AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION – LAND UTILIZATION

The major portion of the total geographical area of the district is under agricultural use and forests. While the western and the northern regions which are covered by the Sahyadri and the Selbari hill ranges, respectively, and the Satmala range which runs right across the district, favour the growth of forests, the planes in the central, eastern and the south-eastern regions are brought under cultivation. Of the total geographical area, the forests account for 21.44 per cent as against 55.15 per cent of the net area sown which is slightly higher than the proportion of net area sown for the State, i.e., 59.29 per cent in 1970-71. However, the proportion of the net area sown to gross cropped area in 1971-72 in different talukas of the district shows remarkable variations as could be seen from the following figures. It ranges from 100 per cent in Peint mahal to 106.35 per cent in Niphad taluka. The net area sown is more in Yeola (100.95 per cent), Sinnar (102.65 per cent), Chandor(105.40 per cent), Dindori (104.01 per cent) and Malegaon (117.47 per cent) talukas as compared to Peint and Surgana mahals in the western region where the proportion is 100.00 per cent and 100.19 per cent, respectively. Barren and unculturable land, land put to non-agricultural uses, culturable waste, permanent pastures, current fallows and other fallow lands together account for nearly 20.15 per cent of the total geographical area in 1970-71.

Table No. 6 shows taluka-wise land utilization in the district in 1953-54, 1958-59, 1963-64 and 1971-72.

TABLE No. 5 – CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SOILS IN NASIK DISTRICT

Phase and Depth	PH	T S. S. (Percent)	Silt (Percent)	Clay (Percent)	Ca Co₃ (Percent)	Ex Ca (Percent)	Ex Mg. (Percent)	Ex Na + K (Percent)
Zone I-B :-Heavy rainfall tract-
Medium deep-
0-15	7.4	0.16	39	34	""	18	11	2.0
15-30	7.3	0.20	24	49	""	23	7	2.0
Very deep-
0-17.5	8.1	0.20	25	27	3.0	25	7	3.0
17.5-50	8.2	0.24	20	35..	3.5	31	8	0.5
50-120	8.2	0.36	17	34	3.4	36	7	0.5
Zone II :- Transition tract-
Medium deep-
0-22.5	7.8	0.29	21	48	4.1	37	11	2.0
22.5-40	7.0	0.51	28	44	4.1	36	9	2.5
Deep-
0-24	8.2	0.23	18	47	3.6	44	8	2.0
24-49	8.0	0.25	19	49	3.4	42	9	2.0
Very deep-
0-25	8.2	0.19	18	47	3.4	41	7	2.0
25-47.5	8.3	0.21	15	45	5.9	42	7	1.5
47.S-62.S	8.4	0.20	16	45	6.8	39	9	2.5
Zone III :-Scarcity tract-
0-14	8.3	0.28	9	40	6.8	42	3	2.0
14-29	8.5	0.25	11	42	6.8	41	3	2.0

TABLE No. 6 – TALUKA-WISE LAND UTILISATION IN NASIK DISTRICT

IN 1953-54, 1958-59, 1963-64 AND 1971-72

(In Hectares)

Taluka	Year	Land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves not included in area sown	Current fallows	Other fallows	Net area sown	Area sown more than once	Total cropped area
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Surgana	1953-54	81,516	44,050	2,226	3	537	1,638
	1958-59	83,746	44,370	2,477	3	3,460	1,855
	1963-64	83,746	44,373	2,472	2	1,331	772
	1971-72	83,751	44,375	2,528	2	322	410

Peint	1953-54	88,391	45,921	4,359	1	57	7,173
	1958-59	90,244	45,922	4,344	26	29	6,289
	1963-64	93,390	46,198	5,174	7	12	4,664
	1971-72	93,393	46,201	5,202	8	7	127

Baglan	1953-54	1,61,193	47,957	12,401	19	1,275	5,190
	1958-59	1,61,193	47,918	12,968	8	1,682	6,879
	1963-64	1,61,627	48,060	17,139	43	3,623	2,515
	1971-72	1,61,633	47,869	19,338	53	1,897	2,226

