Page 418 - 8 Persian Trade rep Muscat 2_Neat

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The value of exports of limes this year amounted introduced and id spreading but it is uulikely that
to Us. 1,20,979 as against Its. 1,15,310 in the pre­ there will ever !*; an cxjiort demand. A considerable
vious your. area of land on tlie Batinah plain could be brought
under cultivation but the Omani is uot sufficiently
The export of sardines in 1539-40 amounted to energetic nor has he the financial resources necessary
IK 2,17,595 aa against Its. 4,10,038 in 1938-39. to open up new cultivation and sow a more paying
Export of dry fish rose from IK 7,55,278 in 1933-39 crop.
to IK 8,97,835 in the present year.
Mention must be made of Omeui cotton which
The cxjiorts of raw cotton increased by Rj. 01,017. of fin" quality and which is khaki iri colour. There'
The export of gold and silver declined from is little doubt that the cultivation of this cotton can
IK 1,11,700 in 1938-39 to IK 60,900 in 1939-40. be considerably increased if markets can be found.
This was due to the restrictions on the export of
silver imposed in December 1939.
(D) Industry.
Fish meal and fish manure are m anufactured by a
(B) Financial.
Khoja compelLy in Mulruh. Fairly large .-hipments
It is difficult to assess the average state of tie were made prior to the outbreak of the War to Ger­
market where n dual currency subject to fluctuation many, Holland and England. Since the War trade
exists, but on the whole it may be said that ready with Germany has naturally ceased and the firm has
money was easy during the year. There was tic found it diiiicull to obtain freight space to other
usual seasonal rise in the value of the Ilial against countries.
the rupee during the date harvest and just after There arc several firms who *re engaged in the
when there is always a demand for dollars for pay­
ments to growers nnd the usual seasonal fill in tie packing and exporting of boxed dates. KasLa
fish and salt and dry rish are exported by several
Rial as against the rupee in the c-arly spring of 19*0
when rupees were in demand to meet bills from merchants to Colombo, and the Far East. Turbans,
India. There were no insolvency cases in tLe Agency shawls and lengths of cloth ar* woven on hand-
Court. looms from cotton locally grewu. KLaki cloth
lengths woven from the natural coloured cotton arc
Banks.—There are none. nine j-ards long and about 20 inch' s in bn-adlh and
vary in retail price from Rs. 1-12-^J to Ks. 5-0-0 a
length.
(Q Agriculture.
The principal occupation of the peopk- is the cul­ (E) Communication and Transport.
tivation of date palms and the harvesting and ex­ Intercommunication between the coastal towns is
porting of dates. Date palm cultivation is carried carried on principally by sailing vessels. All mer­
on on the Batinah plain and aUo in tLc principal chandise from the Interior is brought to tLe coast
valleys of Oman. Grapes, walnuts and pomegra­ on camels and donkeys. Taxis run from Muscat
nates are cultivated in the mountainous region to Khor FakLan in the north and from Muscat to
known as Jebel Akhdar while limes aud mangoes are Qariyat in the south. .So far no lorries Lave been
grown in the same areas as the date palna. There is introduced but there is no reason why lorries should
a considerable export of pomegranates and limes, not make use of the motor tracks during dry weather.
the latter being dried before export. Tobacco is The fact that they have not been introduced is pro­
cultivated in the interior of the country and at occ­ bably due to cheap sea communication and lack of
ur two places on the Batinah plain. There is a urgency in distributing and collecting merchandise.
considerable export of this commodity but it is
iiQt possible to state with any degree of accuracy
the value of these exports as a large quantity of (F) Soda!.
tobacco 16 smuggled out of the country And shipped
from the port of Dubai on the Trucial Coast. It Standard // living.—TLe •ftandard of living is low.
has been suggested that the quantity exported from Although the majority of the inhabitants live a
Dubai can be valued as high as Eve lacs of rupees a reasonably happy life there is no doubt that they
year. suffer from under-nourisLrneut due to a lack of
Gum tragacantb and gum sandarac are exported grazing facilities for animal*. The principal em­
from the province of Dhofar. ployments are fishing and agricult pire and the diet
of the labourers consists principally of rice and fish
Sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers and with a small quantity of vegetables on the coast,
spinach are cultivated in the date gardens for local and dates and rice and a larger quantity of vegetable*
con-umption. Tomato cultivation has recently been in the Interior.