The Government today reported a record grain harvest in 1940 and increased exports of certain industrial commodities.
The Agriculture Department announced that 334,000 tons of all grains were harvested, compared with 237,000 tons in 1937, the previous five-year peak.
The wheat harvest of 170,000 tons exceeded the previous record of 1932 by one-third. Crops of barley, millet and maize were also extremely good. The sesame crop was 7,800 tons, or double the previous year.
Interesting experiments are proceeding in cultivation of ground nuts, which may become a staple crop if the oil content is sufficiently high. Market gardening became extensive and some citrus growers are intending to utilize part of their planted land for vegetable growing.
The report on industrial development mentions increased exports of wire, aluminum goods, razor blades, woolens, water heating apparatus, washing soap and artificial teeth. Total industrial exports for the first three-quarters of 1940 were valued at £196, 752, against £44,680 in the same period of 1939. Last year’s exports of potash and bromine were £317,234. Figures for this year are not yet available.
The United States and the United Kingdom are now practically the only suppliers of motor cars and lorries for Palestine. A total of 920 new vehicles were registered in the first 11 months of 1940, compared with 1,067 in the same period the previous year.
New factories and plants, in many cases in lines hitherto unrepresented in Palestine, continued to spring up, their production helping to fill the gap created by the impossibility of importing certain products. The latest establishment of this kind is a starch and glucose factory, named Galam, situated in the Karkur colony near Hedera. Its entire machinery was made or acquired in Palestine.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
