DHULIA-Over a Century of Tyranny

March 9, 1974 has been replaced in several areas by gram, barley, and mustard, which in- volve much lower input cost and have a free market. An evidence of this is the sharp increase in the area under barley in Punjab and Haryana: in Punjab it has increased from 55,000 hectares last year to 73,000 hectares this year; the corresponding figures for Haryana are reported to be 1.5 and 2.5 lakh hectares. Barley needs less fertiliser and only two or three waterings compared to at least six for HYV-wheat. Further, barley fetched nearly Rs 130 per quintal last year, whereas wheat was to be procured at Rs 76. The demand for barley from distilleries and breweries no doubt contributed to this shift of acreage to it in some areas, but in other areas the alleged reasons are the take-over of wheat trade and the non-availability of inputs.