RICE. 



319 



part of the work which is yet reserved to be accomplished in Cal- 

 cutta. 



It is impossible to give anything like an approximate estimate of 

 the land under culture, and the annual production of the great rice- 

 growing countries of the East. But a few incidental facts may be 

 stated. In 1870, there were 4,000,000 acres devoted to rice in the 

 Madras Presidency. 



The following are extracts from an interesting note on the cultiva- 

 tion of rice, by Lieutenant Ottley, Assistant to the Chief Engineer, 

 Irrigation Branch, Bengal : 



The rice continent of the world is Asia, and in Asia, British India 

 is pre-eminent as the territory where rice cultivation most prospers. 



American rice, from the careful cultivation to which it has been 

 subjected, has acquired a quality far finer than that of any other rice. 

 Persistent efforts have been made by the Indian Government to intro- 

 duce the Carolina varieties into India, but hitherto with only moderate 

 success. On this point Sir George Campbell, in his ' Administration 

 Eeport for 1872-73,' writes thus: "For Carolina rice cultivation an 

 artificial supply of water is necessary, and instructions have now been 

 issued that the seed should be sown on our canals, and duly irrigated. 

 Carolina rice is much more highly priced in the market than ordinary 

 rice, and it may be that with command of water we shall be able to 

 realise from the cultivation of Carolina rice much that is now sunk 

 on canals." 



The following figures may be useful as showing the immense im- 

 portance of rice cultivation. Eice is the principal article of diet over 

 Bengal proper, and among Bengalees is often the only food eaten; 

 pulses, fish, vegetables, oil, salt, spices, and other condiments are only 

 added to give the rice a relish. It is generally admitted that the con- 

 sumption varies from two-thirds to three-fourths of a seer (about 2 lbs.) 

 per head per diem. The population of Bengal and Orissa amounts to 

 44,913,305 souls; this number therefore at two-thirds of a seer per 

 diem, or six maunds per head per annum, reqaire nearly 270,000,000 

 maunds of rice. In Behar, rice is still the principal food crop, 

 though among the poorer classes, and especially in the district of 

 Sarun, maize and barley are in a great degree the food of the people. . . . 

 The population of Behar is 19,736,101 souls, and allowing 3 maunds of 

 rice per head per annum, we require nearly 60,000,000 maunds of rice. 

 Bengal and Behar together, therefore, consume about 330,000,000 

 maunds of rice yearly, or say 12,250,000 tons ; add to this an export 

 of 500,000 tons, and 2,000,000 tons for seed grain and waste, and 

 the total requirements amount to nearly 15,000,000 tons of rice 

 per annum, or say 574,000,000 maunds of paddy. An article in the 

 ' Indian Economist,' taking the consumption at three-foui'ths of a seer 

 per head per diem, and allowing that amount for Behar, as well as 

 Bengal and Orissa, arrived at a total requirement of nearly 20,000,000 

 tons of rice, or say 765,000,000 maunds of paddy. Both these calcu- 

 lations exclude the reserves which must be stored, and deal only with 

 the actual yearly hand-to-mouth consumption. Taking the lower of 

 the two estimates, the area yearly under rice probably amounts to from 

 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 acres, or say from 60,000 to 80,000 square 



