Of the total area under cultivation in the district cereals occupied 61.01 per cent or approximately 5,53,747 hectares in the year 1971-72. Jowar, bajri, wheat, nagli, rice, vari are the main cereals taken in the district. Of them bajri with 47.00 per cent of the total area under cereals, occupies the place of pride. Then comes jowar with 18.6, wheat 17.7 and nagli  7.00 per cent of the total area under cereals.

The district has a very high proportion of the law value crops like bajri and ragi. However, the cultivation of onions, sugarcane and hybrid wheat is on the increase. Table No. 9 shows the taluka-­wise area under cereals in 1953-54, 1958-59, 1963-64 and 1971-72.

Table No. 10 gives the total out-turn of cereals in 1953-54, 1958-59, 1963-64 and 1971-72.

Jowar: Jowar is second in importance as a staple crop in the district. It occupied 11.4 per cent of the grass area cropped and 18.7 per cent of the area under cereals in 1971- 72. The total area under jowar was 1,03,253 hectares in 1971-72. It is mainly grown in Malegaon, Yeola, Kalvan, Niphad, Dindori and Sinnar talukas. The total out­ turn amounted to 7,400 metric tons in 1971-72.

Jowar thrives well in medium black to heavy soils. Kharif jowar is produced between June and December while rabi jowar is produced between September and February. The tillage in case of both the crops consists of one ploughing, two to three harrowings, two hoeings and two to three interculturings and weedings. Sowing is done by means of a coultered drill. The seeds are drilled at the rate of about 4 to 5 kg. (10 to 15 lb.) per acre. Under the dibbling method the seed rate comes to about 2 kg. (4 lb.)  per acre. In the kharif season, if the seeds are drilled, the distance between the two lines is 304 mm. (12"). In the case of the dibbling method, the distance between vertical and horizontal lines is 457 mm. X 609 mm. (18" X 24"). In the rabi season on the other hand, the distance between the two lines in both the methods of sowing, viz., drilling and dibbling, is 457 mm. (18") and 609 mm. X 609 mm. (24" X 24") respectively. The rotational crops grown after kharif jowar are usually cotton, groundnut and wheat while those produced after rabi jowar include wheat and bajri. The basal dose of manuring per acre before sowing consists of 5 to 10 cart-Ioads of farm-yard manures. Top dressing at the rate of 50.802 kg. (112 lb.) of superphosphate and 45.359 kg. (100 lb.) of ammonium sulphate per acre is given at the time of sowing. The Agriculture department of the State has recommended Maldandi 35 as an improved strain of rabi jowar for the district.

The kharif jowar is ready for harvest by December. The crop is usually cut with sickle and exposed to the sun for about a week. The plants are then tied into small bundles and carried to the threshing floor where the earheads are cut off and trampled under the feet of oxen. Sometimes the earheads are cut off in the field itself and then they are carried to the threshing floor. The grains are then separated by winnowing.

Wheat: Wheat occupied an area of 98,142 hectares in 1971-72. It roughly comes to about 10.8 per cent of the gross cropped area and 17.7 per cent of the area under cereals. It is mostly grown in Niphad, Dindori, Nasik and Sinnar talukas. In 1970-71 the total outturn amounted to 41,200 metric tons.

Wheat is essentially a rabi crop, sown in October and harvested in March. The irrigated crop is grown on medium or black soil, while the non-irrigated crop has to be sown in heavy black soil which is moisture-retentive. In September the field is ploughed and pulverised by three to four harrowings for the irrigated crop. The seed is drilled in both the cases, irrigated and non-irrigated as well, at the rate of about 18 to 22 kg. (40 to 50 lb.) per acre. Weeding is done as and when necessary. Cotton, jowar and gram are taken as rotating crops after wheat. 10 to 15 cart-loads of farm-yard manure and top dressing of 34 kg. (75 lb.) of ammonium sulphate per acre are deemed sufficient .for the non-irrigated crop. The irrigated crop is given higher doses of manures and fertilizers, viz., 45 kg. (100 lb.) ammonium sulphate and 50 kg. (112 lb.) of superphosphate per acre. The crop takes about five months to mature and is ready for harvesting from the middle of February to the end of March. For harvesting, the plants are cut close to the ground, tied into small bundles and dried in the sun. The bundles are carried to the threshing floor where the grains are separated by beating with long sticks and by trampling the stalks under the feet of bullocks. A crusher machine has come into use recently. The Department of Agriculture has recommended the Niphad 146, 345, 49, 81 varieties of wheat for the district which are known for being pest-resistant and high-yielding.

