Bullock Labour Utilization in Agriculture C P Shastri

THE present paper deals w i t h the maintenance requirements of

d raugh t catt le, the intensi ty of bu l -lock labour use per acre, the extent of unused mot ive force, the area commanded per pa i r o f bul locks, and the seasonal demand fo r bul lock labour . The data presented should be of use in suggesting a l ternat ive plana to m in im ize unused bul lock labour by increasing the size of operat ional ho ld ing , i m p r o v i n g crop-p i n g p rog ramme, use of ro ta t ion, cooperat ive use of bul lock labour, etc. The possib i l i ty of reducing bul-lock labour costs needs to be con-s idered. The nat ional interest re-quires the utmost efforts to reduce the area of land used for g row ing fodder crops fo r catt le,

SOURCE OF DATA

The basic data were obtained f r om 401 randomly selected ho ld ings* of d i f ferent sizes in 16 vil lages in the Upper Ganges Doab† in the dis-t r ic ts of Meerut and Muzaf farnagar , U t ta r Pradesh, in the year 1950-51 In add i t ion , 19 pr ivate fa rms (13 non-mechanized and 6 pa r t i a l l y mechanized — tractor cu l t ivated) were included to give a compa-rat ive p ic ture of f a r m manage-ment problems on the holdings and wel l organised fa rms. For the pur-pose of showing month ly labour ut i -l i za t ion, data f o r Government Fa rm, Meerut‡ (non-mechanized) , f r o m 1948-49 to 1950-51 were used.

Farmers in the region are known fo r ma in ta in ing good qua l i ty drau-ght and m i l c h catt le. The bullocks are s turdy and are mostly of Mar i -ana breed, wh ich is larger than most

* Ho ld ings d i f fer f r o m fa rms, apart f r o m size, in that the operator par t ic ipates in f a r m work as wel l as takes most of the manager ia l decisions and his func t ion as em-ployer of labour is m ino r relat ive to his other funct ions. In the case of fa rms , the entrepreneur s imply works as a manager whose func-t ion is to employ labour and to supervise f a r m work ,

† The upper region between the † Jumna and Ganges,

‡ Th is f a r m , l i ke most Government fa rms, demonstrates improved f a r m i n g pract ice and is expected to operate at a p ro f i t .

other I n d i a n breeds. Both buffa-loes and cows are kept fo r m i l k purposes, the preference being f o r buffaloes, wh ich account for about 64 per cent of m i l ch cattle. The cattle populat ion per 100 acres cul-t ivated is 7 1 . Bullocks are the main source of motive power in agr icu l -ture, a l though he-buffaloes are also used occasionally. Some farmers keep camels to work Persian wheels and cane crushers, but their per-centage to total draught animals is negl ig ib le. W o r k i n g bullocks and he-buffaloes together number about 26 per 100 acres of cul t ivated area. The area commanded per pa i r of bul locks corner to 7.58 acres.

FEEDING MATERIALS

The type of f a r m i n g in Meerut and Muzaf farnagar distr icts may be described as special ized sugarcane-gra in . Because of l im i ted pasture, green fodder is generally g rown. Cattle are usually stall fed . An at-tempt is made to supply green fod-der pract ica l ly throughout the year. Sugarcane tops, known as a gala, are an impor tan t cattle feed, f r o m Nov-ember to March . Scient i f ica l ly , a gala is not considered to he a good feed and fo r this reason it is general ly

not recommended as a cattle feed on state farms. On small hold ings, ow ing to non-avai lab i l i ty of other feeds, its use becomes unavoidable. General ly i t is fed only when green because on d r y i n g its nu t r i t i ve value is reduced considerably.

D r i ed juar stalks (Sorghum vub-gare) and bhusa (var ious cereal straws) are used also d u r i n g the winter months. Juar stalks have a h igh nu t r i t i ve value and are palat-able to al l animals. They are made into si lage on state farms but not on pr iva te farms or cu l t ivators ' holdings, due large ly to the smal l volume of operat ions. Bhusa ob-tained f r o m barley is of a h igher nu t r i t i ve value than that f r o m wheat ; but bhusa f r om g ram though palatable, has a lower nu t r i t i ve value. Consequently, feeding i t to an imals in m i l k is avoided f o r fear of reduc-ing y ie ld . Green mustard fodder (brassiea species) is ava i lab le dur-ing January and February and green pea (P isum sat ivum) and metha (Me l i to tus pa r i r f l o ra ) fodder i n February and M a r c h . Pea and metha are of h igher nu t r i t i ve value than green mustard fodder, a l though all these are relished equal ly by animals.

