Abstract

One result of small holdings is that financing cannot be properly organised and has to be effected locally, making it at once costly and wasteful. In his evidence before the Agricultural commission Dr. Mann stated that in Khandesh the cotton growers were not dependent on money-lenders. If that is so, that is pro- bably the only instance of financial independence of cultivators. In some outlying areas, things are very bad indeed. It has been reported by an experienced Bengal official that cardamom sold in Darjeeling at Rs, 60 to 90 a maund in 1925, whereas the cultiva- tors obtained on an average Rs. 30, sometimes as low as Rs. 12, because they had obtained advances from the ring of Marwaries, who control the trade.

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