Bombay Presidency - Agriculture

Agriculture

The overwhelming majority of the population of the Bombay Presidency was rural and engaged in agriculture. The staple crops were Sorghum (jowar), and Pearl millet (bajra) in the Deccan and Khandesh. Rice was the chief product of the Konkan. Wheat, generally grown in the northern part of the Presidency, but specially in Sind and Gujarat, was exported to Europe in large quantities from Karachi, and on a smaller scale from Bombay. Barley was principally grown in the northern parts of the presidency. Finger millet (Nachani) and Paspalum scrobiculatum furnished food to the Kolis, Bhils, Waralis, and other hill tribes. Of the pulses the most important are the chickpea or Bengal gram (Cicer arietinum), pigeon pea or tur (Cajanus cajan), catjang or kulti (Vigna unguiculata cylindrica), and urad bean (Vigna mungo). Principal oilseeds were sesame or til (Sesamum indicum), mustard, castor bean, safflower and linseed. Of fibres the most important were cotton, Deccan hemp (Hibiscus cannabinus), and sunn or tag (Crotalaria juncea). Much was done to improve the cotton of the presidency. American varieties were introduced with much advantage in the Dharwad collectorate and other parts of the southern Maratha country. In Khandesh the indigenous plant from which one of the lowest classes of cotton in the Bombay market takes its name has been almost entirely superseded by the superior Hinganghat variety. Miscellaneous crops: sugarcane, requiring a rich soil and a perennial water-supply, and only grown in favoured localities, chile peppers, potatoes, turmeric and tobacco.