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GREEN FODDER

Green fodder d u r i n g summer months consists of lucerne ( a l f a l f a ) , Lobia (V igna ca t jong) , moth (Pha-seolus aconot i fo l ius) and chari (green Sorghum vu lgare) , wh ich are supplemented w i t h bhitsa oblained f r o m the harvest of rabi crops. Lu -cerne is considered to have a " b u r n -i n g " effect on mi lk yields and to be not at al l suited for milch animals. B u i because of nonava i l ab i l i t y of a l ternat ive green fodder d u r i n g A p r i l and May , i t i s invar iab ly fed to all cattle. Labia, moth and chari become avai lable around the begin-n ing of June.

Green fodder of juar, Inbia, urd (Phaseolus mungo) and guar ( (Cya -mopsis psoralodes) is fed to cattle f r o m July to October. Guar is of very h igh nut r i t i ve value and is fed especially to draught cattle. It is the most important fedder for drau-ght cattle in October and November, wh ich are the months of heavy work , when the crop f u l l y matures and pods are fu l l of g ra in . Guar replaces concentrates in the ra t ion to a great extent and helps the bul-locks to bear the burden of heavy work . I t is sometimes harvested, preserved for a for tn ight or so, and then used to supplement other fodder at t imes of heavy work . Except d u r i n g slack periods, bullocks are also given oilseed cakes and grains l ike g ram, pea, and juar. Mustard

o i l and gur are also Fed to bul locks d u r i n g periods o f heavy work .

MAINTENANCE COSTS

The charges fo r maintenance of bu l locks include the cost of fodder and feed (wh i ch includes oilseed cakes, gra ins, gur, o i l , and sa l t ) ,

charges fo r labour, deprec iat ion, in-terest on wo rk i ng capi ta l , housing, and miscellaneous expenses such as for veter inary services, ropes, and shoeing. Credit is also given in the bul lock account fo r the manure produced and the amount received

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f r o m h i r i n g , i f any. T h e total net charges der ived in this way are d i -v ided by the total number of bub lock pa i r days worked on the whole f a r m d u r i n g the year to obtain the w o r k i n g cost per bullock labour day; whi le by d i v i d i n g by 365 days times the number of pairs of bullocks we get the maintenance cost per bu l lock day (Table 2 ) .

On an average a pa i r of bullocks required about 300 mounds of green fodder and about 150 maunds of d ry fodder, of which about one t h i r d was in the form of bhusa, in a year-A m o n g the concentrates, oilseed cakes amounted to about 8 maunds, grains about 5 maunds, gur about 1 maund, mustard o i l 5 to 10 seers, and salt 1 to 2 seers. The w o r k i n g and maintenance cost per day per pa i r of bullocks came to Rs 6.75 and Rs 2,98 respectively. The rate of wages pa id to a f a r m worker d u r i n g the same per iod for an eight-hour day way Rs 1.50.

BULLOCK LABOUR USED

Holdings below 2.49 acres in size were responsible for the m a x i m u m bullock labour u t i l iza t ion per acre— 29 days (Table 3 ) . This figure de cl ined by about 25 per cent for holdings f r o m 2.50 to 7.49 acres, and fur ther to 17 days per acre on holdings of 20 acres or more-A l l holdings averaged 18 days of bul lock labour per acre-

A higher intensity of c ropping-reflecting the extent of double crop-p ing , and a s l ight ly higher percent-age of sugarcane, wh ich needs more bul lock labour than other crops, accounted for part of the h i g h bul-lock labour inpu t on s m a l l h o l d i n g s ; however, labour* used per acre of crops g rown remained higher on the smaller holdings, being 17 days per acre, than on holdings in the size group above 20 acres, where it was 14 days per acre. Labour on smaller holdings was found to be uti l ized produc t ive ly . The gross re-tu rn per bullock w o r k day was Rs 27.72 on the holdings of 2 4 9 acres or less, which was only s l igh t ly higher than the re tu rn per bullock

* Bul lock labour used per acre is obtained by d i v i d i n g total bub lock labour by the net cult ivat-ed area, and crop g rown per acre by d i v i d i n g the total bul-lock labour used by gross cropped area, i.e., i n c l u d i n g double count ing of the area sown more than once d u r i n g the year.

w o r k day on holdings in other size groups except on holdings of 20 acres or more . There it rose to Rs 28.85 or by about 4 per cent; and the average for all holdings was RS 27.21 per bul lock work day.

