ECONOMIC TRENDS

PRICE TRENDS

[The account of price trends from 1853 to 1908 is based on the account given in the old Buldhana District Gazetteer published in 1910.]

Berar was not properly opened to the outside world till about 1862-63, and the feature of the prices [The account of price trends from 1853 to 1908 is based on the account given in the old Buldhana District Gazetteer published in 1910.] before that date was their immense fluctuation from year to year. The isolation of the country owing to the absence of railways and roads resulted in extraordinary low prices in good years, and extraordinary high prices in bad years; the figures were the result of purely local conditions, and could not be compared with commercial quotations in the outside world. A general rise of prices took place throughout India about 1860. The resources of the country began to be developed by the construction of roads and railways, while the American Civil War of 1861-65 gave an immense stimulus to the extension of cotton cultivation. There was also a large influx of the precious metals.

Jowar, the staple food grain of the district, was sold at 64 seers a rupee in 1853, the year of the cession of Berar to the British. During the next seven years the rate varied from 49 to 53 seers. The average rate at Jalgaon between 1856 and 1861 was 46 seers; in 1859-60 it was sold at 80 seers a rupee in the Chikhli market the low rate probably being due to the lack of communications in that tahsil. The following statement gives the average price of jowar which prevailed during the four decades between 1861 and 1900.

Prices steadily fell during the three decades between 1861 and 1890, but in the fourth decade the fall was arrested by the intervention of the two famines of 1896-97 and of 1899-1900. The price had never returned to its low rate and during the seven years ending 1907 the average rate was a little over 20 seers.

Wheat, mainly grown in Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils, was sold at an average rate of 30 seers in 1853-54, and during the next seven years the rate varied between 30 and 54 seers in the up ghat tahsils, and between 28 and 48 seers in the plain tahsils. For the two decades ending 1880 the price of wheat remained almost constant at 14 seers. The next decade witnessed a considerable fall, the average rate being a little over 19 seers. Since 1891 prices fluctuated between 6 and 17 seers a rupee, the two famine years the decrease of the area under rabi owing to the extension of cotton cultivation being responsible for the increase rates.

In 1853-54, 49 seers of gram could be obtained for a rupee; in 1859-60 this was reduced to 29 seers, and in 1869-70 to 11 seers. During the decade ending in 1880 the average price of gram was 16 seers; it was cheaper in the next decade, averaging 20 seers. The price went up in the period from 1890 to 1900, and averaged 14 seers. Since 1900 the price did not vary much but in 1907 the rate was as high as 10 seers.

Rice, chiefly imported from the Central Provinces, was sold at the rate of 19 seers per rupee in 1853-54, and varied from 12 to 6 seers during the subsequent years of the 19th century. In 1906 and 1907 the rates were 9 and 8 seers, respectively. The two famines of 1896-97 and 1899-1900, inflated the price of bajri and was sold at about Rs. 3 and annas 11 per maund in 1907, 20 per cent higher than of the previous decade. The price of tur went up by over 30 per cent in the last decade of the century, and the rate varied between 9 and 10 seers in 1907. Linseed, grown chiefly for export, was sold at 5½ to 6 seers a rupee or Rs. 6-8 to Rs. 7-8-0 per maund in 1908. The average rate during the decade ending 1902-03 was Rs.4 to Rs. 5-14 a maund. Til, an important oil seed of the district fluctuated between Rs. 4-9-4 and 5-14-4 per maund during the ten years ending 1900-1901, except the famine year 1899-1900. The price in 1908 was Rs. 9 per maund, 27 per cent higher than that paid in 1899-1900.

The price of salt was nearly 16 seers per rupee during the three years ending 1863. There was a sudden rise to 12 seers in 1864, and during the next six years the price varied from 6 to 10 seers. There was a gradual fall between 1871 and 1877, the rate varying from 7 to 11 seers. In 1878 the duty of Rs. 3 per maund was lowered to Rs. 2-8-0, and to Rs. 2 in 1882, which was raised to Rs. 2-8-0 in 1888, and reduced to Rs. 2 in 1903, and to Rs. 1-8-0 in 1905. The retail rates varied with the duty. During the decade ending 1887 the price fluctuated between 8 and 11 seers; between 1887 and 1897 prices varied from 9 to 10 seers; from 1898 to 1903, the price was about 10 seers, and thence forward there had been a continuous fall, the average rate in 1908 being 15 seers. Gur, was manufactured in the Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils, but the bulk of it was imported from the adjoining districts of Hyderabad. It was sold at a retail price of 5 seers a rupee. The retail price of ghee was Re. 1 per seer, and that for a maund Rs. 40. Milk could be obtained for 8 seers a rupee. Mirzapuri sugar was sold at the rate of 2½ seers a rupee; the Mauritius sugar was cheaper, 4½ seers a rupee. Oil was locally manufactured, and was also imported in large quantities from Hyderabad districts. Its retail price was 2¼ seers a rupee, and its wholesale price was Rs. 16 a maund. Chillis could be bought at 4 seers a rupee. A bottle of kerosene oil was sold for 2 annas, a tin at this rate fetching about Rs. 2-12-0. A cartload of firewood costed about Rs. 2-8-0 above the ghat, and from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 in the plain tahsils. Ginning and pressing factories bought babul-wood at the rate of Rs. 12 to Rs. 16 per ton. Karbi or jowar stalks costed from Rs. 8 to Rs. 4 per hundred bundles above the ghat, and from Rs. 12 to Rs. 6 below the ghat, the highest rate prevailing at the end of the hot weather. Cotton seed, which was used as a cattle fodder, was sold at 16 seers a rupee, and sometimes at 20 or 24 seers a rupee. Plough bullocks could be obtained at from Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 a pair in the plain country, and at from Rs. 60 to Rs. 80 above the ghat. A sheep was sold at Rs. 2 or Rs. 2-8-0.