Yeola	1953-54	1,06,202	10,81B	3,931	24	384	6,453
	1958-59	1,06,032	10,807	5,088	50	1,267	6,212
	1963-64	1,06;039	10,801	5,230	42	3,067	4,956
	1971-72	1,06,648	10,808	9,269	97	787	725

Kalvan	1953-54	1,12,520	36,190	7,662	334	371	5,770
	1958-59	1,16,268	38,947	7,753	14	1,212	5,861
	1963-64	1,19,468	39,330	14,533	16	1,972	1,619
	1971-72	1,19,473	39,332	14,549	20	1,959	408

Malegaon	1953-54	1,93,768	40,410	23,439	130	2,038	2,641
	1958-59	1,93,768	40,139	23,846	165	4,764	2,395
	1963-64	1,93,765	39,774	25,738	217	4,010	2,582
	1971-72	1,93,772	39,059	26,868	317	2,852	2,139

Igatpuri	1953-54	1,02,090	21,787	11,636	59	274	3,319
	1958-5	1,02,090	21,787	12,466	63	109	7,370
	1963-64	1,02,096	21,793	12,506	61	42	1,885
	1971-72	1,02,099	21,794	12,518	62	6,523	1,881

Chandor	1953-54	95,813	9,683	12,392	44	363	1,206
	1958-59	95,813	9,673	12,531	44	392	1,725
	1963-64	95,813	9,734	12,695	41	3,768	839
	1971-72	95,817	9,735	12,750	46	....	1,339

Nasik	1953-54	1,27,425	18,056	21,275	313	2,330	4,984
	1958-59	1,27,425	17,999	19,218	223	2,320	12,319
	1963-64	1,26,659	17,786	23,414	323	5,170	3,534
	1971-72	1,26,664	17,787	23,415	337	1,164	5,865

Sinnar	1953-54	1,34,012	14,133	18,199	14	82	788
	1958-59	1,34,012	14,133	18,078	16	731	1,874
	1963-64	1,34,012	14,133	15,199	17	2,946	4,280
	1971-72	1,34,018	14,134	18,121	22	1,191	2,387

Niphad	1953-54	1,05,224	1,131	6,292	58	403	6,501
	1958-59	1,05,224	1,131	6,360	81	3,557	5,827
	1963-64	1,05,224	1,131	9,756	84	3,553	1,741
	1971-72	1,05,228	1,132	8,596	79	1,167	1,741

Nandgaon	1953-54	1,09,195	26,406	15,321	128	444	3,346
	1958-5	1,09,195	26,406	15,805	120	2,290	1,543
	1963-64	1,09,195	26,406	15,831	120	1,326	1,316
	1971-72	1,09,199	26,311	16,031	104	1,159	1,504

Dindori	1953-54	1,32,310	21,618	23,199	11	1,396	6,745
	1958-59	1,32,314	21,618	11,325	12	2,022	6,014
	1963-64	1,32,315	21,597	11,326	13	6,317	5,711
	1971-72	1,32,320	21,598	11,321	15	1,593	5,154

District Total	1953-54	15,49,670	3,38,171	1,50,205	1,147	9,962	55,759
	1958-59	15,57,335	3,40,861	1,52,266	930	23,695	64,452
	1963-64	1,53,355	3,41,128	1,71,019	992	37,143	36,419
	1971-72	15,63,410	3,40,135	1,80,506	1,162	19,521	25,941

TABLE NO. 6 – Contd.

(In Hectares)

Taluka	Year	Total geographical area	Forests	Barren and unculturable land	Land put to non-agricultural uses	Culturable waste	Permanent pastures and other grazing lands
1	2	9	10	11	12	13	14
Surgana	1953-54	....	1,696	33	714	396	28,601
	1958-59	....	159	1,087	30,331	2,367	29,571
	1963-64	....	82	942	33,769	67	33,836
	1971-72	44	3,418	1,718	30,934	59	30,992

Peint	1953-54	1,439	187	6,351	740	1,181	24,079
	1958-59	610	956	4,016	29,668	25	29,693
	1963-64	494	726	3,599	32,512	1,083	33,595
	1971-72	....	4,847	1,773	32,228	....	32,228