Rice: Rice occupied an area of 34,686 hectares in 1971-72 which was approximately 3.8 per cent of the gross cropped area. It is grown to some extent almost all over the district. However, of the total area under rice, most of it is in Igatpuri, Peint mahal and the western part of Nasik and Dindori talukas and Surgana mahal. Igatpuri alone accounts for 36 per cent of the area under rice. In 1970-71 the outturn of rice amounted to 29,500 metric tons.

Nasik district is famous for its superior varieties of rice such as ambemohor and chimansal. Rice is a kharif crop. It is generally grown on light and black soil. One ploughing and two to three harrowings or puddling are necessary before planting is done. Weeding operations are carried on thrice. Sowing of rice is done by transplanting the seedlings, though sowing the seeds by drilling method is by no means uncommon. The rate per acre in case of drilling and transplanting is about 5 kg. (12 lb.) and 18 kg. (40 lb.) respectively. One acre of land requires approximately 10 to 15 cart-loads of farm-yard manure or compost.

The Agriculture department has suggested Halvi Kolpi 70, Garvikolpi 248 and Bhadas 1303 as the improved strains for the district.

TABLE No. 9 – TALUKA-WISE AREA UNDER CEREALS IN NASIK

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

(In hectares)

Taluka	Year	Rice	Wheat	Jowar	Bajri	Ragi	Vari
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Surgana	1953-54	2,651	939	513	....	8,287	3,037
	1958-59	3,641	1,091	722	4	9,316	3,201
	1963-64	4,297	1,173	855	....	10,288	3,326
	1971-72	3,064	998	910	....	9,858	N.A.
Peint	1953-54	4,369	24	127	....	6,787	4,007
	1958-59	5,359	18	21	....	9,978	3,889
	1963-64	6,148	44	53	....	13,532	3,623
	1971-72	5,424	20	38	….	12,156	N.A.
Baglan	1953-54	876	3.144	4,431	44,551	1,557	218
	1958-59	1,071	3,433	9,046	43,614	1,342	152
	1963-64	730	2,175	6,302	6,257	311	36
	1971-72	944	5,934	4,412	29,707	12,156	N.A.
Yeola	1953-54	93	6,564	14,983	41,893	....	10
	1958-59	39	6,567	17,949	36,250	41
	1963-64	17	5,090	15,905	41,120	....
	1971-72	41	7,453	18,746	12,770	N.A.	N.A.
Kalvan	1953-54	1,791	2,004	10,405	20,370	3,318	171
	1958-59	1,840	3,454	11,386	22,327	3,117	139
	1963-64	1,787	3,204	11,389	20,632	3,059	118
	1971-72	1,422	3,100	13,695	12,894	3,189	N.A.
Malegaon	1953-54	946	4,162	17,083	71,102
	1958-59	957	4,787	16,563	61,710
	1963-64	348	3,492	13,902	62,884	2
	1971-72	664	7,546	22,126	51,067	....
Igatpuri	1953-54	11,129	4,221	1,067	837	11,349	2,721
	1958-59	13,064	4,728	1,350	278	9,592	1,925
	1963-64	15,234	5,005	2,145	123	10,176	1,998
	1971-72	12,523	4,007	1,674	99	7,590	N.A.
Chandor	1953-54	379	3,933	1,148	41,259	48
	1958-59	389	4,455	1,750	39,924	48
	1963-64	432	3,417	2,2S4	40,066	29
	1971-72	567	5,018	4,937	31,283	16	N.A.
Nasik	1953-54	3,176	13,133	3,261	11,583	6,676	1,529
	1958-59	5,531	13,501	2,853	10,585	6,555	1,673
	1963-64	4,727	13,421	4,634	9,875	6,381	1,638
	1971-72	4,408	10,544	1,048	10,525	3,823	N.A.
Sinnar	1953-54	971	7,854	6,098	58,845	530	1
	1958-59	931	7,690	.5,603	56,032	355	30
	1963-64	1,473	5,422	5,759	51,553	409	21
	1971-72	891	9,206	13,279	48,327	309	N.A.
Niphad	1953-54	655	23,880	4,714	38,191	2
	1958-59	808	22,869	3,118	33,964	1
	1963-64	842	20,721	6,172	37,084	15
	1971-72	1,551	23,530	5,246	30,868
Nandgaon	1953-54	79	1,513	3,686	41,350
	1958-59	213	2,202	4,441	40,836
	1963-64	119	1,782	1,832	39,353	....	3
	1971-72	106	2,318	14,165	26,257	5	N.A.
Dindori	1953-54	2,584	18,090	3,815	6,472	6,062	5,211
	1958-59	6,519	21,231	5,284	7,194	10,340	1,210
	1963-64	3,652	20,240	9,685	8,016	8,355	1,500
	1971-72	3,081	18,468	2,977	7,311	....	N.A.
District Total	1953-54	29,662	86,789	71,378	3,76,458	55,644	16,909
	1958-59	37,273	96,033	80,092	3,52,723	50,151	12,222
	1963-64	39,812	85,191	83,917	3,54,527	52,562	12,270
	1971-72	34,686	98,142	1,03,253	2,60,243	38,549	N.A.

