'REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1914-1915' [‎198v] (66/150)

Area under
cultivation.
Crops.
CHAPTER IV.
PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
i .—Agriculture.
>r details see tne season ana c^rop rvepuit ui uic ijuinuay rresiaency tor 1914-xe the R
Department for the year ending 30th June 1915 and tables appended to the Agricultural Statistics if g e A
1.—Area of Available Statistics.
•'satuitural
ia,
The total number of villages in the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. which have returned t N •
4 villages containing an area of 4,796 acres. Two alienated villages in Satara 3 ^ r ° Se ^
Surat and East Khandesh were surveyed and added to the class which ret and 0ne eac hin
Two indm villages in Ahmednagar and two in the Panch Mahals, and three a r UrnS f ? at i st ' cs '
in Nawabshah were forfeited to Government. Kacha lands thrown up by th' V '^ es
the year measured 22,149 acres in the Upper Sind Frontier district and 2 1 ct L r 6 riv 5 1 ciur ' n g
1 p / dtres m PuTnr 1
2.—Cropped Areas.
1. In the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper the favourable season brought about a general
in the total cropped area. It was the highest on record since 1894-95 though still h' 011
that returned in 1892-93 by about 6-3 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees acres or 2\ per cent. The gross
cropped areas showed a ripe of about 3-4 per cent. Sholapur, where cultivation Wl h
considerably restricted during the previous year, resumed its normal level The ^
cropped more than once also expanded by 3-86 per cent. In Sind there was a net ' ^
over the previous year of 5-94, 4-1 and 30-55 per cent, respectively in the a r o SS
cropped areas and in the area cropped more than once. As a consequence of the exte '
of the cultivated area, the area under current fallows fell by 10-48 per cent, in the Preside' 0 ' 1
proper and 2-75 per cent, in Sind. The assessed occupied area rose by 46,000 acres'!
Gujarat (of which 41,000 acres are in Kaira where lands were leased on special tenure!
26,000 acres in the Deccan and 5,000 acres in the Karnatak. The unassessed occupied area
fell by, 7,600 acres owing mainly to afforestation of lands in Poona. In Sind 81,000 acres
in Karachi and 74,000 acres in Thar and Parkar of assessed land, and in Larkana, Sukkur
Nawabshah and Upper Sind Frontier some 69,000 acres of unassessed land were taken up
for cultivation. v
2. ^ In the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper the area under food crops, which used to range between
80 to 83 per cent, of the total cropped area previous to 1902-03, has fallen to 77 percent,
with a corresponding rise under non-food crops, principally cotton. Compared with the
previous year it shows an increase of 2-62 per cent. The areas under jowari and sugarcane
fell off further but the other food crops were grown to a larger extent and more than made
up the deficit. Among non-food crops the area under cotton rose by 7-7 per cent, but oil
seeds receded by 4-4 per cent., reducing the net increase to 5-97 per cent, over the previous
year and 20-4 per cent, over the normal. In Sind the areas under jovvari and bajri were
below the previous year, but those under wheat, gram and other pulses were largely extended,
resulting in an increase in the total food crop area of 5-75 and 25 per cent, over the previous
year and the average respectively. The area under cotton was almost the same as last year
but that under oil-seeds increased by 52,000 acres, thus raising the total cropped area by
about 6 and 28 per cent, over the previous year and the average respectively. Detailed
examination of the more important crop statistics shows that the total acreage under jowari
and,bajri together in the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. is as a whole approximately normal. The area under
jowari declined by 155,000 acres,' chiefly in the Karnatak (301,000 acres) due to excessive
rain in the early part of the season and to the land being reserved for late cotton. The area
under bajri increased by nearly 192,000 acres, only Sind showing a small decrease (21,000
acres). A curious feature regarding the areas both under jowari and bajri is that wdiile the
former shows a decrease of over a million acres below the average, the latter shows an increase
above the average by a like area. The cultivation of wheat advanced by 138,000 acres in
the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper and by 210,000 acres in Sind, or by 10 and 46 per cent, respectively
oxer the previous year. The area in the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper is still 11-5 per cent, short of the
average of the five years ending 1895-96. The prospects of high prices likely to be obtained
or the crop, coupled with the fall in the price of cotton, induced extended sowing °f
every where except in Belgaum and Bijapur, which showed a small falling off as compared wit
te previous y r ear. Favourable late rains in the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper and good inundation m
Sind also helped to increase the area. Rice (area 2,786,000 acres) showed a small increase
° acres an Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper and 2,700 acres in Sind. Its cultivation «as
extended mainly in Ahmedabad, West Khandesh, Sukkur and Upper Sind Frontier and mor
an made up the shortage in Surat, Belgaum, Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana and f ar a
ar ar districts. Ragi (520,000 acres) was sown to a smaller extent in the Karnata u
grea er extent in Gujarat and the Deccan. The area under (190,000 acres) dec m ,
Kaira and Surat, but showed a small expansion in Khandesh and Broach. The cultivate
a1, e y anc ^ maize (56,000 and 157,000 acres respectively) was extended in Gujara