Sept. 1895.] 



REPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 



153 



suffered severely from tne heavy rain at the time of sowing, 

 while the excessive moisture favoured the spread of fungoid 

 diseases in many districts, and especially in Damoh and Jubbul- 

 pore, the out-turn for the year scarcely amounted to a half of 

 what it should have been, the total yield being 1 1 per cent, 

 below that of last year, and 37 per cent, short of the average of 

 the last three years. In the Jubbulpore district, the out-turn 

 was merely nominal and so light as barely to stand winnowing. 

 In the North- Western Provinces and Oudh, the main feature of 

 the season was the continuance of excessively heavy rain 

 throughout the province, especially in the central and eastern 

 districts. The acreage sown was slightly below normal, but the 

 out-turn shows a decrease of 22 per cent, as compared with the 

 preceding year, and of 30 per cent, as compared with the average 

 of the last seven years. In the Punjab, the harvest was 

 excellent, being nearly as favourable as that of last year, which 

 is said to have been the best known for twenty years. The area 

 sown was 19 per cent., and the out-turn 26 per cent., above the 

 average of the last nine years, and the crop has been estimated 

 as at least "a full 16-anna" one. The province has been 

 fortunate in having enjoyed three exceptionally good spring 

 harvests in succession. Stocks have been fully replenished and 

 are probably very large, especially as the autumn harvest have 

 also been good. 



The exports of wheat from India during the 12 months ending 

 31st Match 1895 amounted to 345,000 tons as compared with 

 608,000 tons in the preceding 12 months, the proportion of 

 exports to out-turn being 5*4 per cent, against 14 per cent, and 

 8*8 per cent, in the previous two years. There was an increase 

 in the amount of wheat exported from both the North- Western 

 Provinces and the Punjab, but in other provinces there was a 

 falling off. In the (central Provinces especially, the export trade 

 is at a very low ebb, the quantity exported from the province 

 during the nine months ending with April 1895, having repre- 

 sented only one-fourth of the traffic in the corresponding 

 period of 1892-93 and one-third of the traffic of last year. 

 The collapse of the wheat trade of these. provinces in 1893 led 

 to an extraordinary fall in prices, but in consequence of the 

 poor harvests, prices of all food grains have risen since January 

 1894. The rise was most marked in Chattisgarh, where at 

 the close of the year wheat was selling at 25 per cent, to 33 per 

 cent, more than at the end of the preceding year. In the 

 North- Western Provinces and Berar, the price of wheat ruled 

 higher than last year, and this was also the case in the Punjab, 

 owing chiefly to the greater briskness in the export trade to 

 Europe and other provinces, from some of which there was at 

 one time a strong demand. In Bombay, with the exception of a 

 few places, and in Bengal, prices were either normal or lower 

 than in the preceding year. 



