Mr. BECKETTasked the Under-Secretary of State for India the acreage under cultivation of the sugar-cane crop in the Punjab; and whether, in view of the decrease, he will have an inquiry made into the alleged insufficiency of the supply of canal water at sowing time in the district in which the crop is cultivated?
§ Earl WINTERTONThe latest official crop report received at the India Office gives the estimated area under sugar as 439,000 acres, which is 9 per cent. above the corresponding estimate of last year and about 2 per cent. below the area actually under cultivation according to last year's final report. The official forecasts mention that there was insufficient supply of canal water this year at the time of sowing, but add that sowing began on normal dates and that the condition of the crop in September was 96 per cent. of the normal. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative.