97
It is worth considering why a capitalistic cultivator
persists in raising sugarcane year in and year out, though
he sustains a loss on the whole. There are mainly two
reasons why he does so. They are :
(i) In this village and, in point of fact, in the whole of
Southern Gujarat, there still obtains a system of labour
called the HaJi system in which a labourer mortgages his
labour to the farmer for a loan he takes for celebrating
his marriage. A capitalistic cultivator generally keeps
one or two Halis for performing field-operations. He is
bound to maintain them whether he exacts work from
them or not. He, therefore, deems it wise and profit-
able to occupy them in sugarcane-cultivation.
(ii) Besides making use of labour at his disposal for
a productive purpose, the capitalistic cultivator obtains
a large amount of cash at the end of the year from the
sale of guL This cash enables him to make the payment
of Land Revenue and also to pay the instalment to his
sowkar, if any.
(8) Castor-seed :
Whether grown as a first or second crop, it is always
a winter crop. It is capable of being raised both on
jarayat and kyari land. The seed is sown in October.
Fruits appear by the end of January and become ripe
early in March. The fruits are then picked, carried
home, allowed to dry and finally trodden out by male
workers, with the consequence that castor seeds are se-
parated from the fruits. These are exported to Billimo-
ra or Bulsar. The following is the balance-sheet for
this crop: , - t