Sept. 1894.] 



CROP PROSPECTS ABROAD. 



35 



excellent in the Punjab, and moderate elsewhere. The plentiful 

 rains of last summer and autumn, though in some tracts exces- 

 sive, were, as a general rule, favourable to sowings, but the 

 weather subsequently experienced differed considerably in the 

 various provinces. In Bombay and Berar the conditions varied 

 largely from district to district ; in some places damage was 

 caused by blight and want of rain, in others by rust and excess 

 of rain, and in others again by frost, hail, or rats ; the normal 

 area, however, had been put under wheat, and as there was 

 more success than failure the general outturn was above the 

 average in both provinces. The acreage sown in the Central 

 Provinces was slightly below normal, and as the crop suffered 

 severely from heavy rain in November the produce only reached 

 half the usual standard on the acreage sown, and only yielded 

 an aggregate outturn of 69 per cent, of the ordinary average of 

 the province. In the Jubbulpore district of this province the 

 outturn was only one-third of the normal, while in two other 

 districts, Saugor and Damoh, the whole crop of wheat — the 

 staple food of the districts — was such a complete failure that 

 steps had already been taken to meet local distress. 



In Bengal the cultivation of wheat appears to be yearly 

 extending, but the outturn of the year, which otherwise would 

 have been good, was reduced by a rainless winter to some three- 

 fourths of a full average. In the North- Western Provinces and 

 Oudh the area sown was large, but the crop, which promised 

 well till the end of January, was much damaged by subsequent 

 high winds and rust, which had brought about a poorer yield 

 than has been known for many years. In the Punjab even the 

 enormous area sown in 1892 was exceeded by 17 per cent, in 

 1893, and it is difficult to imagine a year more favourable to the 

 province as a whole. The outturn was 16 per cent, above that of 

 last year and 40 per cent, above the normal. The grain stores 

 are full to overflowing, and competent judges state that no such 

 crop has been known for 20 years. 



The outturn in India generally is reported to have been above 

 average, although, in consequence presumably of heavy crops in 

 Europe and America, the exports from India have been abnor- 

 mally low. 



Only 608,000 tons of wheat left the country during the 12 

 months ending 31st March 1894, against 749,000 tons in the 

 preceding 12 months, and the proportion of exports to outturn 

 is estimated at 8*8 per cent., against 22 per cent, and 14 per 

 cent, in the previous two years. Though there was a slight rise 

 in exports from the Punjab and in the imports to Eastern Oudh 

 and Bihar, the trade between province and province was, 

 generally speaking, very dull, and the great failure of the 

 harvest in Saugor and Damoh produced little effect on its 

 course. The decline in the export trade and the general 

 abundance of the harvests have combined to keep prices at a 

 very low figure, and even in those districts where the crop was 

 a^more or less complete failure prices remained moderate. 



c 2 