Baglan	1953-54	2,338	1,856	2,638	....	4,084	91,599
	1958-59	....	990	3,381	88,578	6,747	94,112
	1963-64	....	2,362	4,186	83,695	850	84,547
	1971-72	....	8,591	3,296	78,364	7,854	86,218

Yeola	1953-54	....	328	561	1,069	2,968	86,669
	1958-59	....	1,078	516	81,010	3,441	84,452
	1963-64	....	739	3,124	76,048	6,863	82,911
	1971-72	....	734	3,913	79,710	758	80,468

Kalvan	1953-54	21	293	4,336	1,256	4,494	62,033
	1958-59	20	694	1,203	60,562	6,217	66,779
	1963-64	....	620	501	61,494	2,766	56,174
	1971-72	124	5,312	2,671	55,898	3,873	59,771

Malegaon	1953-54	92	1,220	2,132	....	7,795	1,28,233
	1958-59	386	1,819	2,700	1,17,641	12,117	1,27,759
	1963-64	....	817	2,315	1,18,309	8,233	1,26,543
	1971-72	....	14,708	7,508	1,00,321	17,531	1,17,852

Igatpuri	1953-54	....	3,305	6,645	....	779	55,681
	1958-59	....	3,451	4,046	52,786	1,258	53,803
	1963-64	....	2,212	6,645	56,948	1,381	58,329
	1971-72	4	3,457	3,277	52,583	286	52,869

Chandor	1953-54	....	415	641	....	2,256	73,324
	1958-59	....	887	619	69,938	2,398	72,337
	1963-64	....	738	847	67,147	1,451	69,445
	1971-72	....	12,350	1,145	58,452	3,159	61,611

Nasik		489	6,202	4,623	....	1,967	71,116
		489	965	3,697	68,091	2,784	70,875
		498	3,341	5,209	67;470	4,102	71,573
		409	6,276	5,749	65,722	2,808	68,530

Sinnar	1953-54	61	1,490	575	....	2,169	1,02,048
	1958-59	....	2,150	1,120	95,905	3,662	1,64,317
	1963-64	....	3,346	3,408	90,680	2,248	92,928
	1971-72	187	3,706	2,512	91,758	2,428	94,186

Niphad	1953-54	592	179	955	....	3,202	92,311
	1958-59	....	1,256	1,379	85,628	4,417	90,045
	1963-64	....	378	1,113	87,844	3,755	91,600
	1971-72	....	3,079	4,218	85,216	5,415	90,631

Nandgaon	1953-54	....	1,216	4,118	....	2,286	60,500
	1958-5	. ....	1,205	1,051	60,772	4,295	65,068
	1963-64	....	704	813	62,676	2,984	65,660
	1971-72	....	6,160	2,434	55,406	1,604	57,010

Dindori	1953-54	714	6,060	1,439	....	3,335	86,803.
	1958-59	714	1,143	6,031	83,430	2,813	86,244
	1963-64	....	962	4,521	81,865	4,521	86,386
	1971-72	....	15,054	4,776	72,804	2,920	75,724.

District Total	1953-54	5,749	24,451	36,269	3,780	37,980	9,66,140
	1958-59	2,220	16,760	30,852	9,00,073	52,299	10,42,490
	1963-64	903	18,058	37,227	9,20,462	41,164	9,61,627
	1971-72	768	90,692	44,989	8,59,396	48,695	9,08,091

Forest Area: Before the Nasik forests were separated from those of Khandesh in 1871 and made a distinct charge, the Nasik forest circle, as it was then called, included a total area of about 1,183 square miles. Of this forest area, 808 square miles had been set aside and the remaining area of 375 square miles was added in 1878 under a selection of new forest lands. Besides this declared forest area, there remained among the supplemental selections 130 square miles of occupied land. In Peint, a further area of 100 square miles, which might be increased to 300, had been set apart which raised the total to 1,613 square miles. None of the area was protected and all was reserved.

