June 1896.] 



REPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 



29 



harvest was expected. Prospects were reported fair as regards 

 irrigated and unirrigated land, in the Doab, the Agra, Benares, 

 and Gorakhpnr divisions, and in Southern Oudh ; elsewhere 

 they were bad, the harvest estimate varying from 45 to 75 per 

 cent, of a full average crop. 



The early cessation of the autumn rains and the failure of 

 the winter rains had affected Bengal like the other provinces. 

 The area sown was reported to be 1,421,300 acres, which is 

 slightly larger than the area of the crop of 1894-95, and it is 

 suggested that the increase may be due to the partial failure of 

 the winter rice crop. The out-turn, however, is estimated at 

 11 J annas only, that of 1894-95 having been 13^ annas. 



In the Central Provinces the outlook was not quite as unsatis- 

 factory as was feared in the beginning of December, for the 

 weather in that month and in January was unusually clear and 

 cold, and prospects were much improved. There was no disease 

 whatever, and though the area sown was relatively small, as a 

 result of conditions similar to those which existed in the North- 

 western Provinces, and germination on the whole poor, the 

 grain was reported to be of good quality. The estimates of the 

 yield are very low, varying from 4 annas to 10 annas in the 

 rupee, the maximum being expected in only five out of eighteen 

 districts, the deficiency being most marked in the northern and 

 eastern parts of the country. 



Conditions in Berar were almost the same as in the Central 

 Provinces ; the area sown is estimated to be 16| per cent, less than 

 that of the preceding year, and the crop, though it has suffered 

 from lack of moisture, has been saved from disease by the clear 

 cold weather. The harvest is not estimated at more than eight 

 annas, but the quality is good. 



In the Nizam's territory the estimated out-turn, in the dis- 

 tricts in which wheat is grown to any large extent, varies from 

 about 9 to 12 annas, and will probably be about equal to or 

 better than that of last year. The area is also larger, rain 

 having fallen seasonably for sowing, though the growth of the 

 plant was interfered by the absence of rain later. 



In Bombay and Sindh, including the Native States, the area 

 is estimated at about 2,425,000 acres, being 27 per cent, less 

 than the area of 1894-95, and 21 per cent, less than the average. 

 The decline, which is general in the British districts, is due to 

 insufficient moisture resulting from the deficiency of late rain- 

 fall and to low floods in the Indus. In the Native States a 

 small increase in the Deccan and Karnatak was balanced by a 

 decrease in Gujarat and Sindh. Rust is reported from various 

 places in the Presidency. The out-turn is reported : in Gujarat 

 (642,000 acres) and in the Deccan (908,000 acres), fair to 

 middling ; in Karnatak and the Southern Mahratta States 

 (592,000 acres), middling; in Sindh (270,000 acres), good in 

 Hyderabad and Shikarpur, fair elsewhere. 