It is not safe, however, to a t t r i -bute the higher gross re tu rn per bullock w o r k day on holdings of 2.49 acres or less to bullock labour alone, as more human labour would also have contr ibuted to higher gross returns on these holdings.

W I D E VARIATIONS The problem of unused bullock

labour in I n d i a n fa rming , needs more a t ten t ion; but an increase in size of ho ld ing alone can be of very l i t t le help in solving the prob-lem, as it is clear (Tab le 3) that even on holdings of 20 acres or more unused bullock labour was about 60 per cent of total ava i lab i l i -ty . H ighe r intensi ty of c ropp ing , which is at present only 135 per cent, may help some in reducing the percentage of unused bullock labour .

W i d e variations, r ang ing f r o m 6 to 23 days, existed in bul lock labour used per acre on different bul lock-operated or non-mechanized farms. The chief factors responsible for this va r i a t ion were type of soi l , na-ture of crops g rown, and extent and source of i r r i g a t i o n facil i t ies ava i l -able- U t i l i s a t ion was at a m i n i m u m on a f a r m where adequate i r r i g a t i o n facil i t ies were not available, and as the f a r m was newly reclaimed a por t ion of the land was unsown d u r i n g the year. To some extent, the smaller area of farms accounted for larger bul lock labour use per acre. On two farms it was above 20 days, on seven between 15 and 20, on four between 10 and 15, and

on one less than 10 days. On an average it came to 15 days per acre.

W H A T IMPROVES UTILISATION

Bullock labour used per acre was 17 per cent higher on holdings than on non-mechanized farms. The fo l lowing factors seem to be respon-sible for higher bul lock labour u t i l i za t ion on holdings :

( 1 ) Labour-saving implements were common on farms but not on ho ld ings ;

( 2 ) area sown more than once was greater on holdings than on farms — 35 per cent against 21 per cent;

( 3 ) the ra t io of planted sugar-cane to ratoon (crop raised f rom new shoots that sp r ing up f r o m the roots after a first crop is harvested) was higher on holdings than on farms;

( 4 ) farms generally supplied sugarcane direct ly to the factor)-, most ly by trucks, or used power dr iven machinery for crushing sugarcane, whi le small holders often had no access to such fac i l i t ies ;

( 5 ) the small cul t ivators , being unemployed elsewhere, tu rned often to the i r fields; and

(6 ) great loss of t ime in go ing and coming was evident on cult iva-tors' holdings which were more widely scattered.

On par t i a l ly mechanized farms (those using tractors) the per-acre bul lock labour u t i l i za t ion was only 27 per cent as h igh as on non-mechanized farms. On an average, bullock labour used came to 4 days per acre and ranged f r o m 3 to 9 days.

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IRRIGATION

Bul lock labour use was h igher on

fa rms i r r iga ted par t ia l l y f r o m desi

wells than on fa rms receiv ing their

i r r i ga t i on water f r o m canals and

tubewel ls on ly . On an average i t

amounted to 16 and 6 days per acre

respectively-

More bul lock labour was used on

fa rms hav ing all the i r area under

i r r i ga t i on than on par t ia l l y i r r iga ted

fa rms — 15 and 6 days per acre

respectively.

The factors in f luenc ing bullock labour u t i l i za t ion may be summarize ed as fo l lows :

( ! ) More bul lock labour was used per acre on smal ler fa rms or hold ings than on larger ones;

( 2 ) the bul lock labour used per acre was more than three times as h igh on non-mechanized farms than on par t ia l l y mechanized ones;

( 3 ) the fa rms i r r iga ted par t ly by desi wells used almost three t imes as much bu l lock labour as fa rms i r r iga ted by canals and tube wells o n l y ; and

(4 ) the whol ly i r r igated farms used more than twice as much bul lock labour per acre as partially-i r r iga ted fa rms.

UNUSED BULLOCK LABOUR

In order to determine the percent-age of the bul lock labour wh ich was unused, the total available supply of bullock labour was calculated by mu l t i p l y i ng the number of wo rk ing days in the year t imes the number of w o r k i n g hours per day t imes the total number of pairs of bul locks kept for fa rm use, A wo rk i ng year was taken as 350 days* ; and ab

* lt is not common for either men or bul locks to take one day of rest per week; however, on Anuivasya-n the fifteenth day of each month ( V i k r a m e ra ) . bul locks are not used in any work . This al lows 12 days of test du r i ng a year, and al-lowance of 3 days is made on account of solar eclipses du r i ng wh ich no work is taken f rom bul locks. Thus a wo rk ing year fo r bul locks was taken as 350 days.

