10

Environmental Setting of Upper Wainganga Valley (Gondia District)

In the scheme of geographical regionalization of Maharashtra, Upper Wainganga

valley stands out as a zone of physical as well as cultural transitions. Upper Wainganga

valley forms a part of Wardha-Wainganga basin which further constitutes the Vidarbha

Plain (Singh 1971). Wainganga basin is enclosed by higher lands from the three sides

which carve out a distinct regional entity separated from the hilly Satpura on the north,

the Maharashtra Plateau on the west and Chhattisgarh basin on the east (Singh 1971).

The formations from the archaean to pre-Cambrian are exposed here in eastern

part of Maharashtra (Dixit 1986). Politically and administratively, Upper Wainganga

valley constitutes mainly of Gondia district.

Gondia district is situated between 20° 39' to 21°38' N and 79° 27' to 80°42' E.

The district is located in the north-eastern part of the state and is bordered by the states

of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh from east and north respectively and Bhandara

district and Chandrapur district of Maharashtra to the west and south. Gondia is one of

the districts of Maharashtra which is located in midst of forests, is known as rice bowl

and is the center of timber trade other forest produce (Dixit 1986:192). In ancient

times, this region was ruled over by Gond kings who ordered for the collection of lakh

from palas tree and gum from babul tree. Since, gum is called “Gond' in Hindi; it is

from here that the name of the district must have been derived (Bhandara district

gazetteer 1979).

Administrative History and Creation of Gondia District

Under the command of Bhosle Kingdom, the present Gondia district was known

as Bhandara and it was a part of Nagpur tertiary. The Wainganga Prant covering most the

area of upper Wainganga valley occupied the north-eastern part of the district. In 1818

the area of the Prant Wainganga was put under the Regency administration.

Subsequently, northern area of Prant Wainganga was divided into Lanji territory and

southern and eastern parts of the Prant Wainganga and this new district was called

Bhandara. In 1881, the district had only three talukas- Tiroda, Sakoli and Bhandara in the

north, south and west respectively. In first half of twentieth century, Tiroda taluka was

11

renamed as Gondia and it headquarter was transferred from Tiroda to Gondia. In 1956

under the ‘States Reorganization Programme’ the district was transferred from Madhya

Pradesh to the then Bombay State and thereafter to Maharashtra State. The Gondia

district was created out of Bhandara district on 1 May 1999. Currently it comprises

Gondia, Tiroda, Goregaon, Amgaon, Salekasa, Deori, and Arjuni (Morgaon) talukas (Fig

2.1). Geographic area of the district is 4, 84,312 sq. m and area under forest is 11,879 sq.

hectares. Gondia is principle trade center and its market specializes in rice, oilseeds,

pulses and wheat (Deshpande 1971).

Map 2.1 Map of Gondia district

12

Drainage System of the Region

The entire Upper Wainganga region is drained by a network of Wainganga

river and its first, second and third order tributaries which together constitute the

fluvial system of this region. Wainganga is the principal river and it traverses the

entire length of the Vidarbha plain. Its origin lies about 12 km from Mundara village

in Seoni district in the southern slopes of the Satpura ranges of Madhya Pradesh, at an

elevation of 640 m above the MSL (Dixit 1986).

The total length of this river is 754 km up to its confluence with Godavari. In

the beginning, it flows for a length of about 275 km in Seoni and Balaghat districts of

Madhya Pradesh. Further it flows for a distance of about 479 km in Bhandara,

Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli districts of Maharashtra. This river presents an aspect of

senility in its profile (Singh 1971). It flows north-south in the Balaghat district and

then enters into Gondia district on north-western border. Between the confluences of

the Bagh and the -Bawanthadi, in the northern part of the Gondia district, the bed is

not too wide, hence, instead of plain, it is called Upper Wainganga valley.

Downstream of Bawanthadi confluence, the river widens to almost a kilometer off

Tumsar and to almost two kilometers close to the southern limits of the Bhandara

district.

The river flows in a granite gneissic terrain with a very ancient topography and

encounters in its course the metamorphic Dharwars in Gondia and Bhandara district

which is the principle iron bearing deposit in the area (Dixit 1986). The bed of the

river is generally broad and sandy, interspersed with occasional rock barriers and

boulders. The river has developed extensive flood plain with meanders and low

alluvial flats and meander terraces. The river comes along with lot of sand, silt and

heavy alluviums here. The channel of the river swings by graceful meanders resulting

in steep eroded banks on the outer side and shallow shelving and depositional inner

banks.

