Burma, Agriculture 1908 - Revision history

Pdewan: /* See also */

2014-11-13T23:10:40Z

‎See also

Pdewan: /* Famine */

2014-11-13T23:05:28Z

‎Famine

Pdewan at 22:30, 13 November 2014

2014-11-13T22:30:48Z

Pdewan: /* Forests */

2014-11-02T09:19:35Z

‎Forests

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This article has been extracted from
THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.
OXFORD, AT THE CL..."

2014-11-02T09:03:30Z

Created page with " {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%"> This article has been extracted from <br/> THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/> OXFORD, AT THE CL..."

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← Older revision		Revision as of 23:10, 13 November 2014
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	==See also==		==See also==
		+
		+	For a large number of articles about Burma, extracted from the Gazetteer of 1908 (as well as other articles on Burma) please either click the 'Myanmar' link (below, left) and go to Burma(under B) or enter 'Burma' in the 'Search' box (top, right).
		+

	[[Burma, Physical Aspects 1908]]		[[Burma, Physical Aspects 1908]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:05, 13 November 2014
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	on the economic condition of the agricultural community and give the		on the economic condition of the agricultural community and give the
	earliest intimation of any possible scarcity of crops.		earliest intimation of any possible scarcity of crops.
		+
		+	==See also==
		+
		+	[[Burma, Physical Aspects 1908]]
		+
		+	[[Burma, History 1908]]
		+
		+	[[Burma, Administration 1908]]
		+
		+	[[Burma, Commerce and Trade 1908]]
		+
		+	[[Burma, Communication 1908]]
		+
		+	[[Burma, Agriculture 1908]]
		+
		+	[[Burma, Population 1908]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:30, 13 November 2014
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	executed, as a rule, in high relief, and the work, when well done, is		executed, as a rule, in high relief, and the work, when well done, is
	singularly effective.		singularly effective.
		+
		+
		+	==Famine==
		+
		+	Its abundant rainfall has placed Lower Burma, humanly speaking,
		+	wholly out of reach not only of real famine but even of such distress
		+	as would follow on a partial failure of crops. In the
		+	southern half of Upper Burma the monsoon is often
		+	fickle and untrustworthy, but even here famine in the Indian accepta-
		+	tion of the term is practically unknown. Floods and insect pests work
		+	no widespread havoc among the crops. Drought has in the past
		+	temporarily disorganized the Districts of Meiktila, Yamethin, Minbu,
		+	Magwe, Shwebo, Sagaing, Myingyan, and Mandalay, and has rendered
		+	the opening of relief works necessary ; but every year the improvement
		+	of communications and the construction of irrigation works thrust
		+	famine proper farther and farther out of the category of probable
		+	natural scourges.
		+
		+	The recently opened canal has rendered parts of
		+	Mandalay District immune ; and the next few years should see the
		+	same result achieved in parts of Minbu and Shwebo. Meiktila, Yame-
		+	thin, and Sagaing are traversed from end to end by one, if not two,
		+	lines of railway ; and Magwe lies between the railway line and the river
		+	Irrawaddy, and is, after Yamethin, the closest of the dry Districts to the
		+	well-watered areas of Lower Burma. That scarcity has left its mark
		+	upon Upper Burma is, however, indubitable ; for, though mortality
		+	from famine (direct or indirect) is infinitesimal, failure of crops is
		+	largely responsible for the relatively small rate of increase that has
		+	taken place during the past ten years in the population of the dry zone
		+	(12 per cent, as against 27 per cent, in the moist Districts of Lower
		+	Burma), and no amount of irrigation works and railway lines will be able t(; place some of the arid areas in a position to compete with the
		+	wetter portions of Burma or to free them from periods of anxiety.
		+	Before annexation, famines in Upper Burma were of not infrequent
		+	occurrence.
		+
		+	No reliable details regarding their area and intensity are
		+	forthcoming, but there can be no question that they were at times very
		+	severe. Between the annexation and 1891 there was no extensive
		+	scarcity. In 1887 there was a partial failure of crops in a portion of
		+	what is now Shwebo District, but relief works were not considered
		+	necessary. In 1891 deficient rain caused a shortage of crops in the
		+	greater part of the dry zone. From December, 1891, to March, 1892,
		+	distress was acute over an area of more than 80,000 square miles,
		+	emigration on a large scale to Lower Burma commenced, and it was
		+	necessary to open relief works and grant gratuitous relief, though
		+	recourse to the latter step was not frequent. The number of persons
		+	on relief works during the period of greatest depression was over
		+	20,000, and the cost of the measures taken to combat the scarcity
		+	amounted to more than 15 lakhs. The period between 189 1-2 and
		+	1896-7 was one of indifferent harvests in Upper Burma. In 1895-6
		+	there was a partial failure of crops, and in 1896-7 the early rains failed
		+	in the Districts of Meiktila, Myingyan, and Yamethin. The area
		+	affected by the drought covered 5,300 square miles, with a population
		+	of 528,000 persons. The first relief works opened were unimportant;
		+	but later it was found that more extensive operations would be needed,
		+	and work was started, first on the earthwork of the Meiktila-Myingyan
		+	Railway, and then on a large tank in Myingyan District. From
		+	December, 1896, to February, 1897, the average of persons in receipt
		+	of relief was 28,000. There was a diminution during the next few
		+	months, but by August the aggregate had risen to 30,000. The
		+	grant of gratuitous relief was found necessary, and the expenditure
		+	on aid of all kinds to the sufferers was a little over ^\ lakhs. Since
		+	then there have been threatenings of scarcity, but no real distress, in
		+	Upper Burma. Even the most serious scarcity experienced so far in
		+	the Province must, when judged by Indian standards, be looked upon
		+	as slight. None of the droughts has added appreciably to the death-
		+	rate of the Province, no deaths from privation have been recorded as
		+	a result of their occurrence, and no visible reduction of the birth-rate
		+	has followed in their wake.
		+
		+	The construction of irrigation works is the principal measure adopted
		+	to minimize the results of deficient rainfall in the famine-affected areas.
		+	These works are on a large scale, for experience has shown that tanks
		+	and the like with an insignificant catchment area cannot be relied upon
		+	in the lean years. The necessity for adequate professional knowledge
		+	in the matter was one of the causes which led to the establishment in
		+	1892 of a separate Public Works Irrigation Circle, on the officers of
		+	which devolves the duty of designing and carrying into execution
		+	schemes for supplementing the existing water-supply of the more arid
		+	tracts. The weekly crop reports compiled by Deputy-Commissioners
		+	from data furnished by township officers regarding the price of grain,
		+	the nature of the weather, the existence of conditions likely to affect
		+	the harvest, and cognate matters, enable a constant watch to be kept
		+	on the economic condition of the agricultural community and give the
		+	earliest intimation of any possible scarcity of crops.