Abstract

The Agricultural Department of Madras is the only Agriculture Department in India which has a Statistical Section attatched to it,We publish a weekly season report showing the progress of the sowing and harvesting of the main crops, and the influence of the weather on them,the state of irrigation supplies. and grazing for cattle.We also publish fortnightly statements of retail prices.Each year we issue a season and crop report which shows the area under each crop in the Presidency and the yield. In addition to these we publish forecasts of the more important crops. such as sugarcane,cotton, paddy, groundnut, and gingelly. and we pride ourselves on the accuracy of these forecasts and that we are justified in doing so is shown by the fact that our forecasts are accurate within a percentage of error never higher than three per cent and in the case of some crops as low as 0.2 per cent.

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