Agriculture Department

The area under the crop covered during 96-97 was 12000 hect. With a production of 65000 tonnes. The popular varieties grown are CO-1717, COJ-64, COH-99, CO1148, and COH-35 etc.Cotton is another important cash crop of the district. The crop has two varieties, viz Desi and American. The Desi variety is grown in most of the area under crop.The area under American cotton and Desi Cotton in the year 19 95-96 was 54.7 thousands hect & 12.7 thousands hectare respectively in comparision to total 19.7 thousands hect in 1974-75

Toria and Sarson

these are the main oilseed crops of the district; til (sesame) and linseed crop are grown on small patches of the land. Groundnut is not sown in any part of the district, as the agro-climatic conditions prevailing in the district do not suit the cultivation of this crop. Potatoes, chilies, onions and vegetables are among the minor crops of the district. Chilies are grown in Jind and Safidon blocks of the district. The area under oilseed crop in 1995-96 has been reduced to 13,000 hect due to diversion of area to wheat crop. Fodder crops in the district has about 10 % of its total cropped area under fodder crops. The important among the fodder crops are Jowar, gawar and berseem; the stalks of Jowar and bajra and the chaff of wheat, gram and minor cereals are used as animal feed.

Fruits Crops And Gardens

fruits crops and gardens grown in the district are grapes and mangoes, which are grown in Jind, Narwana and Safidon. There is a wide scope for the extension of the area under fruits with the availability of water facilities and loans from the government for the cultivaiton of grapes.
Improvement in agricultural implements is the pre-requisite of any improvement in agriculture. Farmers are adopting modern implements according to their purchasing power and the suitability of the implements for their use. A description of agricultural implements in common use in the district is given below:

Plough

may be made of wood or iron, but the one in common use is made of kikar wood, manufactured by the village carpenter. It merely scratches the soil upto 4 or 5 inches. The chief defect in it lies in one fact that it leaves ridges of unploughed land between the V-shaped furrows which it makes. The plough also fails to eradicate weeds properly. However, a sturdy and intelligent farmer makes full and efficient use of the plough with a strong pair of oxen. Still, in the small landholdings and fragmented and non-contiguous plots, the plough is very much suited and it does not disturb the level of the land. It consists of a wooden beam (Ral), a small piece of wood (chou) carrying a pali (an iron plough share) any yoke for bullocks.

Bullock-Cart

It is generally used by the farmers for carrying loads from one place to another, e.g. for carrying the farm produce to the threshing ground, grains to the homestead and to the market, and for other transportation needs, The carts are mostly locally manufactured. There is little difference between the type and price of cart manufactured in different parts of the district. Wheels made exclusively of iron are fast replacing the wooden ones.

Cane Crusher is an important implement for crushing the sugarcane. It is mostly used on a co-operative basis. The steel crushers have replaced the old wooden crushers. Most of the cane crushed is for, the manufacture of gur and khandam.

A number of other tools and implements such as spade, kasola (hoe), pors (seed drill), kuhari and dranti also used in the district. Despite the small size of land holding modern implements are being generally adopted by the farmers better use and higher agriculture production.

Good seeds considerably enhance the agricultural production. Much publicity and efforts are made by the Agriculture Department to popularize the use of improved seeds among the farmers. The departments also undertake the multiplication and distribution of improved seeds to the farmers.

Haryana seeds Development Corporation undertakes the multiplication & distribution of improved seeds to the farmers. The high yielding varieties the seeds being popularized are as under

Wheat of Local improved C-306, Exotic High Yielding Varieties: Wh-283, 542,Hd-2285, PBW-343, UP-2338, HD-2329 etc.

Rice of Basmati Group-Basmati-370, Haryana Basmati no. 1 HBC-19, High yielding variety, Jaya, PR-106, HKR-120, 126,Gobind etc.

Gram of C-235, Gorav, L-144, and G-24

Barley of C-164, BG-125, BH-75, And BG-105

Sugarcane in CO-1148, 1158,COJ-767, CO? H-99, COH-35 etc variety

Bajra of Hybird-HHB-50, 60,67,68

Composite of HC-4, WCC-75

Jowar of J.S.20, J.S. 263 and J.S. 29/1

In recent year, the use of manure and fertilizers has considerably increased, since along with improved seeds they constitute the lifeblood of the new agricultural strategy. With the change of social and economic attitudes, the farmers use not only chemical fertilizers but also compost of dung and other wastes useful as land manure for improving the fertility of the soil. Green manuring has been found to be quite cheap and the chemical fertilizers applied with it, give better results.

Since the soil of the district is deficient in organic matter and nitrogen; chemical fertilizers are essential for increasing crop yields. These are used alone or in combination with organic manures.

The district wholesale co-operative society distributes the fertilizers to the marketing societies and sub-depots.

Urban wastes are useful as plant food ingredients. Over the past five years, efforts have been made to conserve these wastes for manorial purposes. The municipalities of Jind Narwana, Safidon and Uchana have been preparing compost in the district.

Rural compost is prepared from the dung and other waste material. The extension workers in the village guide the farmers in the preparation of the compost. The government is popularizing Gobar Gas plants, which serve the twin purpose of providing manure as well as fuel for cooking.

Green manuring is very useful for raising the fertility of the soil as it directly adds nitrogen to the soil. It also improves the texture of the soil by the addition of organic matter. The addition of organic matter improves both heavy and sandy soils for it has a binding effect on the loose particles of sandy soil and make the tough and heavy soil friable. It creates better conditions for the increase of useful bacteria in the soil.