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Adoption of Tissue Culture in Horticulture
Adoption of Tissue Culture in Horticulture:
A Study of Banana-Growing Farmers
from a South-Indian State

By

Ch. Krishna Rao

 Adoption of Tissue Culture in Horticulture:
A Study of Banana-Growing Farmers from a South-Indian State
By Ch. Krishna Rao

This book first published 2014

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2014 by Ch. Krishna Rao

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-4438-5580-4, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5580-8

 CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... vii

Chapter I ...................................................................................................... 1
Introduction

Chapter II ................................................................................................... 37
Methodology

Chapter III ................................................................................................. 53

Conventional Cultivation of Banana Fruit Production

Chapter IV ................................................................................................. 77
Tissue Culture Banana Cultivation

Chapter V .................................................................................................. 91
Adoption of Tissue Banana Cultivation: A Socio-Economic
Profile of Farmers

Chapter VI ............................................................................................... 103

Tissue Culture Banana Production: Input and Output Linkages

Chapter VII .............................................................................................. 135

Conclusion

References ............................................................................................... 147

Appendix I ............................................................................................... 153

Appendix II.............................................................................................. 159

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Firstly I would like to express my sincere thankfulness to my research

supervisor Prof. E. Haribabu, Pro-Vice Chancellor and former Head of the
Department of Sociology, for his guidance and constant encouragement
throughout my work. His professionalism and commitment to research
inspired me a lot to pursue my science, technology and society
specialization. It is a great privilege to work under his guidance, and I
thank him for providing an opportunity to me.
I get great satisfaction from a small achievement in this academic
journey. And it is not a one-man effort; it includes the constant support of
my near and dear.
I am very thankful to Cambridge Scholars Publishing house for giving
me an opportunity to publish my thesis in book form.
I am very thankful for the cooperation extended by the farmers of
Kadapa, West Godavari, Rangareddi, and Medak districts of Andhra
Pradesh for their help during my field work.
I am very happy to express my thankfulness to Dr. G. Nagaraju,
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Dr. Ramdas of the
Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad, for inspiring
me to publish this book with Cambridge Scholars Publishing. It gives me
immense pleasure to express my thankfulness to my junior, Mr. Silveru
Harinath, for his continuous interest in publishing the book.
And, to my wife, Bharni Kiran, and my son, Shyam Pramukh, for their
co-operation in the completion of my book.
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Society provides human, physical and cultural resources for the growth
and development of science and technology. Developments in Science and
Technology influence Society. Technology and Society are obviously in a
reciprocal relationship. All social Institutions are affected by Technology
(Jerry Gaston, 1980). Changes in social institutions may be brought about
by several other factors in addition to science and technology. The study
of social change acquired significance after the Second World War,
because of the increased emphasis on planned change and development by
the developing countries, after they gained political independence.
Understanding influence of technology in bringing about social change
has assumed greater significance in sociological research with the
development of technologies such as Information Technology and
Biotechnology. The present study aims at understanding the influence of
the adoption of tissue culture, one of the techniques of biotechnology, on
the social organization of production, and social relations in the production
process, attitudes, knowledge and practices associated with cultivation of
fruit crops, which have been commercially important in the context of
increasing demand for fruit.

Social Change: Concept and Existing Theories

Social change implies change in the social system over a period of time.
MacIver and Page (1986) viewed social change as distinct from cultural
change, and defined social change as “change in social relationships, every
change in man’s relations to his environment leads to some change in his
relation to his fellow beings”. Harry M. Johnson (1966) defines social
change as a change in social structure. Social structure includes structural
elements like statuses, roles, groups, sub-groups, and collectivity. Hence,
change in any one of these structural elements may be regarded as social
change. Bottomore (1962) defined social change as change in the social
structure (including changes in the size of society) or in a particular social
institution or in the relationships between institutions.
2 Chapter I

Social change has certain distinctions on the basis of the dimensions of

change. These are (i) time (ii) magnitude. Short-term and long-term
changes represent the temporal dimension of change. By and large, large-
scale change corresponds to long-term change, and small-scale change to
short-term change. The number of units is affected by change: the more
units affected by change, the greater the magnitude of change.

Culture Change
Structural and cultural changes are interrelated. Changes in social structure,
the system of social relations in terms of class, caste, gender and power
relations, may trigger changes in culture, attitudes, values, and systems of
meaning. Similarly, change in culture may bring about changes in social
structure. Sociologists have been engaged in formulating theories about
social change. Sociologists have been focusing on understanding the
factors that bring about social change in the economy, polity and culture.