The following table shows the details as regards revenue and expenditure of forest department for ten years commencing from 1871:

TABLE NO. 7 – NASIK FORESTS, 1871 -1880

[Nasik District Gazetteer, 1883, p. 19.]

Year	Receipts	Charges	Revenue
	In ₤	In ₤	In ₤
1870-71	4,895	1,782	3,113
1871-72	3,866	2,237	1,629
1872-73	1,552	2,074	522
1873-74	3,949	2,039	1,910
1874-75	3,570	2,076	1,494
1875-76	3,153	2,481	612
1876-77	5,105	2,459	2,646
1877-78	3,845	2,469	1,376
1878-79	5,454	3,949	1,505
1879-80	7,095	5,658	1,438

At present for purposes of forest administration the district has been divided into two forest divisions. Each division is manned by the Divisional Forest Officer aided by Range Forest Officers and other administrative and technical staff. The forests in the district covered an area of 3,35,137 hectares, i.e., about 21.44 per cent of the total geographical area in 1970-71. Of this, 3,27,140 hectares are in charge of Forest department and 7,397 hectares are in charge of Revenue department.

The forests are mainly situated on the sloping hills on the eastern and western parts of the district, and are known as below ghat forests consisting of Dindori taluka and Peint and Surgana mahals. The forests found on the plateaus in Nasik, Sinnar, Igatpuri, Kalvan Baglan, Chandor, Malegaon, Nandgaon, Niphad and Yeola talukas are called above ghat forests.

The forests in the district fall into three different types, viz., (1) deciduous forests tending towards monster type found in western and north-western parts of the district, (2) the evergreen type observed along the terraces of the western ghats, and (3) the dry deciduous.

All the below ghat forests are extremely valuable from the point of view of forests' produce. They yield important varieties like teak, ain, shisam, tiwas, halda, kalam, shadada, hed and khair, bamboo belonging to two types, viz., manvel and katas, and karvi. There are extensive grass-lands for grazing purposes. In the Nasik range chandan, though in small quantity, is also found. The other species of economic importance are apta, tembhurni, kandol, karanji and chilhar. The above ghat forests yield fire-wood, timber and charcoal also.

The following statement gives the details as to range and area, protected and reserved forests, forests in charge of Forest department and in charge of Revenue department, in the year 1965:

Range	Taluka	Reserved Forest		Protected Forest
Range	Taluka	In charge of Forest department A. G.	In charge of Revenue department A. G.	In charge of Forest department A. G.	In charge of Revenue department A. G.
Harsul	Peint	39,120-23	....	29,042-13	....
Peint	Peint	40,552-23	....	15,323-05	....
Barhe	Surgana	33,220-30	....	12,810-39	....
Igatpuri	Igatpuri	53,631-33	272-00	....	....
Nasik	Nasik	67,648-18	1,303-03	....	....
	Niphad	....	980-05	....	....
	Sinnar	....	3,384-26	....	....
Total		2,34,172-27	5,939-34	57,175--57	....

It is seen from the above table that the area under reserved forests is much more than that under protected forests. It is also seen that only a fraction of the total forest area is under the charge of Revenue department.

The following statement gives the details about the out-turn and revenue of the different forest produces for the year 1964-65:

Kind	Out-turn	Revenue in Rs.
Timber	7,28,377.99 cft.	10,01,867.76
Charcoal	15,994.88 tons.
Grass	1,42,76,500 lb.	1,00,202.50
Bamboos	1,75,490 Nos.	63,912.64
Hirda	7,642 B.M.	3,441.82
Supali pala	7,2l1 B.M.	3,211.75
Apta, Tembhurni	2,700 B.M.	20,860.00
Chilhar bark	4,211 B.M.	2,930.00
Other	….	12,717.60

For the regulation of exploitation and development of forests, a number of schemes, such as plantation of valuable trees, survey and demarcation of forests, afforestation for soil conservation, development of forest pastures and development of minor forest produce have been introduced. These schemes are expected to regulate the exploitation and to make it a good source of income. Afforestation is beneficial to agriculture as it keeps up the rainfall and avoids soil erosion.

There is no cultivable waste land in this division. Whatever was there, has been allotted for cultivation.