20
as a buyer, and the changes in prices therefore may not
affect him. (2) In calculating the cost of cultivation we
have to include several items besides labour, such as the
cost of seed and manure which the cultivator does not
always buy. (3) Most of the labour on the fields is done
by the farmer and his family and it is not necessary for
him to pay cash by way of wages to labourers. (4) It
is customary in several parts of rural Gujarat to pay
wages partly in kind or corn which is raised on the farm.
It is obvious therefore that it is difficult to make general
statements regarding the profitableness or otherwise of
agriculture in Gujarat with the help of figures of prices.
It may however be pointed out that the era of
falling prices which has begun since 1923 may do great
harm to the farmers, because, whereas his receipts are
going down, he is not in a position to curtail his expendi-.
ture in proportion, partly because his habits of life have
become somewhat more expensive, and partly because
wages are not going down in proportion.
INDEBTEDNESS
A correct idea of the extent and nature of indebtedness
In Gujarat cannot be had unless intensive enquiries are
made for this purpose. We propose to make an esti-
mate in the following manner. The Baroda Government
appointed an officer in 1911 to report on the agricultural
indebtedness of the people of the state. He estimated the
indebtedness of Baroda territory at more than 8 crores
of rupees in 1912. The total land assessment for the same
year for this territory was more than Rs. one crore. The
Baroda territory is interspersed with British Gujarat,
and is in many ways similar to it in the nature of the soil
and the character of the people, and their general econo-
mic life. If we assume therefore that the amount of indeb-
tedness in British Gujarat bears the same proportion to
land revenue as it does in the Baroda State, we may not be
far from the truth. The assessment of agricultural land in
British Gujarat was Rs. 124 lakhs in 1926-27 ; if we