JUTE CULTIVATION 75 1793, led to increasing differentiation within the peasantry and emergence of an extremely complex network of credit groups in Bengal. These groups not only controlled the entire system of agricultural production but also the disposal of the crops geared to their needs. This control however did not imply that no change was taking place in the production relations. Much of the maladies which have affected jute cultivation and retarded its proper development and oiganization can be attributed to the activities of these credit groups. These credit groups arc not interlinked homogeneously; there exist fissures. However, the net result of their activities has been to inhibit technical change in the production and organization of jute cultivation. ANIL RAI (This is a revised version of a paper presented at a seminar at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) 1 N C Chaudhuri, Jute in Bengal, Calcutta, 1908, pp 63-66, quoted in B B Chaudhuri, "Growth of Commercial Agriculture in Bengal, 1859-1885, IESHR, vol 7, 1970 (two parts); See also B B Chaudhuri, Growth of Commercial Agriculture in Bengal, 1757-1900 Calcutta, 196-4, Vol 1. f/ Area and Tield of Certain Ctops 1891-2 to 1905-6, Commercial Intelligence Department Government of India. II C Kar, Report on the Cultivation of and Trade in Jute, Calcutta, 1877, para 264. 4 Bengal Jute Enquiry Commission, Calcutta, 1934, Vol I, p 111. Quoted in S Mukherji, "Trade in Rice and Jute in Bengal: Its Effects on Prices, Cultivation and Consumption of the Two Crops in Early 20th Century, 1900/01-1920/2I", unpublished PhD thesis, Jadhavpur University, 1971, Chapter I. b Aratdars were small capitalists posse-ssing godowns, who "theoretically" sold the jute of beparis at a commission of 2 annas per maund. But the price at which the aratdar finally made a deal with the buyer was not always revealed to the seller. Aratdars also gave advances to tlie beparis. 7 S Mukherji, op. cit. 8 Spotlight on Jute, Calcutta, 1977, p 76. 9 Address by the chairman of the Indian Jute Mills Association, 12 April 1969. 10 Kalyan Dutt, "Changes in Land Relations in West Bengal", Economic and Political Weekly, Review of Agriculture, December 1977. u A K Ghosc and A Saith, "Indebtedness, Tenancy and the Adoption of New Technology in Semi-feudal Agriculture^, World Development, Vol 4, No 4, 1976.