13

Map 2.2 Area of Upper Wainganga Valley

Over most of its course, the river has developed high outer banks, 15 to 20 m.

high. On the inner and less high banks, alluvial flats are quite prominent and liability

to flooding is also greater; as a consequence, villagers avoid the inner banks and stick

to the higher outer banks. During the hot weather, the flow of the channel is confined

to the eroded outer bank. The initial reaches of the river basin and the left part of the

basin comprises mostly forest area having rural population. Wainganga river receives

numerous tributaries on either banks. The main tributaries viz. Bagh, Chulband,

Garhvi, Kobragarhi and Kathani drain into the main river on the left bank, while

Kanhan, Andhari, Wardha and Peddavagu join Wainganga at its right bank.

Major Tributaries of the Wainganga River

Bagh is the main tributary of the river Wainganga. It is interesting to note that

there are two Bagh rivers and both are tributaries of Wainganga. They are known as

14

Main Bagh and lesser Balaghat Bagh. The main Bagh originates from the Chichgarh

plateau, and flows north on granitic landscape. Most of its tributaries join on the right

bank. The river joins Wainganga on its left bank near the village Birsola. Lesser

Balaghat Bagh which rises in the hills of Khairagarh, joins main Bagh in the east of

village Sarkartola. The Kuadhas river rising in the Darekasa hills which flows within

the district, is a sub tributary of Bagh. One of the tributaries of main Bagh viz. Pangoli

river originates from Tumsar hill of Gondia district. The river Pangoli has a perennial

source of water and it floods during the rainy season. The Satbahni river rising in

Chinchewada hills and flowing through Deori, along with Pangoli river, join the main

Bagh on its left bank.

Bawanthadi is another principle affluent of Wainganga river. It rises in

Madhya Pradesh in Kurai plateau of Seoni district. The River runs east for a distance

of 48 km before falling into Wainganga. Though small and seasonal in its upper

course, the river after entering the Gondia district, is fed by numerous hill torrents and

nullas which make her perennial. The river has low banks and hence, in floods, it

overflows the banks. Quick sands also occur in many parts of its bed. Comparably

small Bodalkasa river drains the overflow of the Bodalkasa tank westwards to join the

Wainganga on its left bank just downstream of the confluence of the Ambagad river.

Before its confluence with the main stream, it is met by an affluent, the Chorkhambara

river which is the main supportive water flow of Bodalkasa river.

Chulband another important river of the region and a tributary of Wainganga

originates from joint hill complex of Salegaon Dalli and Palasgaon hill. The river

generally flow south, parallel to Wainganga. The river has an overall length of 114

km. It drains the overflow of the Nawegaon and Seoni tanks. The Garhvinadi, also

known as the Itiadoh nadi, rises in the granitic plateau of Chichgarh in the south-

eastern part of Sakolitahsil and flows west in a deep and narrow valley before it finally

joins Wainganga river. Another important river Son rises in Lutna village on Baihar

plateau. Gold washing was carried out in the upper reaches of the Son river due to

which it derived its name (Bhandara district gazetteer 1979).

15

The Bodalkasa river originates from the same name tank at Tiroda taluka and

joins Wainganga on its left bank. The river also receives water from plenty of small

nullas and seasonal water sources. The river is joined by Chorkhambara river which

drains the overflow of Chorkhambara tank before its confluence with Wainganga. The

Garhvi river originates from south-eastern part of Gondia from a granitic surface in

Chichgarh Plateau in Deori taluka. This perennial river flows amidst deep and narrow

valleys in its upper riches. Downstream, it cuts the quartzite formation of Navegaon

hills.

Tanks

Earlier district of Bhandara was called the ' lake district' of Maharashtra, which

is well justified by the fact that there were as many as 580 large and 13,758 small and

medium sized tanks, scattered all over the district (Bhandara district gazetteer1979).

Every village of Gondia possesses more than four tanks all around the village. These

tanks are generally distributed along the bank of major rivers of the district such as

Wainganga, Chulband, Bawanthadi and Bagh. It is on these tanks that the prosperity

of villages depends. And a glance at the size and condition of these tanks gives one a

correct impression about the prosperity of a village. The best lands of the village

generally lie immediately below the tank, commanding water flow from the tank. The

poorest lands are at the farthest end of the tank canals and at higher levels on the

flanks. The tank beds during the dry season are occupied by quick yielding crops,

especially vegetables to make use of the best silts of the tank bed. There are broadly

two types of tank- first is tank with big size and perennial water supply located usually

on a depression in foothills. One such big tank, Bodalkasa tank, is located south-

southwest of Gaikhuri range in a breach on the north-east to south-west running spurs.

