Crop-Production in India : A Critical Survey of Its Problems

Contents: Preface. I. The Soil: 1. Surface-drainage and erosion. 2. Soil-aeration. 3. Irrigation and water-saving. 4. The nitrogen problem. 5. The alkali problem. II. The Crop: 6. The economic significance of root-development. 7. The improvement of varieties. 8. The distribution of seed. 9. Some aspects of the fodder problem. 10. Cotton. 11. Wheat. 12. Rice. 13. Sugar-cane 14. Fibres. 15. Oil-seeds. 16. Tobacco. 17. Pulses. 18. Fruit-growing. 19. Disease in plants. III. Organization: 20. The ideal investigator. 21. The organization of research. Index.

"Agriculture is and for many years to come must remain India\'s greater industry and the foundation of the state. In comparison with the value of the annual produce of the soil and the trade in raw materials, the remaining industries of the country are, with few exception, relatively unimportant.

Many improvements in crop production have been devised, which are well within the means of the people. To utilize these discoveries, an organisation, working in the districts, has been evolved by which the lessons, learnt at the experiment stations, have been brought rapidly and successfully to the fields of the cultivators.

Besides the results obtained on crops and the work done in the distribution of seed, the investigation in progress have brought to light a number of problems, the successful solution of which must be accomplished before further advances can be made." (jacket)