MINOR IRRIGATION SYSTEM UNDER THE BRITISH IN DELTA REGION

Abstract

In the southern portion of the Presidency and in the Northern Circars, the only implement in use is the plough which is common to eastern countries. This plough stirs the soil but does not invert it. In some districts containing black-cotton soils, a large plough drawn by six or eight bullocks is used to reclaim land overgrown with weeds. The system of water conservation through field embankments is peculiar to central Indian tracts and is commonly in vogue in the northern Madhya Pradesh, Bundhelkhand region of Uttar- Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan. In the Bundhelkhand region, these works are popularly known as ‘bundhies’ which consist of earthen embankments thrown across gently sloping ground. During the rainy season water is stored upstream and the land gets submerged. If the land slope, is gradual; often large areas get submerged even by low embankments. Ordinarily, no direct irrigation is carried out and benefit is mostly due to submergence. In nearly all these areas, the soil is generally black which is retentive of moisture. After remaining submerged’ under water during the rainy season, the soil retains sufficient moisture to grow good rabi crops. The remaining water is let out and the submerged land released for cultivation.