Buchanan: Rice Cultivation

Buchanan classified Kanara's cultivated land into either rice fields or plantations. Rice cultivation was tedious and back breaking. The season lasted many months. Here is a summary of Buchanan's record of rice cultivation in South Kanara at the beginning of the British colonization of the district.

Rice was cultivated in three types of land: bylu, majelu, betta 

Bylu fields: located in the lower part of valleys, watered by small streams, irrigated by water conveyed in canals

Majelu fields: located on higher ground, watered by small reservoirs (water released through sluice, or raised by a yatam or basket suspended between ropes), yielded one crop annually

Betta fields: located on high ground, not irrigated by streams or reservoirs, depended entirely on rain

Rice was also transplanted in potla fields (fields heavily inundated during the rainy season0 as the land dried out.

Crop seasons

Bylu lands were protected from torrential water flow from the hills during the rainy season by a mound built round the bottom of the hill. A channel above this mound conveyed excess water to rivers. Coconut trees were frequently planted around the mound to strengthen it. Bylu lands yielded two to three crops (yenalu, sughi, colaky) annually. The colaky crop was only possible where water was plentiful. The rice commonly exported came from the yenalu crop.

Rice varieties

Name	Quality	Soil	Crop	Months	Cultivation	Output bushels
Bily Akki	white, small	bylu	yenalu	5	transplanted	25
Bily Akki	white, small	bylu	colaky	3	sprouted seed	6.1/4
Bily Akki	white, small	majelu	yenalu	5	sprouted seed	15
Jirigay Saly	very small	bylu	yenalu	5	transplanted	18.1/4
Amutty	large, black	bylu	yenalu	5	sprouted seed	25
Cagi Akki	large, black	bylu	yenalu	5	sprouted seed	18.3/4
Cagi Akki	large, black	bylu	colaky	3	sprouted seed	6.1/4
Atticaraya	red, low-priced	bylu	sughi	3.1/2	sprouted seed	12.1/2
Kiny Vettu	red, low-priced	majelu	yenalu	3	sprouted seed	12.1/2
Kiny Vettu	red, low-priced	betta	yenalu	3	sprouted seed	10
Sampa Saly	red, low-priced	majelu	yenalu	3.1/2	sprouted seed	12.1/2
Soma Saly	red, low-priced	majelu	yenalu	3.1/2	sprouted seed	12.1/2
Soma Saly	red, low-priced	betta	yenalu	3.1/2	sprouted seed	10
Tungalu	red, low-priced	betta	yenalu	3	sprouted seed	10
Attigary	red, low-priced	potla		5	transplanted	12.1/2

Cultivation of the yenalu crop on bylu land through transplantation

Between May 14 to June 14:

·       field intended for raising seedlings watered for two days, ploughed twice, water released after each ploughing to leave behind a level of  two inches

·       repeated eight times, every other day  

·       before the last ploughing, field manured with ash and cow dung, and mulched with leaves

·       field smoothened with muttu pallay (plank drawn by oxen) 

·       sprouted seed sown very thick in fields flooded with water three inches deep; water let out next day

·       fifth day: as shoots appear, watered again till half height; water level increased daily as plants grow      

·       ninth day: water let out entirely

·       eleventh day: re-watered   

·       in case of worm infestation, water let off for three days about the end of the third week, and ash sprinkled over the field to kill the worms

·       seedlings transplanted between the 30th and 35th days

The main field was ploughed on the day that the seed was sown, and a further three times in the course of the month.

·       field kept inundated between the ploughings

·       at the time of ploughing, two or three inches only of water allowed to remain

·       after every ploughing, field smoothed with the muttu pallay

·       between the 4th and 15th of July, all the water except one inch let off, and seedlings transplanted

·       third day: field drained and allowed to dry for two days

·       sixth day: received two inches of water; kept inundated until crop ripened

·       5th - l6 th August: weeds removed by hand

 Late October- early November: crop harvested and dried on the ground

·       dried paddy thrashed against a sloping bamboo grating in an open courtyard  

·       grain collected and dried in the sun

·       seed grain packed in muras (straw bags), and hung up in kitchen smoke 

·       rice intended for consumption heaped on straw, and covered with thatch

·       husks beaten off in the course of two or three months, and immediately sold

·       rough rice put into large pots, and covered with water over-night

·       boiled in the morning until husks began to open

·       then sun-dried, beaten in a small hole in the ground or stone with a long pestle covered with iron at its end

·       a little is beaten without boiling for the use of Brahmans

Cultivation of yenalu crop on bylu land from seedlings

·       ploughing and manuring conducted exactly as for transplanting, but 15 days later

·       seed prepared by soaking rice muras in water from the evening until noon next day   

·       moray stored in the house, and opened in the morning of the fourth day; seed sprinkled with dung and water, and sowed immediately

·       then managed like as for seedlings 

·       weeds removed around July 26

Cultivation of sughi crop 

·       on bylu land, sughi crop mostly cultivated from sprouted seed

·       inferior in quality to yenalu; reserved for home consumption

·       being harvested in the dry season, its straw made valuable fodder

·       ploughing commenced between October 16 and November 14, immediately after the yenalu harvest; done exactly as previously described, except that, the ground being now harder, three or four men stood on the plank drawn by oxen instead of one

·       a larger quantity of manure was required 

Cultivation of colaky crop

·       sprouted seed used

·       ploughing between January 12 and February 10, immediately after sughi harvest

·       manner of cultivation similar to sughi

·       in most places the water raised by yatam (panay), or caidumbay

·       caidumbay could raise water more than three feet

·       crop required a great deal of manure, otherwise it injured the following yenalu crop

·       where the quantity of water was too little, pulses (urud, padingi, cudu) were grown

·       ground double ploughed five times in five days; smoothened after each with muttu pallay

·       then manured with dung and ashes; seed sown by broadcasting and covering by plough

·       soil smoothened again with muttu pallay

·       if water was less, fields divided into small bunded plots and watered once in 15 days  

Cultivation on majelu land

·       cultivation always from sprouted seed and seedlings remaining after bylu planting

·       manner of cultivation was same, and at same season as yenalu

·       in case of less rainfall, water supplied from small tanks with about 15 days reserve after the rains 

·       small portion of majelu land reserved for a second crop of cudu pulses sown between October 16 and November 13

Cultivation on betta land

·       cultivation always from sprouted seed

·       manner of cultivation same as for yenalu except that two more ploughings required, and a greater quantity of manure

·       rice kept for home consumption