CHAPTER IV.
AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION.
Wet Cultivation—Paddy; its seasons—Its varieties— Rain-fed paddy—Sowing versus transplantation—Methods of raising seedlings—Preparation of fields-Transplantation and care of the crop—Second-crop cultivation—Third crops Agricultural maxims—Wet crops other than paddy—Rotations—Cultivation of sugar-cane—Jaggery making—Ratooning—Varieties of sugar-cane—Recent sugar-cane disease and the Samalkot experimental farm. Dry Cultivation—Seasons, etc.—Cultivation—Cholam—Tobacco—Improvement of the leaf—Shifting cultivation in the Agency—Storage of grain. Irrigation— Protected area. The Godavari Anicut—Origin of the idea—First estimates—The site and design— Progress of construction—Subsequent difficulties—Alterations since effected—Distributary works—The Gannavaram aqueduct—Completion of distributaries— Financial results of the scheme—Possible extensions of it—Its administration. Other Irrigation Sources—Minor channels and tanks—Wells- Artesian wells. Economic Condition of Agriculturists.
The immense area irrigated from the Godavari anicut has naturally resulted in paddy being the most important crop in the district. The seasons for growing it in Bhadrachalam (where, however, very little is raised) differ from those elsewhere. In Bhadrachalam a short crop (pinna vari) is raised between May and August and a longer one (pedda vari) between August and January; while in the rest of the district the first (and chief) crop is grown between June and December and the second (if any) between January or February and April or May. The first crop season is called either the sarava {'white') season, from the fact that white paddy is grown in it, or the tolakari ('early') season; and the second is known as the dalava ('black') season, because black paddy is grown then, the sitakattu ('cold') season, since the crop is sown in January, or the vasangi ('hot') season, because it is reaped in May.
Except in the delta and Bhadrachalam, two wet crops are seldom raised on the same land, but a dry crop is raised when the paddy has been harvested. This dry crop season is called the payiru or aparalu season.
Many varieties of paddy are grown in the district. The ryots divide them according to two main principles of classification; namely, the time a variety takes to mature—whether it is long (pedda) or short (pinna or punasa)—and its colour—whether 'white' or 'black.' The varieties raised in the delta
