males 11,192, females 10,224) Malis; 5,751 (males 2,993, females 2,758) Marathas; 4,508 (males 2,326, females 2,182) Kanads; 3,501 (males 1,788, females 1,713) Rajputs; 2,648 (males 1,340, females 1,308) Hetkaris; 409 (males 245, females 164) Pahadis; 254 (males 180, females 74) Doharis; 165 (males 82, females 83) Tirmalis; 62 (males 31, females 31) Vidars; 38 (males 18, females 20) Bandgars; 33 (males 14, females 19) Tirguls and 13 (males 9, females 4) Naikavdis."[ Nasik District Gazetteer. 1883, p. 46.]

In the hilly region most of the land belongs to such tribes as Thakurs, Warlis, Kathodis, etc. who have remained more or less indifferent towards progressive agriculture with modem techniques of cultivation. They continue with their traditional methods of cultiva­tion and antiquated implements. Of the total population of 18,55,246 persons in 1961, the tribes account for 4,63,705 or 24.99 per cent.

The husbandmen belonging to Maratha and Mali communities seem to have adapted themselves to the changing conditions, especially Malis who have made a lot of improvement in their traditional cultiva­tion of bagait lands. However, irrespective of the progress and improvement in the field of agriculture, the class of cultivators as such is still to release itself from the shackles of economic distress, for, Indian agriculture, even now, is at the mercy of Nature's whims.

The proportion of rural population largely dependent directly or otherwise on agriculture for its livelihood saw very little change over a period of fifty years ending with 1951. This could be explicitly seen from the following statement which has recorded a change in the per­centage of the rural population to the total population of the district :­

Year	Population	Percentage of rural population to total population
1901	8,23,080	88.26
1911	9,15,698	89.14
1921	8,45,783	83.94
1931	10,09,583	85.65
1941	11,27,597	84.40
1951	14,29,916	74.13

In a period of forty years the recorded reduction was only 3.86 per cent whereas in the following decade, i.e., 1941-51 it was 10.27. This could be attributed to rapid urbanization following the establish­ment of industries stimulated by the second world war and in the later part, by the Korean war. The proportion of urban population to the total population which was 15.60 in 1941 increased to 25.87 showing a corresponding increase of 10.27 per cent.

Despite the growth of industries during a decade of 1951-61, the percentage of the rural population remained more or less stagnant recording an increase of only 0.27 per cent.

The statement of taluka-wise distribution of cultivators and agricultural labourers as percentage to total population in 1961 [Agricultural population in 1971 was 6,46,552 (cultivators 3,80,339 and agricultural labourer 2,66,213).] in Nasik district is given below:--

Name of taluka	Cultivators	Agricultural labourers	Name of taluka	Cultivators	Agricultural labourers
1.       Baglana taluka	57.71	26.91	8.       Nandgaon taluka	43.58	20.50
2.       Malegaon taluka	36.19	20.60	9.       Nasik taluka	30.73	10.90
3.       Surgana Mahal	75.30	18.48	10.   Niphad taluka	56.35	27.16
4.       Kalvan taluka	67.07	20.64	11.   Yeola taluka	59.30	18.19
5.       Peint Mahal	66.69	27.29	12.   Igatpuri taluka	73.51	11.44
6.       Dindori taluka	64.68	26.19	13.   Sinnar taluka	66.35	14.53
7.       Chandor taluka	63.50	21.34