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The soil, topography and climate in Maharashtra are not very favourable for high valued crops and have led to the relatively low yields of the important crops in the state as compared to that in India. Nearly one third of the State falls in the rain shadow area where the rains are not only scanty but erratic. Even in regard to irrigation, the State is far below the national average, the percentage of gross irrigated area to gross cropped area in the State being only 15.4% compared to 35% for the country as a whole. The agriculture in the State is thus largely dependent on monsoon. As per the preliminary forecast,the total foodgrains production in the State is expected to reach 10.1 million tonnes in 1997-98. Foodgrains production in kharif is expected to be 7.3 mln. tonnes as against 10.4 million tonnes during the previous year. The oilseed production during the current year is expected to be 2.0 million tonnes which is 21.9% more than reached in the previous year. Cotton (Lint) production is expected to be 0.350 million tonnes which is also higher by 35% than the level of 0.530 million tonnes reached in 1996-97.
AREA AND PRODUCTION OF PRINCIPAL CORPS IN
MAHARASHTRA
-------------------------------------------------
Area (000' ha.) Production(000't)
--------------- -------------------
Sl. Crop 1996-97F 1997-98T 1996-97F 1997-98T
No.
------------------------------------------------
1. Rice 1449 1444 2552 2196
2. Wheat 799 688 2329 1111
3. Bajra 1947 1671 1831 1126
4. Tur 1040 1006 709 590
5. Gram 763 658 468 469
6. Jowar 5692 5430 62408 N.A.
7. Cotton 3085 3139 534 345
8. Groundnut 440 417 558 428
(Pods)
9. Sugarcane 516H 460H 41805 34960
------------------------------------------------
F Final Forecast; T Tentative;
H Harvested Area
Source : Economic Survey of Maharashtra 1997-98 Directorate of Agriculture, Maharashtra State, Pune. FOREST The area under forests at the end of 1996-97 was 64.3 thousand sq. km. (inclusive of 0.5 thousand sq. km. of private forest area). This is 21.0% of the geographical area of the State. Of this, 56.4 thou- sand sq.kms. were managed by Forest Department, 5.3 thousand sq.kms. by the Revenue Department and 2.8 thousand sq.kms. by the Forest Department Corporation of Maharashtra. Of the total forest area, 41% is under dense forest cover, and another 28% (classified as open forest) is with comparatively less dense cover due to degradation. Of the remaining 24% has negligible forest cover and 7% is under fodder and pastures. Afforestation programmes have been taken up within the forest lands as well as village community lands. During the year 1996-97, about 0.094 million hectares of land expected to be covered under various afforestation programmes by Forest Department. With a view to maintaining ecological balance, the Government has restricted the clear felling of trees in the forest areas. The Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra has therefore stopped clear felling of trees since 1987-88. As a result of Government policy there would be reduction in the major forest produce(i.e. timber, firewood) in the State to a large extent. The estimated production of timber in 1997-98 was 0.119 million cubic metres valued at Rs. 980 million compared with 0.125 million cubic metres produced in 1994-95 valued at Rs. 550 million. The value of minor forest produce in 1995-96 is estimated at Rs. 620 million. PRODUCTION OF FOREST PRODUCTS
----------------------------------------------
Item Unit 1993-94 1994-95 1997-98
(Prov-
isional)
------------------------------------------
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
---------------------------------------------
TIMBER
- Q'ty '000 cu.m. 121 115 119
- Value Rs. Million 482.6 452.9 980
FIREWOOD
- Q'ty '000 cu.m. 480 277 303
- Value Rs. Million 64.7 41.9 100
MINOR
FOREST
PRODUCE
Value Rs. Million {503.6 691.8 620
of which {122.8 229.1 390
bamboo {362.7 423.5
Tendu
leaves
Timber
----------------------------------------
Source : Economic Survey of Maharashtra, 1997-98 Vidarbha area in the east and Konkan area in the west are the principal mineral-bearing areas in Maharashtra. The western part is covered with Deccan Trap. This part produces bauxite, iron ore and beach sands in the coastal tract. The vesicular trap rocks, especially of Aurangabad area, contain pebble-type deposition of chalcedony. The eastern part contains significant reserves of coal, manganese ore, limestone, dolomite, iron ore, kyanite, sillimanite and barytes. The reserves of antimony ore are reported from Kolari in Nagpur
district. Known occurrences of barytes are at Phutana and Mahadwari in Chandrapur
district. Bauxite occurs in Kolhapur, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Satara and Thane districts, while
production is mainly reported from Kolhapur and Raigarh districts. Chromite occurs at
Pauni in Bhandara district, Teka in Nagpur and Chandrapur districts, and Kankauli and
Vagda in Ratnagiri district. There are fairly large coal bearing areas like Kamptee, Umrer
and Bokhara in Nagpur district and Rajura and Wani in Chandrapur and Yavatmal districts.