A l though farmers and agr icu l -tu ra l labourers do not take a weekly day of rest, they must attend to certain social calls so that on some days they cannot engage in f a r m work , A marg in

though the hours worked d u r i n g the day were commonly spread over a per iod of 10 to 12 hours, depend-ing upon the. season, the actual wo rk ing hours amounted to app rox i -mately eight hours, so that a work-i ng day was taken as eight hours

The percentage of unused bul lock labour declined f rom 76 to 59 f r o m the smallest to the largest holdings (Table 3 ) . The var ia t ion depended on the efficiency of bu l -locks, size of hold ing, and intensi ty of c ropp ing . On an average 62 per cent of the total available bul lock labour supply was unused on al l holdings.

On bullock-operated farms the percentage of unused labour var ied f r o m 24 to 76, the average being 54 per cent fo r a l l such farms. On par t i a l l y mechanized farms ( t ractor-cult ivated) due to the use of labour saving implements, the percentage of unused bullock labour was much higher. The var ia t ion was between 53 and 86 per cent., the average being 66 per cent for all par t ia l ly mechanized farms. Tractor cult iva-t ion reduced to a great extent the work available even for bul locks kept as a m i n i m u m requirement w i th tractor cu l t iva t ion.

The farms receiving their i r r iga-t ion par t ly f rom desi wells p rov ided more employment to bul lock labour than those i r r iga ted by canals and tubewells only. The percentage of bul lock labour supply unused ave-raged 51 and 64 per cent respec-t ively on the two groups of farms.

The whol ly i r r iga ted farms pro-vided more complete employment for bullocks than the par t ia l ly ir-r igated farms. The percentage of unused bullock labour averaged 47 and 66 per cent for the respective groups of farms.

In summary, (1) the smaller the size of f a rm

or hold ing the greater the per-eentage of unused bu l lock labour,

(2) par t ia l ly mechanized farms-had more unused bul lock labour than non-mechanized ones.

(3 ) farms i r r igated by canals and tubewells only had more unused bullock labour than farms i r r igated pa r t l y by desi wells, and

(4 ) par t ia l l y i r r iga ted farms had more unused bullock labour than whol ly i r r iga ted fa rms.

of one day per week was con-sidered desirable, so that a wo rk ing year was taken as 312 days.

COMMAND AREA

The area commanded per pa i r of bullocks was closely associated w i t h the size of ho ld ing , bul locks on larger hold ings commanding a larger area per pa i r than those on small holdings (Table 3 ) , The area commanded per pa i r of bul-locks ranged f rom 2.92 to 8.74 acres and was three t imes as h igh on holdings above 20 acres as on holdings of 2.49 acres or less. On an average it came to 7.32 acres per pa i r of bul locks fo r al l hold ings.

W ide var iat ions were observed in area commanded per pa i r of bul-locks on di f ferent non-mechanized fa rms, depending on the nature of crops g rown, intensi ty of c ropp ing , percentage of i r r iga ted area, and source of i r r i ga t i on . Efficiency of managers was also impor tan t in determin ing the area commanded per pa i r of bullocks on di f ferent farms. The area ranged f r o m 7.46 to 16.62 acres, the average being 10.83 acres for a l l non-mechanized farms. On the whole the area com-manded per pa i r of bul locks was about 50 per cent higher on non mechanized farms than on the holdings.

On par t ia l ly mechanized farms the area commanded per pai r of bul locks was more than twice as h igh as on non-mechanized farms. On part ia l ly mechanized fa rms, too. wide variat ions existed, rang ing bet-ween 11 and 41 acres. The smallest f a r m accounted for the lowest area commanded per pai r , whi le on the two largest farms where most of the land was un- i r r igated and only one crop was grown du r i ng the year each pai r of bullocks commanded more than 30 acres of land.

On farms having canals or tube-wells as their only source of i r r i ga -t ion ; bul locks commanded about twice as large an area per pa i r as on farms i r r iga ted par t l y by desi wells. On an average each pa i r commanded 20.83 and 10,81 acres on the respective groups of fa rms.

On par t ia l ly i r r iga ted farms bul -locks commanded more than twice as large an area per pa i r as on whol ly i r r iga ted farms. The areas averaged 23.49 and 10,91 acres respectively.

Summing up, the f o l l ow ing con-clusions have been drawn :

(1 ) The larger the size of f a r m , the larger the area commanded per pai r of bul locks.

