Geography of Bastar District depicts mostly the iron rich soils and hot summer climate in summer times. Bastar district is divided into two tehsils: Jagdalpur and Bastar. The district has one municipality, which is known as Jagdalpur. Jagdalpur is the administrative headquarters of Bastar District and the forest region of Bastar Division. The tribal population is mostly concentrated here. Bastar is a beautiful city having a population of about 150,000.
Agriculture in Bastar District
The rice is grown predominantly during kharif season as rain fed crop having 2.38.9 million hectare areas. But the productivity of this crop is low 08.53 qt/ha in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. The irrigated area and fertilizer use in the Bastar district are very less, which is insufficient to supply adequate nutrient to the crop.
Livelihood in Bastar District
The pattern of livelihood is fully dependant on the geography. The landforms, soil texture and the climatic features are fully interlinked. The agricultural practices are traditional. Use of wooden ploughs is overwhelming while the number of iron ploughs is negligible. The same is true of bullock carts. The number of tractors is negligible while the bullock carts are all pervasive. The usage of traditional agricultural implements has lowered the production of agriculture. The kharif crops grown here are paddy, Urad, Arhar, Jowar and maize. The rabi crops include til, alsi, moong, mustard and gram. The collection and sale of forest produce and other forest-related work supplements meager agricultural incomes.
Forests in Chhattisgarh
The forests play an important role in the lives of the people, providing food security and livelihood through the collection of minor forest produce, and employment (as casual labour) in the Forest Department of Chhattisgarh. The forests provide for people"s consumption needs - fuel and firewood, medicines, food and drink, implements and housing materials. The forty percent of livelihoods are forest based, 30 percent are agriculture based and 15 percent of livelihoods are dependent on animal husbandry. Another 15 percent of the income of people comes from wage labour.
Economic Dependency on Agriculture
Most of the tribal population in Chhattisgarh is dependant on agricultural industry. The people with a land are dependent almost entirely on cultivation, either on their own holdings or on the holdings of others. They supplement their income and consumption with animal husbandry, and sundry labour at times. Some of them have also diversified into small services or small manufacturing activities.
