HC Deb 02 December 1946 vol 431 cc36-7
106. Sir S. Reed

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India' whether he will inform the House of the harvest position in India and the state of the supplies of food.

Mr. A. Henderson

As the reply is somewhat long, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Following is the statement

It is as yet too early to give a positive account of the outturn of the winter harvest in India. Reaping has not been completed and in some areas has hardly begun. It can be said, however, that the South-West monsoon has on the whole been fair and the North-East monsoon has begun promisingly. In some provinces such as Assam and Bihar floods have damaged crops in important producing areas and in parts of Northern India rain has been insufficient. The weather in Northern India continues at present to be dry and unfavourable for the sowing and germination of the wheat crop. The coming winter rice and millet harvest will bring relief to the rice-eating areas in Southern India such as Madras, Travan-core, Cochin, Mysore and parts of Bombay, which have been particularly dependent on outside assistance to make good the defects of last year's winter harvest. In Bengal, also, where the prospects of the winter rice are undoubtedly good, prices, which had been rising steeply, have shown a downward trend.

The coming rice crop will not, however, materially assist the wheat-eating areas in the North. The Government of India borrowed wheat earlier in the year from the Punjab and Sind and these loans must now be repaid in order to secure the supply position in these Provinces. In addition, wheat is required to feed the big cities and other deficit areas. The wheat shortage will remain acute until the next Indian wheat harvest becomes available next spring, and it will be especially difficult until Australian wheat from the new harvest in Australia begins to reach India about the end of February.

During the last six months the Central, Provincial and State Governments in India have taken the most energetic steps to maintain food distribution, in spite of the shortage of supplies and difficulties of communications. But Government-held stocks for maintaining the cereals rations in the deficit areas have been falling gradually and are now well below the safety level in some Provinces and States. The supply position in the rice-eating areas of Southern India will continue to be critical until after the rice harvest has been gathered in this month.

The Government of India, with the active assistance of His Majesty's Government, are doing everything possible to increase shipments of food grains to India from abroad from every possible source.