(2 ) More than twice as large an

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area was commanded per pa i r of bul locks on par t ia l ly mechanized farms than on non-mechanized ones.

(3 ) On canal or tubewell i r-r igated farms bullocks commanded nearly twice as large an area per pai r as on farms i r r iga ted par t ia l l y by desi wells.

(4 ) On par t ia l ly i r r igated farms bullocks commanded more than twice as large an area per pa i r as on whol ly i r r igated fa rms.

MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION OF BULLOCK

LABOUR ON GOVERNMENT FARM

At Government F a r m , Meerut , there was, on an average f r o m 1948-49 to 1950-51, a 175 per cent increase in bul lock labour use f r o m the low month of August to the h i g h month o f May (Table 4 ) . By August sowing operations of a l l kharif season crops are finished. Bullocks are employed on ly occa-sional ly in the in tercu l tura l opera-tions which are carr ied out du r i ng this m o n t h ; on small holdings in tercu l tura l operations, except in sugarcane, are invar iab ly carr ied out by human labour exclusively. The only work left f o r bul locks du r i ng this month is occasional p loughing of f ields left fal low for sowing rabi crops. That too is in terrupted by cont inual monsoon rains, as August witnesses the highest monthly ra in fa l l for the year. A l l these factors leave very l i t t le work to he per formed by bullocks in this month.

Du r i ng May . on the other hand-the threshing operations fo r rahi crops are in fu l l sw ing ; inter-cultu-ral operations lo r sugarcane conti-nue throughout the m o n t h ; prepara-t ion and sowing of crops l ike cotton, ear ly maize for fodder, and other early preen fodder crops is done; and hot weather cu l t iva t ion opera-tions are done if there is t ime for them. On small holdings besides, the small holders are busy in harvesting sugarcane ( in factory zones only) and in i r r i ga t i ng sugar-cane fields by Persian wheels? w i th the help of bullocks, because gene-ra l ly du r i ng this month the supply of water by canals or tubewells fal ls short of demand. Moreover, dur ing this per iod cult ivators t ransport their f a rmyard manure f r om vi l lage sites to their fields.

The month w i th the second highest ut i l izat ion was October, du r ing wh ich the preparat ion of fields fo r sowing of rabi crops re-

mains at its peak and sowing opera-tions are also started. It is there-fore concluded that the max imum bullock labour employment is dur-i n g the threshing of rabi crops and the sowing of rabi crops and sugar-cane.

Considerable va r ia t ion both in total bu l lock labour requirements and in the d is t r ibut ion by months between the three years has been observed. These var iat ions depend on seasonal condit ions wh ich deter-mine the extent and d is t r ibu t ion of t ime available fo r do ing preparatory t i l lage operations f o r sowing kharif as well as rabi crops. A more even or regular ra in fa l l may ensure more p loughings in preparat ion fo r sowing various crops, whi le i r regu-la r i t y of ra in fa l l reduces the num-ber of p loughings to a considerable extent. Th is si tuat ion is equally true in case of pr ivate farms and cul t ivators ' holdings. Uncer ta in ty of I nd ian f a r m i n g due to dependence on rains is the main factor creat ing obstacles in the way of improve-ments in bullock labour. Increasing i r r iga t ion faci l i t ies w i l l he lp , there-fore, in increasing the area sown more than once, which in tu rn may absorb some bullock labour left un-

used at present. However, the prob-lem requires fu r the r invest igat ion for its complete solut ion.

Rihand Water Supplies To Begin N e x t Year

A B O U T 21 lakh acres o f l and—16 lakh acres in Ut ta r Pradesh and

f ive lakh acres in B i h a r — w i l l be prov ided w i t h water f o r i r r i ga t ion of crops f r o m 4,000 tubewells, wh ich w i l l receive power supply f rom the Rs 46 crore R ihand Pro-ject next year.

The instal led capacity of the Rihand project is 2,50,00 k W , and the firm generat ing capacity 1,05,000 k W.

A concrete grav i ty dam, 3,065 ft. long and about 300 f t , h i gh , is be-ing constructed across the r iver R ihand in Ut tar Pradesh. The re-servoir created by the dam w i l l have a gross storage capacity of 8.6 m i l l i on acre f t . of water, and a total spread of 180 sq. miles.

The dam is expected to be com-pleted in 1961, ad power w i l l be suppl ied f r o m the project fo r agr i -cul tural and industr ia l uses in Ut tar Pradesh and Bihar in the next f inan-c ia l year

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