KING INSTITUTE, GUINDY, FOR 1927-28 3
transition from extreme heat to cold. From the middle of March to September
it is exceedingly hot reaching temperatures of 112° F. Chart I (not reproduced)
gives the average rainfall per month from records taken at the reservoir for the
last ten years and shows that the comparatively dry season is from December to
July and that the rainy season is from September to end of November, i.e., during
the latter half of the south-west monsoon and the whole of the north-east monsoon.
As seen from the chart (not reproduced) the total rainfall is small being on the
.average 32" a year.
Cultivation.—Both wet and dry cultivations are carried on in the Mopad
area, the former predominating. Of the [illegible],600 acres under cultivation as much.
as 1,200 are under wet cultivation and 400 under dry—so the whole area is
practically under wet crops. The wet paddy fields are so close to the villages
that they come right up to the back of houses. The dry crops are millets—jonna.
ragi, sajja and arika. Cotton and indigo are also grown to some extent. Paddy
(rice) is the main crop in this area and is the only wet crop. It is raised twice
a year ; a long crop requiring a lot of water from August to the end of December,
and a short crop of another variety requiring less water from February to May.
There has been no scarcity of foodstuffs in this area since the establishment
of irrigation.
The people.—The population consists practically entirely of Hindu Telugus.
There are a few Muhammdans and Christians in some of the villages. Although
immigration into the area has occurred during the last four years after the
establishment of irrigation, yet the present density of population (200 per square
mile) is probably not the maximum possible. The main occupation is agriculture.
Although rice is the main crop it is grown only for export. The people stick to
their own staple food of jonna which was the main crop before irrigation. Vege
-tables are not grown at all. Cattle (cows and buffaloes) form the chief property
of the people and almost everyone possesses some. The available milk is con-
–verted into curds for making butter and ghee—again mainly for export. Goats
and sheep abound. Most of the people live in one-roomed huts with walls of mud
and with roofs thatched with “ jumbo grass.” Separate huts are not provided for
animals, but these share the huts of their owners. The people seem to be fairly
well off, but complain of malaria and of lack of communications. This indeed
was one of the greatest difficulties of the survey—villages were visited with the
greatest difficulty, most of them could be reached only on foot after wading
through streams and fields.
Statistics.—Unfortunately there are no reliable records prior to 1921, but
better records have been kept since. Chart II (not published), from figures for
the whole of the Mopad area, shows a striking rise in the death-rate between 1922
and 1925, with a correspondingly severe fall in the birth-rate.
TABLE I.—The average birth and death-rates per mille in the villages in Mopad area for the
past five years (1921-25) i.e., after the completion of the irrigation project.
Name of village.
Average birth-rate
per mille for past
five y ears.
Average death-rate
per mille for past
five years.
Mopad and its hamlets...
1 7
22
Botlagudur hamlets ...
. . .
28
30
Kambaladinne hamlets...
4 7
49
Whole Mopad area ...
...
30.6
33.6
The chief cause of death as returned is under “ fevers.” Exact figures are
not yet to hand. From what the village headmen say the chief cause of death
returned under fevers has been malaria. Malaria is known in these parts by the
name of “ balla ” meaning enlargement of spleen. The people are fully aware of its
symptoms and the usefulness of quinine. They are, however, disgusted with it and
want a less bitter medicine. The village headmen and others of high standing in
the villages say that malaria, though prevalent for a long time, has increased
tremendously after the introduction of irrigation to which they attribute the
severe malaria because they say that malaria comes from drinking the canal
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