This perennial tank of an extremely irregular shape like the letter 'G' has a

circumference of 30 km. The overflow empties into the Bodalkasa river and finally

into the Wainganga. Another such big tank, the Chorkhambara tank having

circumference of 22 km, is situated 10 km southwest of Bodalkasa tank on the steep

western flanks of the same spur of the Gaikhuri range. The overflow enters the

Wainganga through the Chorkhambara river. Second types of tanks are smaller in size

16

and are located around the village. In absence of perennial water supply, these tanks

dry out in summer.

Geology and Geomorphology

In the Wainganga valley, some of the earliest known rocks of the earth are

exposed. The schistose gneisses of the archaean with island of archaean granite flanked

by Dharwarian schists are the principal formations in the area of study (Singh 1971;

Wadia 1957; Dixit 1986). The geneiss-granite complex of archaeans has accumulated in

their tectonic depressions the sediments that later metamorphosed into Dharwarian rocks.

There are occasional patches of Cuddappahs and Vindhyans, the latter however are

highly localized and not very significant. Lithologically, Dharwarian formations in

Madhya Pradesh and Nagpur region have been identified as Sausar series. The Sausar

series consists of granualites, calciphyres, mica sillimanite quartz, schist, hornblende

schist along with highly characteristic metalliferous deposits like the ores of magnesium

and iron. It is largely of aqueous sedimentation but subsequently it has been

metamorphosed and invaded by plutonic rock masses. The archaeans, the dharwars and

the Vindhyas exposed in this region are like a museum of a whole sequence of rocks from

the archaean to Cambrian (Dixit 1986).

The rocks underlying Upper Wainganga valley form a part of above lithology.

However certain district wise variations are evident. In the greater area of Wainganga

valley local representative of Dharwars are distinguished as outcrops of Chilpi and

Gondite series (Wadia 1957). These rocks include a great thickness of highly

disturbed slates and phyllites with quartzite and basic trappean intrusions. This is

different in case of Gondia district. Rare and sporadic occurrences of the Vindhyans in

parts of the region and the basic traps at the higher elevations of the Ambagad range

are the only geological horizons outcropping in the Gondia district. The Dharwars

belong to two suites; the more highly metamorphosed rocks of the Sausar series occur

in the north-west, mainly in the Bawanthadi valley and consist of calc-granulites,

marbles and manganese bearing gondites, tourmaline-garnet-biotitic.schists, gneisses

and quartzite. The other, covering a larger part of Gondia district in the south and east

belongs to the Sakoli series comprising predominantly argillaceous and siliceous rocks

17

with a high proportion of chlorites, but lacking in lime rocks. The former rocks in the

district have generally an N-NE and S-SW strike and are often intruded by granites

and quartz. The boundary between the two belts has been drawn more or less in a

north-east-south-west direction, not far from the town of Tiroda and two km. north-

west of Bhandara, the Sakoli series being to its south-east and the Sausar series to its

north-west. Parts of the region, steadily opening out into a broad valley southwards in

the west-central parts of the district are separated from tributary valley basins by

intervening hill ranges that also act as water-partings between the lesser streams of the

district. The highest elevation mainly lies in the south-eastern tracts that form an

undulating plateau dotted with residual smoothly rounded hills (Bhandara district

gazetteer 1979).

Alluvium is developed all along major river courses such as Bagh, Chulbandh

and Gadhvi. Laterites are distributed all over the district. Metamorphic rocks like

various granites, gneiss, schists, phylites are also exposed throughout the district. The

stratigraphic sequence based on available information on the geology of the area is as

follows.

