Abstract

The activities of the Agricultural Department, are often subject to criti- cism, in the press, on the platform, and also in the legislative chambers. The object of this nole is to meet those criticisms by explaining the handicaps which the Departmental staff have to face in the course of execution of their duties. Before proceeding to examine the most common criticisms levelled against the Department, it seems desirable to place before the reader an idea of the number of officers employed and their jurisdiction, to enable him to realise the nature of such handicaps and judge for himself whether the criticisms are justified or not. The Department, as at present constituted, has two main functions to perform viz., Research and Propaganda. The activities of the research side are confined to the Agricultural Research Institute located at Coim- batore and also at different farms situated all over the presidency. For the purpose of propaganda, the presidency is divided into four circles and in each circle a technically trained officer styled as Agricultural Demonstrator is placed in charge of one taluk.

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