The wealth of the district was derived from the cotton crop, and it was on the price obtained for this commodity that the fortunes of the cultivator depended. Between 1855 and 1861, the average price of cotton on the tableland included in the Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils was Rs. 9.7 per maund, and in the Jalgaon tahsil, for which alone the statistics are available, Rs. 8-5-0 per maund. After 1861 the price of cotton was enormously inflated by the American War. For the next five years the average price of a maund of cotton in the Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils was Rs. 36, and in the Jalgaon tahsil Rs. 25-12-0. The normal price was not reached till 1868. Since then, with occasional variations, the price per maund above the ghats had been about Rs. 13 and below Rs. 15 or Rs. 16. The prices fluctuated between Rs. 18 and Rs. 20 per maund at the beginning of this century. The price for raw cotton was however Rs. 47 per khandi or Rs. 6-11-5 per maund.

It could be seen from the above that the trend of prices till 1910 shows fluctuations mainly due to the lack of communications and scarcity or famine conditions and its chief determinants, viz., demand and supply. However, from the first quarter of twentieth century onwards the war gave an unusual swing to the price mechanism. For example, during the first World War and the years that followed prices in general went up remarkably. In the subsequent years the whole picture underwent a radical change and the world had to face the Great Depression of 1930's. It did affect the international trade which in turn disturbed the economies of different countries including India. The crisis in the international markets adversely affected the prices of agricultural produce as there was considerable fall in the prices in the Indian markets. Things, however, improved from 1933 when there was a revival of prices and demand for agricultural produce. Again in 1939 and during the subsequent years of the Second World War an overall shortage of consumers goods was felt which result-ed into remarkably discernible rise in the prices of consumers goods. The Government then introduced rationing of consumers goods like cereals, oils, sugar, etc. However prices then showed a downward trend. The Korean War later on proved to be a boom but it was only for a short period. During the period between 1953 and 1955 the increase in agricultural production controlled the prices. But the subsequent four years witnessed an unusual higher trend in prices. Again the good harvests of 1960-61 and of the following year brought down the prices. Later on with the outbreak of hostilities with China in 1962 and with Pakistan in 1965, the country suffered greatly economically.

The price trend of consumers goods and other goods in the district between 1962 and 1964 as elaborated by the Bureau of Economics and Statistics can be reviewed as follows. The retail price of rice which is mostly imported from other districts was Rs. 1.10 per kg in November 1962. It rose up to Rs. 1.20 per kg in December 1963. The average price of medium variety of wheat in November 1962 was 58 paise per kg. It rose to 62 paise in December 1963. Jowar cost 30 paise per kg during November 1963, but its price fell from February 1963 to September 1963 and was as low as 25 paise per kg from February 1963 to April 1963. After-wards it went up to 36 paise per kg during December 1963. Pulses such as gram and arhar which were sold at 62 paise and 75 paise per kg respectively, in November 1962 were sold at 67 paise and 88 paise per kg. respectively in December 1963. Thus it showed a rise of 5 paise and 13 paise per kg, respectively, over a year. In the rural markets rice of medium variety was sold at 62 paise per kg in November 1962. Its price rose to 81 paise per kg in December 1963. The prices of sugar were controlled by the State Government, and varied between Rs. 1.19 and Rs. 1.24 per kg. The prices of groundnut oil and gur fluctuated much. The price of gur was Re. 1 per kg in November 1962 and rose to Rs. 1.53 per kg in September 1963. The prices of goatmeat and eggs in the district market were more or less constant at Rs. 3 per kg and Rs. 1.87 per dozen. The price of tobacco (leaf) was between Rs. 4 and Rs. 5.

The prices of consumers goods in 1965 showed increasing trend. The Government, under the monopoly procurement, had fixed the prices of paddy at Rs. 45, Rs. 50, Rs. 55 and Rs. 60 per quintal for coarse, medium, superior and superior fine varieties, respectively, and that of rice were fixed at Rs. 69 for coarse, Rs. 76.55 for medium, Rs. 83.70 for superior and Rs. 90.80 per quintal for the superior fine varieties. The subjoined statement [Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Govt, of Maharashtra, Bombay.] presents the retail prices of some important commodities per kg at district headquarters during 1964 and 1965:-

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