11
quate supply of manure or to prevent the use of cattle
dung as fuel; (2) want of confidence in the business of
agriculture which has been rendered precarious by uncer-
tain rainfall and a fixed government demand which must
be paid j1 (3) the growing tendency towards absenteeism
which results in a general neglect of cultivation.2
We thus see that there are great difficulties in the way
of better cultivation, (i) that early steps should be taken
to remove the evils of fragmentation of holdings by means
of consolidation, (2) that the question of the inadequacy
and inefficiency of labour and cattle must be solved.and
(3) that the processes of cultivation including the use of
implements and manure should be improved.
MARKETING ORGANISATION
The growth in non-food or commercial crops, and the
proximity of cities like Bombay, which on the one hand
provides a large market for certain crops for local con-
sumption and on the other provides excellent facilities for
the export of different kinds of goods, have introduced
a new outlook in the life of the people which makes it
necessary for them to think of efficient and economical
arrangements for marketing their produce. From the
point of view of the farmer, we find that marketing in
Gujarat is highly uneconomical, (i) In the first place ex-
cept for a few crops like cotton and oil-seeds there are no
organised markets. We do not therefore have timely in-
formation regarding current rates for different kinds of
crops in different districts, and this gives opportunities to
the middlemen to buy out crops at rates unfavourable to
the farmer. (2) In many cases purchases are made from
the cultivators by money lenders who are the agents of
some town dealer. In those areas where transport facili-
ties are good, the farmers cart their produce to the towns
for disposal. In the absence of organised markets
1 Royal Commission on Indian Agriculture, Vol. II, Part 2r p. 317.
9 Royal Commission on Indian. Agriculture, Vol. II, Part 2, p. 33?.