TABLE No.10 – TALUKA-WISE OUTTURN OF CEREALS IN NASIK

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

(In metric tones)

Taluka	Year	Rice	Wheat	Jowar	Bajri	Ragi
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Surgana	1953-54	1,604	157	148	....	6,501
	1958-59	3,672	373	379	1	12,394
	1963-64	3,902	362	376	....	12,107
Peint	1953-54	4,387	10	61	....	8,862
	1958-59	4,320	7	8	....	9,317
	1963-64	5,064	19	20	... .	14,024
Baglan	1953-54	164	3,823	1,750	14,754	1,832
	1958-59	864	3,481	3,453	11,731	1,228
	1963-64	567	1,745	2,344	12,518	325
Yeola	1953-54	39	3,107	5,810	12,687
	1958-59	39	3,275	8,649	10,968
	1963-64	16	2,437	7,078	11,062
Kalvan	1953-54	1,444	1,325	3,031	6,854	347
	1958-59	1,327	2,012	3,318	6,005	2,895
	1963-64	1,802	1,820	4,803	5,549	3,198
Malegaon	1953-54	185	4,968	6,812	17,459
	1958-59	966	4,572	6,441	16,599
	1963-64	315	3,874	5,391	16,915	2
Igatpuri	1953-54	11,226	145	413	225	11,865
	1958-59	13,177	2,040	589	93	12,999
	1963-64	15,367	2,160	801	40	13,310
Chandor	1953-54	305	2,569	445	13,872	50
	1958-59	393	3,024	699	9,396	43
	1963-64	348	1,861	813	10,778	27
Nasik	1953-54	229	5,249	1,075	3,116	6,971
	1958-59	3,981	4,588	956	2,491	5,950
	1963-64	3,400	5,535	1,573	2,660	5,836
Sinnar	1953-54	777	3,327	2,346	15;756	416
	1958-59	751	2,906	2,170	16,957	371
	1963-64	1,012	1,845	1,682	10,400	325
Niphad	1953-54	614	11,957	14,447	14,125	....
	1958-59	814	8,848	1,159	9,135	10
	1963-64	850	. 8,443	2,353	8,787	12
Nandgaon	1953-54	53	1,400	2,143	16,639
	1958-59	171	1,388	1,494	10,994
	1963-64	96	1,368	1,347	10,585
Dindori	1953-54	1,942	1,499	1,479	1,522	11,088
	1958-59	2,762	8,567	1,850	1,930	10,812
	1963-64	3,684	7,384	4,220	2,180	8,740
District Total	1953-54	22,997	39,541	39,967	1,17,004	47,940
	1958-59	33,244	45,086	31,168	96,306	56,123
	1963-64	36,469	38,857	32,869	91,478	57,971
	1971-72	29,500	41,200	7,400	31,200	40,400