Table 2.1 Geology of the Upper Wainganga Valley

Age Formation Lithology

Pleistocene to

Recent

Alluvium and Laterite Silt, Sand, Gravel, Laterite

Protozoic Vindhyan Super Group Quartzite and Shale

Dongargarh Super Group Andesite, Sandstone granite,

Ehyolite

Sausar Group Muscovite-boitite-schist,

Granite, Tirodi Gneiss

Sakoli Group Schist, Phyllites, Quartzite

Archaeans Amagon Group Granite & Gneisses

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Geomorphologically, the region can be divided into two- first part includes the

north-western, north-eastern, south-eastern and central parts which have structural units

like hills and ridges. Whereas, second incorporates northern, north-central, west-central,

south and south-west portions having undulating topography over denudational units like

pediments and fluvial units. The physical milieu of the region is characterized by forest

covered, rugged and unhealthy terrain (Singh 1971). Moreover, the rapid fluvial erosion

has reduced the land considerably leaving a number of isolated hills. Rocky surfaces are

often devoid of thick soil cover and account for more than half of the forest cover of

Maharashtra state.

Topographical Features of the Region

The Wainganga and its major tributaries like Bagh, Bawanthadi occupies most of

the area of the district chiefly in the north-western side. Low hills are found at a few

places within the district. These hills spread in a group or in isolation at varying heights.

Maikal (Darekasa) hill lies at eastern end of the district on the border of Maharashtra and

Chhattisgarh. The elevation of these hills is higher than the western hills. These are

predominantly occupied by dense forest cover. Gondia Bagh and Balaghat Bagh rivers

flow over these hills. Few natural caves of various sizes are also found in these hills.

Towards the west of Darekasa hill, Ambagad hill is situated. This is an extreme outlier of

the Satpura ranges running with W-N and E-SE trend, separating Valley of Bawanthadi

River with Wainganga. The average elevation of Ambagad hill is 200 meter with a width

of 3 km and overall length of 30 km. To the east of Chichgarh plateau a group of hills

known as Navegaon, Palasgaon and Pratapgarh hills are located. Navegaon and

Pratapgarh hills rise to the highest elevation of the region. Chichgad hills situated at

southern part of the district represent a higher elevation than Palasgaon hills. North-

western part of the district is occupied by Wainganga and its tributaries- Bagh and

Chulband rivers. This area is significantly noteworthy since long periods of

circumdenudation have resulted in the river valleys being carved out over the Archaean,

gneiss and schist. The Sausar rock beds west of the Wainganga and the Sakoli rock beds

to the east and south stand up boldly in relief as resistant hill-masses (Bhandara District

Gazetteer 1979).

19

Soils

The characteristics and distribution of soils in Upper Wainganga region are

influenced essentially by the nature and intensity of weathering and the mode and

rapidity of fluvial transport on the plateau. Kali, kanhar, sihar, morand, khardi and

bardi are the main types of soils that are found in this region. The area under kali is

not very extensive and it occurs in form of regional pockets in Tiroda taluka. Kanhar

denotes a very rich alluvial soil. Sihar is a reddish-yellow soil formed mainly of the

detritus of the crystalline rock. It cracks very little in hot weather. Morand soil is very

sticky and retentive of moisture and bears a double crop. Morand class II and Sihar,

cover altogether one third of the total cultivated area in the region Very inferior type

of sihar is known as Khardi. Kanhar and first class morand soils are chiefly found in

the plains and along the Wainganga river. In the valleys of the Wainganga River, the

soil consists of sandy loam of varying quality which is very suitable for the cultivation

of rice. Both Morand class II and Sihar soils are utilized for cultivation of rice; but the

sihar is perhaps prominently the rice soil while Morand especially, where it is purest,

grows jowar, wheat and linseed. Soils derived from granitic decomposition are

generally light and with their low productivity are suitable only for kharif crops like

paddy and jowar (Singh 1971).

Minerals

Upper Wainganga plain occupies a pride position in the mineral map of India.

Minerals of the region include coal, manganese, limestone, chromite, bauxite and iron ore

(Singh 1971). Associated with the Lower Gondawana, coal occurs in the eastern part of

the region in Kamptee, Umrer, Bander and Wardha valley. Mangenese occurs in Nagpur

and Bhandara in a belt that continues into the adjoining Chhindwada and Balaghat

districts. The Manganese reserves of the area are one of the largest in the country.

Limestone deposits are largely confined to Nagpur and Bhandara districts. Here,

crystalline Limestone and Marbles also occur in the Sauser series of Archaeans which are

generally silicious dolomitic and occasionally magniferous. Copper is discovered from

the deposits at Malajkhand and it is regarded as one of the largest deposits in the country.

20

Map 2.3 Mineral map of Vidarbha

The Land use Pattern of the Region

The major land use categories in district include buildup land and agricultural

land that comprises of generally kharif, rabi and double crop system in the region.

