District Profile
Background Information
The Ajmer district is located centrally in the Rajasthan state between 25038’ to 26056’ north latitudes and 73054’ to 75022’ east longitude with an area of 8481 sq.km. The average height from sea level of the district ranges from 280-370 mt. and the length and width of the district is 185 km and 110 km, respectively. It is bounded in north by Nagaur district, south by Bhilwara district, east by Tonk and Jaipur and West by Pali district. Ajmer falls in agro-climatic zone III ‘A’ semi-arid-eastern plain zone encompasses Ajmer, Jaipur, Dausa & Tonk districts.
Ajmer district has 9 Tehsils, 8 Panchayat Samitis and 1130 villages. Geographically, Ajmer district could be divided into 4 parts.
- The sandy area of west and north
- Hilly area
- Central plain
- Eastern low lying area
The district is divided into 3 agro ecosystems.
- Hilly undulated poor fertility soils or “Magra” area consisting of Jawaja & Masuda Panchayat Samitis
- Heavy to medium soil or plain “Mall” area consisting Bhinay, Arain and Kekri Panchayat Samitis
- Light soil eastern plains with low run-off consisting of Pisangan, Silora and Srinagar Panchayat Samitis
Climate and Soil
Ajmer has semi-arid climate and has extremes of climatic conditions. The district has a hot-dry summer and cold-bracing winter. The ambient temperature rises up to 460C in the peak summer and falls up to 40C in extreme winter. The average rainfall of Ajmer district is 525 mm with an average 25-30 rainy days in a year. About 90% of the annual rainfall is received during the period of June to September.
Ajmer district has coarse to medium textured loamy soils. The soil has medium water holding capacity. It is low in Nitrogen, moderate in Phosphorus and moderate to rich in Potash.
Land Utilization
Total geographical area of Ajmer district is 8,42,345 ha. out of which, forest occupies 5.56%, land under non-agricultural use is 10.59%, barren land is 3.0%, other waste land is 9.66%, cultivable waste is 9.18%, fellow land 13.94% and land under net sown area is 44.77% (3,77,144 ha).
Irrigation
The total irrigated area is 1.56 lac ha. in Ajmer district. The principal source of irrigation is open dug well contributing 83% of total irrigation. The subsoil water is limited and quality of water varies from normal to brackish. The Ajmer district is reckoned to be under the dark zone and water table depends on the rainfall.
Cropping pattern and Crop production
The agricultural activity mostly depends on the monsoon hence the cropping pattern has remained more or less unchanged over the years. The kharif crop occupies 60.7% of total area whereas the Rabi crop shares 39.1% only. The principal crop grown in the area are Pearl Millet, Maize, Jowar, Til, Groundnut, Moong, Cowpea and Cotton during the kharif season and in Rabi season Wheat, Barley, Gram and Mustard are grown. The Ajmer district is popular for vegetable production i.e. early cauliflower, Kharif Onion, tomato and Chillies. The common sequences followed by the cultivators are: Cotton-Methi/Carrot Tomato-fellow/Wheat, Onion-Wheat/Barley, Moong-fellow, Ground nut-fellow, Bajra-fellow, Maize-Wheat/Barley.
Area, Production and Productivity of major crops cultivated in the district (Reference year 2014-15)
S.N. | Crop | Area (ha) | Production (MT.) | Productivity (Qt./ha) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pearlmillet | 69443 | 89041 | 12.82 |
2 | Greengram | 86527 | 34846 | 4.02 |
3 | Sorghum | 137356 | 77222 | 5.62 |
4 | Black gram | 19511 | 7685 | 3.93 |
5 | Cluster bean | 29270 | 17382 | 5.93 |
6 | Cotton | 17286 | 61759 | 18.22 |
7 | Maize | 27334 | 26231 | 9.59 |
8 | Wheat | 62442 | 1319.8 | 21.13 |
9 | Mustard | 45859 | 32730 | 7.13 |
10 | Chick pea | 82743 | 38463 | 4.64 |
11 | Barley | 24530 | 48291 | 19.68 |
12 | Cumin | 8468 | 946 | 1.11 |
13 | Taramira | 2529 | 1198 | 4.73 |
Livestock
The live stock wealth is very important in the district. The most important milch breed of cattle i.e. Gir is abundant in the district. The Sirohi breed of goat has flourished very well in the hilly track of Aravali. The cross breeding programme was implemented very successfully and there are more than 18 thousands cross bred cattle in the district. The quality cross bred animals attracted outsiders for their marketing. The number of buffaloes has also increased by 25% in last five years. As per 2012 livestock census, there are 3.92 lacs cattle, 3.36 lacs buffaloes, 5.02 lacs sheep and 7.7 lacs goats in the district. The climatic condition of Ajmer has provided a very congenial atmosphere for breeding and propagation of poultry. The hatchery, poultry feed units, marketing and other co-operative activities regarding poultry production has fetched a very high status in poultry production at national level. In Ajmer, there are 525 registered poultry farms. At present there are 32.43 lacs poultry birds and Ajmer is producing on an average 12 lacs eggs per day. M/s Kewal Ramani's hatchery produces 25 lac broiler chicks per year which goes to many places in Rajasthan and in India.