*Taluka wise figures for 1971-72 are not available

Bajri: Bajri is mainly a kharif crop. Generally it is sown later and reaped earlier than jowar. It is usually grown on light to medium black soils. The field is prepared and two to three harrowings are given. About two to three interculturings and weedings and two hoeings are also given. The crop is drilled at the rate of 2.722 to 4.082 kg, (6 to 9 Ibs.) per acre at a distance of about 304.8 to 38.0 mm. (12 to 15 inches) between the two lines. After about 20 days, the crop is thinned by keeping a distance of about 76.2 to 101.6 mm. (3 to 4 inches) between two plants. Bajri is rotated with udid and matki. Niphad 28/15 is the improved strain of seeds recommended for the district by the Agriculture department. The crop is ready for harvest by November when it is reaped with sickles close to the ground and left lying in the field for three days, then bound into small bundles and stacked near about the threshing floor. After some days, the ear-heads are removed and stocked on the floor. The threshing and winnowing are done in the same way as for jowar.

The crop occupied an area of 2,60,243 hectares and the outturn was 31,200 metric tons in 1971- 72. Of the gross cropped area, bajri occupied 28.7 per cent and 47.00 of the area under cereals. It is grown in Malegaon, Sinnar, Baglan, Yeola, Nandgaon, Nasik, Kalvan, Dindori, Chandor and Niphad on a large scale.

Nachni: Nachni is entirely a rain-fed crop, and is generally grown on land which is too light for rice or on sloping lands. The land is broken up for cultivation. The scrub growth and grass on the land is cut and is spread with other available rubbish evenly aver the surface of soil, and burnt. Then with the first heavy showers of rain, the seedlings raised in nurseries are simply thrown on the soil at about equal distance apart and left to root as they can. The crop is weeded once, and superfluous seedlings are thinned out. No further attention is required until the harvest time. Transplanted in July, the crop becomes ready for harvest by October and/or the beginning of November. The whole plant is cut, and ear-heads are nipped in the threshing yards. The ear-heads are dried at the threshing yard where they are threshed under bullocks feet, Nachni has to be carted as soon as possible after the crap is cut and the sheaves are required to be carted only in the morning when the heads are wet with dew. Later in the day, the heat of the sun shrivels the husk and loosens the seed.

This crop is grown in the high rainfall areas of Peint and Surgana mahals and Igatpuri taluka.         

The total area under nachni was 38,549 hectares in 1971-72.

Vari: Vari is often taken as a mixed crop with savachana and the area returned is always for the three crops combined: It is a hill milIet, and is entirely a non-irrigated kharif crop. It is also raised, like nachni, from seedlings and the method of cultivation of both the crops is very much alike. The seed-bed is rabbed as in case of rice and nachni. While the seedlings are growing, the field is ploughed three or four times during the first three weeks of the rains. About one pound of seed per guntha, is broadcast on the seed-bed, and five to seven gunthas of seed-bed furnish seedlings sufficient for an acre. Transplantation is done with the same care and in the same manner as in the case of rice or nachni. Vari crop is not manured directly but, the residual effect of the manure applied to the previous crop is sufficient. The crop is weeded once in August. If transplanted early in July, the crop matures in October. The crop is reaped with a sickle. The  grain is dehusked by pounding.

Vari is mainly cultivated in Peint and Surgana mahals and Igatpuri taluka. It occupied an area of 12,270.079 hectares (30,320 acres) in the year 1963-64.