Forest cover comprises of deciduous forests, degraded forests, forest blanks and recent

plantations. Deciduous forest largely spreads out in the region in the east of the Gondia

district. Waste land with or without scrub and barren rocky/stony waste can also be found

in the region.

Table 2.2 The Land use pattern of the region.

Land use/Land Cover

Category Area in Ha. Percentage to the total

Geographical area

Built up land 1155 1.36

Agricultural land 1,98,750 41.19

21

Forest Land 1,36,175 35.05

Waste Land 17,511 4.51

Water bodies 34,619 8.91

Total 5,88,209 100.00

Climate and Rainfall

Wainganga valley is an area of climatic contrast in terms of climate and rainfall as

seen against whole of Maharashtra. Wainganga basin lies in the medium rainfall zone of

900 mm to 1600 mm. There is a progressive increase in the amount of annual rainfall that

changes the landscape and the cropping pattern (Singh 1971). In the eastern part of

Vidarbha, the rains are heavier and more prolonged than in the western part and evenly

distributed during the entire monsoon period (Singh 1971). The eastern rainy part of the

region accounts for more than 60% of the total forest area (Singh 1971).

Most of the rainfall is received during the south west monsoon from June to

October owing largely to summer monsoons though some rain is received during the

retreat of SW monsoon associated with cyclonic storms in early winter. In winter, the

minimum temperature varies from 7°

C to 13°C. Maximum temperature varies from

39° C to 47° during summer. The month of May is the hottest month and the

December is the coldest one. In contrast to the diurnal heating, the cooling in night is

slow. Therefore, higher temperatures both during the day and night prevail in

Wainganga basin (Singh, 1971).

Flora

The Upper Wainganga valley is highly rich in terms of forest cover. Two national

Tiger projects and Sanctuary in the region itself speak about the strategic importance of

forests here. The region falls under the broad variety of the southern dry deciduous forest

and incorporates two main sub types. First type includes the teak forest and second type

is mixed forest. The usual teak includes sag, halda, tinsa, shisham, mahua, roham, khair,

dikamali, garahi. The mixed forest includes three types.

22

i) Superior quality of mixed forests.

ii) Medium quality of mixed forests.

iii) Poor quality of mixed forests.

The mixed forest is mostly occupied as reserve forest and entire protected forest

area. Tropical deciduous forests of Wainganga valley are the main source of timber and

support paper industries of the region (Singh, 1971). Rich forest cover supports a lot of

economic activities. Teek wood is utilized for timber, tendu leaves for bidis, mahuwa for

liquor, palas for propagation of lac, kadai or dhaora for making of gum. The area of

study also has semi moist mixed deciduous forest occurring on the hill slopes and valley

on the well-drained alluvium soil and dry mixed deciduous forest occurring on stony and

rocky surface. However because of thick forest cover and rocky terrain, very little land is

under cultivation producing mainly rice and jowar as cereal crops and orange and cotton

as cash crops (Singh, 1971).

Fauna

Well clad forests occurring almost all over the region offer adequate cover for

protection for wild life and foliage as a principal feed. Tiger (Felis tigris),

(Semnopithecus entellus), panther (Felis pardus), jungle cat (Felis Chaus), hyaena

(Hyaena struatam), jackal (Canis aureus), fox (Vulpes bengalensis), wild dog (Red

dogs), bear (Ursus vel melursus ursinus), wild pig (Sus scrofa fel cristatus), hare (Lepus

ruficandants), bison (Bos vel gavaeus gaurus), sambhar (Rusa aristotelis), chital (Axis

maculatus), barking deer (Cervalus muntjac), black buck (Antelope bezoartica), chinkara

(Gazella bennettii) abound in rich forest cover of Upper Wainganga valley. The forest

offers habitat to numerous bird species like golden orioles, blue roller, king fisher, wood

peckers, little green fly catcher, jungle fowl, painted and rock sand grouses, grey

partridge, green pigeon, jungle quail and a variety of doves and snakes.

Tribal of the Region

Tribals of the region are basically living in the eastern half area of the district. The

Gonds and Govaris are the most prominent tribes living in the valley. The Gonds of the

23

district are sub-divided into Raj Gonds and Dhur Gonds. Govari is another major tribe

also known as Gond-Govari. Due to its connection with Ahirs, it is considered as low

branch of Gonds. The Gond mainly speaks Gondi, a dialect belonging to the Dravidian

language (Pathak 2009). The Govaries themselves says that the Gond and Govaries are

the descendants of one of two brothers who accidently eat a flesh of cow. The Govaris

are fond of tattoos; men commonly have a dot between eyebrows and females wear lines

of dots usually long at the center and short on either side.

