Area under Different Crops and their Production in Kashmir Valley under Dogras (1846-1947 A.D.)

This paper aims at exploring the area under different agricultural crops and their production of Kashmir valley under Dogras. It throws light upon the area under rice, wheat, maize, barley, cotton and tobacco from 1891- 1958.The paper makes it clear that year by year land under above cited crops increased owing to increasing pressure of population on land. It also informs us about the average yield of per kharwar of land (one kharwar of land equivalent to thirty two canals of land and one kharwar of crop equivalent to eighty kgs crop).The paper clarifies that there was a fluctuation of yields year by year owing to low cropping intensity, low use of fertilizers and lack of sufficient mechanization, poor economic status of large number of farmers etc.It also throws light upon the yield of said crops in totality were low than the existed potential of land. When we compare the yield of agricultural crops under Dogras with the present times we find the present yield is five times more than that of Dogras. It clearly indicates that the increasing yield of agricultural crops due to advancement of agricultural technology, high use of fertilizers and manures and agricultural operations are carefully timed.

During the Dogra regime land distribution in Kashmir was highly defective and there were wide disparities in the distribution of land in spite of ceiling of the land settlement as the absentee landlordism was still in existence and even the surplus land was not properly distributed among the landless and small farmers who were actual tillers of land. The valley of Kashmir because of its physical character remained by and large aloof from the rest of the world including India. The system of land cultivation and the implements used in agriculture were somewhat different from that use in elsewhere. The plough used was very primitive. The paper reflects the nature of the agrarian economy of the valley was not developed during the dogra regime. The paper is based on statistical data with graph of each data. One can understand the agrarian status of Kashmir valley by sighting the graph under Dogras.