Final Report of the Revision of the Settlement of the Jhelum District in the Punjab

· 1901 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

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211. The preceding paragraph shows how large a proportion of the land

3depends on the local rainfall; on these unirrigated soils

4the system of cropping followed over about three-fourths

5of the whole district is what is usually called the two-year course ; a spring crop

6is followed in the same year by an autumn crop, and then the land lies fallow

7for the next year ; one advantage of this procedure is that the land is in a high

8state of tilth, and strengthened by a long fallow, when it is sown with the more

9valuable spring crop; and the system also provides in a simple but effective way

10for the rotation of crops ; it is, however, far from being strictly adhered to,

11being modified according to the seasons, with a tendency, naturally, to prefer

12the rabi to the less certain and less profitable kharif. ‘lhe crops grown in the

13rabi therefore largely exceed those grown in the kharif. In about a quarter of

14the district,—practically the whole of Tallagang, and the tract at the foot of the

15hills in Pind Dédan Kban,—the system is different, the kbarif and rabi lands

16being separate ; in ‘l'allagang the country is undulating, and the heavier lower-

17lying terraced maira lands are used almost exclusively for the kharif, for which

18the very light and sandy higher ground 1s unsuitable, owing to the rapidity

19with which it dries under the summer sun. For different reasons the rabi and

20kharif lands in the submontane tract also are separate, but there it is the higher

21land on which the kharif crops are grown. In all parts of the district,the best

22of the bérdni I, embanked hollows or ravines receiving ample drainage from

23higher ground, is reserved almost entirely for the rabi, partly because of the

24greater value of the rabi staples, which the constant deposit of new soil enables

25the land to produce year after year, but partly also because such land is liable

26to injurious flooding in the summer rains.

27On the river-inundated land wheat is the all-important crop: the kharif

28is confined to a little rice grown on newly formed land, not as yet much above

29the ordinary level of the stream, and a certain amount of maize and Ldjra on the

30old established high-lying ground.

31Agriculture,

32Of the irrigated classes ali is unimportant, thocgh where it exists there

33is no land so profitable ; caual-irrigation is also at the present time quite in-

34significant ; the well-irrigation remains, and accounts for 3 per cent. of the total

35cultivation. It is of two kinds : in the River Bank Circle of Pind Dédan Khan,

36which alone contains over half the irrigation in the’ district, one-third of the

37cultivation is chdai, and the irrigation is on a large scale, the average area per

38well being about 20 acres ;1in other parts of the district the chaht laud is front

39‘2 to 2°8 per cent. only of the total cultivation; wells are comparatively

40numerous, but owing as a rule to the unevenness of the ground or the depth of

41the wells, the area irrigated is very small, onthe average about 3 acres per well;

42it naturally follows that, where these small areas are in good hands (by no means

43always the case}, the cropping is much heavier, and the crops on the whole of a

44higher class, than on the larger areas of Pind Dadan Khan, 100 acres of land

45producing from 130 to 190 acres of matured crops, against 105 in Pind Dadan

46Khan; the Jhetum Maidan Circle is an exception to the general rule, for not only is

47the area pe” well much smaller than it might be, but even on the actual irrigated

48area the crop rate is only 107 acres matured per 100 acres chdhi ; the only reason

49that can be given is that the rainfall is comparatively heavy and certain, and

50irrigation ie indulged in to meet the owners’ wants as regards vegetables and

51green-stuff, rather than for profit.

5212. A few words may be added as to the present state of canal-irrigation

53and its prospects of extension. It is now confined to the

54Pind Dadan Khan Plain, where there are two small inun-

55dation Canals : one, taking off at Ahmadabad, 1s privately owned, and very badly

56managed, owing chiefly to the quarrels of the proprietors ; it is a good year when

57as much as 2U0 acres is irrigated. It may eventually he found advisable to

58acquire the canal for Government, but until then it has practically no value.

59The canal that takes off about 12 miles above Pind Dadan Khan was originally

60made by the Municipal Committee of that town, in whose management it con-

61tinued until the present settlement, when its transfer to Government was pro-

62posed and sanctioned ; before the transfer the area irrigated was insignificant,

63usually about 120 acres, and it was run at an average loss of Rs. 600 per annum ;

64in 1900-01 the irrigated area was about 3,900 acres, and there is every prospect of

65Canal-irrigation.