The dead are buried in Govari society. On returning from funeral, they offer food

to the spirit which is placed outside the deceased’s house. They eat the food only after the

cow touches the food which is offered to the spirit. This ritual called utran and it is

conducted by a bhagat (Pathak 2009). However, it is observed that the tribals in Gondia

district do not practice the customs related to death ceremony which are followed by their

counterparts living in deep forest in south and east part of the district.

Occupation of the People

The population of the district is mainly involved in agricultural and related

activities. Gondia district has a fertile land and it receives heavy rainfall of 1597 mm

as compared to adjacent regions. As a result, the agriculture flourishes in the region.

Besides, monsoon, rivers, tanks, ponds and wells act as an important source of

irrigation. Availability of tanks at every village can also be taken to indicate fishing as

a supplemented occupation besides agriculture. Still traditional way of fish catching is

followed in the district. Bidi making, rice milling, lac bangle making and tasar silk

weaving are also wide-spread rural occupations of the valley. A soapstone quarry is

worked at Kaneri and stone cups and jars are made of it. The Gonds in the villages

around Gond Umri and Chikhli make soft matting out of sukhwasa grasses. Thus we

see that the inhabitants of upper Wainganga valley make full use of available

resources for their occupation.

Food Habits of the People

Rice is the staple food of the region and it is abundantly cultivated all around the

district. A distinct food habit variation was also noticed within the region. It was

24

observed that wheat and jowars chapatti and bhakri were more common in the southern

part of the region whereas rice was eaten more in the rest of the district. The vegetables

are planted in backside of the houses for personal usage. Fish, prawns, chicken and meat

are enjoyed as non-vegetarian food items generally brought from weekly market.

The Villages and House Pattern

The villages of the Gondia district are situated close to each other within the

radius of 3 to 5 km. The villages are generally small in size and are neat and clean. They

are concentrated at a place surrounded by agricultural land. Small settlements called Tola

or Toli lie on the roadways or near the cultivation land. They consist of few houses

generally of the same cast. The houses are big in size with a courtyard at the center

surrounded by rooms with tilted and thatched walls painted from both sides. The cattle

are essential component of the house. They are tied in a room constructed on the either

side of the entrance. Storage of wood is also a necessary requirement of the house which

is arranged under a single roof. Grain is kept in round bamboo-work receptacles called

dholas, supported on wooden posts with thatched covers. Those meant for seed-grains are

often located outside the house and are only opened when sowing time comes while those

for food are kept inside the house and the requisite amount of grain is allowed to run out

daily from a hole in the side. Nowadays, the houses are using cement and brick for

construction. Even in villages also single or double storied houses are easily noticeable.

Agricultural Pattern

The population of the Gondia district mainly depends upon agricultural activity.

Well drained flat topography and various means of irrigation in upper Wainganga valley

make it a dependable agricultural zone where the rice crop seldom fails (Dixit 1986).

The south west monsoon from June to October brings fruitful heavy rains to the Upper

Wainganga Valley. Kharip and rabi are the main agricultural seasons in the region

nonetheless, more cultivation is observed in kahrip as compared to rabi crop. Rice is

generally drilled in the field by the end of June. Rice and tur are the largest cultivated

crop in kharip season. The chief rabi crops are wheat, jowar, linseed, gram and lac. Black

gram, horse gram and green gram are the important pulses grown in the district. As many

as 70 different varieties of rice are recognized here with slight difference in the method of

25

cultivation of each. Transplantation and broadcast sowing are the two important methods

of cultivating rice in the region. In transplantation method, the seed is sown in one place

and the seedling after it has grown a little is transplanted to another place. The field

where rice is transplanted needs to be leveled so that the low embankment receives equal

amount of water. In case of broadcast rice cultivation, the soil is generally ploughed

before arrival of monsoon. The seeds are sown by hand. Planting of wheat and gram

commences from the last week of September to mid-October and it is harvested during

February to March (Bhandara District gazetteer 1979). In addition to rice, wheat and

gram, a variety of vegetables, fruits and condiment crops like brinjals, chillies, tomatoes,

beans, cauliflowers and tamarind are planted in July and picking starts during September

to February.

It is this varied but favorable geographical setting that made upper Wainganga

valley an area of attraction for the early Iron Age settlers.