Copper mineralization is reported from Thanewasna, Chandrapur district, Pular, Nagpur
district and around Kolhapur. Corundum occurs as small pebbles near Pohra, Bhandara
district which is the largest producing area in the country, accounting for about 73%
production. Felspar and quartz are found in pegmatites of Nagpur and Kadaval in Ratnagiri
district. A small tonnage of fire clay is reported from Amravati district. Placer gold is
reported from the streams near Mokhaburdi, Kolari and Pular in Nagpur district.
Ilmenite-rich sand is found along the beach over a stretch of 40 km from Purangadh to
Malgund near Ratnagiri. Iron ore deposits are found in Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli,
Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts. The production is reported mainly from Sindhudurg and
to a small extent from Gadchiroli, Chandrapur districts and from Kolhapur district.
Occurrences of kankar and calc-turr are reported from many places in Ahmednagar,
Aurangabad, Nashik, Pune and Sangli districts. Kaolin is produced in Nagpur and Chandrapur
districts. Lenses of kyanite-sillimanite rock occur between Dahegaon and Pipalgaon in
Bhandara district which is an important producing area in the country. Limestone both flux
and cement grades, and dolomite are reported from Chandrapur, Nanded, Ratnagiri and
Yavatmal districts. A small amount of dolomite is produced in Nagpur district. Limestone
production comes from Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts. Extensive deposits of manganese
ore are located in Bhandara, Nagpur and Ratnagiri districts. The Bhandara and Nagpur
deposits are generally of high grade with low silica and high phosphorus. Important mining
centres are Kandri, Mansar, Dongri-Buzurg, Gumgaon and Chikla. Production from Nagpur and
Bhandara districts meets the requirements of ferro- manganese plants in Maharashtra and in
other States besides export. Mica is found in pegmatites at Kadaval, Ratnagiri district.
Deposits of ochre are located in Bhandara, Chandrapur, Raigarh, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri
districts. Bhandara district produces pyrophyllite in small quantities. Silica sand is
produced in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts and in small amounts in Kolhapur district.
Steatite and talc occur in southern parts of Ratnagiri district. Uranium oxide is reported
to occur at Parsori, Bhandara district. Wolframite and scheelite occur at Agargaon in
Nagpur and in Chandrapur districts. Zinc mineralization is found in Nagpur and Bhandara
districts. RESERVES OF IMPORTANT MINERALS IN MAHARASHTRA (In Million Tonnes)
-----------------------------------------------------
Mineral Recoverable reserves (as on 1.4.19)
----------------------------------
Proved Probable Possible Total
-----------------------------------------------------
Barytes(tonnes) * 9,519 10,515 10,010 38,044
Bauxite * 57.80 13.07 16.86 87.72
Chinaclay @ - 0.43 2.83 3.26
Chromite (tonnes) 43,900 21,000 407,100 4,71,900
Coal (Total) # 2,891.16 1,307.02 1,873.0 6,071.18
Chanda Wardha 1,903.12 815.74 1,493.0 4,211,86
Coalfield
Kamptee Coalfield 806.94 245.28 320.0 1,372.22
Umrer Coalfield 85.10 - - 85.10
Bander Coalfield 57.0 143.0 - 200.0
Nand Coalfield - 10.0 40.0 50.0
Makardhokda Coalfield 29.0 93.0 - 122.0
Bokhara Coalfield 10.0 - 20.0 30.0
Copper
i) Ore - - 0.083 0.083
ii) Metal(tonnes) - - 1000 1000
Dolomite * 0.8 2.3 220.1 223.2
Felspar * - 0.94 - 0.94
Fireclay @ - 0.14 5.30 5.44
Fluorite (tonnes) - - 50,000 50,000
Graphite (tonnes) - - 184 184
Ilmenite 2.9 0.5 - 3.4
Iron Ore (hematite)* 86.01 44.76 50.78 181.55
Kyanite (thousand 8 1,154 73 1,235
tonnes)
Limestone @ 534.39 618.07 2,303.11 3,455.57
Manganese Ore 10.138 5.622 3.373 19.173
Quartz & Silica sand @ - 13.44 35.25 48.69
Sillimanite (tonnes) 6,000 - 4,050 10,050
Talc/steatite 0.13 1.03 6.07 7.23
/soapstone @
Tungsten
i) Ore 0.610 5,067 3.180 8.857
ii) WO3 (tonnes) 1.237 5.507 6.903 13.647
Vanadium
i) Ore - 1.292 0.668 1.960
ii) Metal (tonnes) - 1,420 735 2,155
-----------------------------------------------------
* Reserves as on 1.1.1985. The figures are
under verification after updating.
@ Reserves as on 1.1.1985.
# Data as applied by the GSI as on 1.1.1991.
Figures rounded off.
Source : Mineral Year Book 1992 The potential mineral bearing area in the State is about 58 thousand sq.km. (i.e. about 19% of the total area of the State) and it is concentrated in the districts of Bhandara, Chandrapur, Nagpur, Yavatmal, Kolhapur, Satara, Ratangiri, Raigad, Sindhudurg and Thane. The important mineral deposits in the State are iron ore, coal, manganese ore, limestone, dolomite, bauxite, kyanites, sillimanite, silica, sand, lamenite, chorime, flourite, copper, tungestn ore, felspar, semi precious stones and ornamental/decorative building stones etc. The value of minerals excluding minor minerals, extracted in 1992-93 in the State was Significantly higher Rs.7,400 mln. as against Rs. 6,250 mln. in 1991-92. Coal aone accounted for 92 percent of the total value of major mineral extracted in the State in the year 1992- 93. The quantity of minerals extracted between April to October, 1993 was higher as compared to that extracted during corresponding period of 1992. Especially the quantity of coal extracted has gone up from 12.2 million tonnes to 13.2 million tonnes and manganese from 0.2 million tones to 0.24 million tonnes as compared to the corresponding period of 1992. The value of the important minerals extracted between the period April-September, 1993 increased to Rs. 5,380 million as against Rs.4690 million during the corresponding period of 1992. MAJOR MINERAL PRODUCTION IN MAHARASHTRA STATE
-------------------------------------------
Mineral Quantity/ 1994 1995
Value
-------------------------------------------
Chromite i) Quantity 1 1
ii) Value 1285 536
Coal i) Quantity 20429 16643
ii) Value 9409202 7894573
Iron ore i) Quantity 38 97
ii) Value 2473 6468
Limestone i) Quantity 5978 4626
ii) Value 345406 276209
Manganese i) Quantity 281 206
re ii) Value 299412 260184
Kaolin i) Quantity 3 2
(Natural) ii) Value 113 117
Bauxite i) Quantity 443 422
ii) Value 50811 67226
Salt i) Quantity 186 213
Dolomite i) Quantity 21 24
ii) Value 2216 3323
Silica sand i) Quantity 174 127
ii) Value 10529 8688
Ochre i) Quantity 1 1
ii) Value 68 61
Corundum i) Quantity @ -
ii) Value 9 -
Kyanite i) Quantity 4 3
ii) Value 1547 1818
Steatite i) Quantity ... ...
ii) Value ... ...
-----------------------------------------
Total value 410123071 8519203
(22501) (18936)
-----------------------------------------Source: Economic Ssurvey of Maharashtra, 1995-96. THE MINES & MINERALS IN MAHARASHTRA --------------------------------------- Sr. District Mineral Ores No. of No. Mines --------------------------------------- 1. Maharashtra Coal 25 2. Kolhapur Bauxite 3 3. Raigad Bauxite 1 4. Chandrapur Iron Ore 1 5. Gadchiroli Iron Ore 1 6. Kolhapur Iron Ore 1 7. Sindhudurg Iron Ore 2 8. Bhandara Manganese Ore 2 9. Nagpur Manganese Ore 9 10. Chandrapur Barytes 1 11. Bhandara Corundum 3 12. Nagpur Dolomite 3 13. Amravati Fire Clay 1 14. Chandrapur Kaolin 2 15. Nagpur Kaolin 6 16. Bhandara Kyanite 7 17. Bhandara Sillimanite 2 18. Chandrapur Limestone 9 19. Yavatmal Limestone 12 20. Nagpur Ochre 4 21. Bhandara Pyrophyllite 2 22. Nagpur Quartz 4 23. Bhandara Quartz 1 24. Kolhapur Silica Sand 1 25. Ratnagiri Silica Sand 8 26. Sindhudurg Silica Sand 19 27. Chandrapur Sand (Others) 8 28. Nagpur Sand (Others) 1 --------------------------------------- Source : Economic Survey of Maharashtra, 1995-96 MARINE Maharashtra has a coast line of about 720 km. and rivers of about 3.2 thousand km. length. The area suitable for exploitation of marine fisheries is 0.112 mln sq.km., for inland fisheries 0.3 mln. hectares and for brackish water fishery 10,000 ha. Although the area of exclusive economic zone of Maharashtra is 0.132 mln. sq.km. only 0.112 sq.km. in the continental shelf up to 180 metres depth is being exploited for marine fisheries, of which 55.5 thousand sq.km. is upto 72 metres in depth and is being harvested at optimum level. The potential of fish catch from this area has been estimated at 0.396 million tonnes per year. The deep sea area(i.e. more than 72 metres depth) has an additional potential of about 0.092 million tonnes. The number of boats used for marine fishing was 17,918 in 1993-94 which increased to 18138 in 1996-97. Of these, 8,662 were mechanized boats. The estimated marine fish catch in 1996-97 was 0.481 million tonnes. The estimated inland fish catch in 1996-97 was 125 thousand tonnes. Efforts are being made to exploit the potential of inland fishing to as large extent as possible. The implementation of fish seed production programme in the State from 1967 has gradually raised the availability of the locally produced fish seed and in 1996-97, the number of local seed production was 320 mln. Source : Economic Survey of Maharashtra, 1997-98 |