Structural-Functionalist Theory
Structural-functionalist theory assumes that there is order in society and
there is consensus on the value framework that underlies the order. Each
institution serves certain functions in maintaining the order of the society.
When events from outside or inside disrupt the social system, the social
order, comprised of interrelated social institutions, makes adjustments to
restore stability. This perspective has its roots in the work of the early
sociologists, especially Durkheim (1950), Herbert Spencer (1903), and
Radcliff-Brown (1952). Among contemporary scholars, it is most closely
associated with the work of Parsons (1951) and Merton (1969). According
to Parsons (1951), the sources of change can be classified as endogenous
(from within the social system) or exogenous (from outside the social
system); very often, both sources work together and influence the
magnitude of change (Coser, 1971).
Structural-functionalists argue that change generally occurs in a
gradual fashion and not in sudden, violent, radical fashion. Change in the
social order, which is based on consensus on the value framework that
underlies the social order, undergoes change with gradual changes in the
values related to different institutions that comprise the social order. Even
changes that appear to be drastic have not been able to make a great or
lasting impact on the core elements of the social and cultural system. A
change, according to Parsons (1951) and Merton (1968), comes from
basically three sources:
 Introduction 3

i) Adjustment of the system to exogenous changes (e.g. War,

Conquest);
ii) Growth through structural and functional differentiation (e.g.
change in the size of the population through births and deaths);
iii) Innovations by members of groups within society (e.g. inventions
and discoveries in a society).

Because structural-functionalists’ concern is for ‘social order,’ they are

often criticized for not dealing with the problems of social change
adequately.

Conflict Theory
Conflict theory takes the principle of dialectic as central to social life.
Conflict theorists do not assume that societies evolve smoothly from lower
to higher or more complex levels. According to this theory, every pattern
of action, belief, and interaction tends to generate opposing reaction.
Marx, in his theory of class struggle, developed the idea of social
change resulting from internal conflicts. For Marx, social change is not a
smooth, orderly progression, which gradually unfolds in harmonious
evolution. Marx believed that the class struggle was the driving force of
social change. Marx’s views on history are based on the idea of the
dialectic. Dialectical movement represents a struggle of opposites, a
conflict of contradictions. Conflict provides the dynamic principle, the
source of change. Contradiction between relations of production and
forces of production manifests as class conflict.
Haralambos (1980) paraphrases Marx’s theory of social change as
follows: societies change from one type, characterized by a given mode of
production, to another type characterized by another mode of production,
through revolutionary politics.
Conflict resolution through revolution results in a new social formation,
which allows the growth of productive forces up to a point. When
contradiction between relations of production and forces of production
becomes sharp, the contradiction relates the conditions for another
revolution through class struggle. The growth of forces of production,
which is a result of the capacity to produce, is essentially a function of
scientific and technical knowledge, technological equipment, and the
organization of the labour force (Raymond Aron, 1965).
4 Chapter I

Science, Technology and Social Change:

Intertwining Relationship
Both structural-functional theory and Marxist theory recognize the
significance of inventions and discoveries for social change. For
structural-functionalists the inventions and discoveries bring about social
change gradually. For Marx, science and technology are part of the forces
of production which come into the sharp contradiction with relations of
production. As contradictions cannot remain unresolved beyond a point,
the contradiction manifests itself as class conflict and paves the way for
qualitative change in the relations of production.
Science in the most general sense is any systematic study of physical
and social phenomena. Ina restricted sense; science is the study of physical
and social phenomena involving observation, experimentation, appropriate
quantification and the search for universal general laws and explanations.
And science could be referred to as any specific branch of knowledge in
either of the above senses (e.g. social sciences).
Science is social in nature, because science is pursued by human
beings in a social environment to produce new knowledge. Science is
concerned with understanding the basic natural process in the universe;
technology is concerned with developing innovative processes and
products (Jerry Gaston, 1980).Science is the act of ‘knowing’ and
‘technology’ is the act of doing. This conception of science and
technology has been challenged by Haraway (1998),who argued that
science and technology are interpenetrating systems, and she uses the term’
techno-science’ to describe this (quoted in McKenzie and Wazcman, 1999;
pp. 41-49).
In sociology, science is seen as involving a complex process of social
production, working upon and transforming previously existing
knowledge. As a socially located phenomenon, science must also be
recognized as occurring in a social context in which the cultural values and
interests of the scientist, and also the wider interests, always potentially
influence the production of knowledge. According to David Jary and Julia
Jary (1995), sociology of science is concerned with the study of the social
processes involved in the production of scientific knowledge, as well as
the social implications of this knowledge, including technology. For
Durkheim (1915), science is a specialized social activity. Michael Mulkay
(1979) called science a “socio-cultural phenomenon”. According to J. D.
Bernal (1983), science is a major factor in maintaining and improving
production. Science and technology have been recognized as important
factors that bring about structural and cultural changes in human society.
 Introduction 5

As mentioned earlier, technology is one of the important sources of social

change, and technological change produces transformations in all spheres
of social life.
Technology is a vitally important aspect of the human condition. Our
lives are intertwined with technology from simple tools to large technical
systems. Some societies are more responsive to change than others. The
response to change depends upon the level of technological advancement.
Today, the distinction between science and technology is difficult to
maintain because of the interpenetration of science and technology.

Technology: Definitions
Technology constitutes generally, tools, machines, instruments, weapons,
appliances; physical devices and associated skills, methods, procedures,
routines activities, and so on. The rise of man from his apelike ancestors
has depended on his ability to make and use tools. In the few thousand
years that have passed since the discovery of agriculture, man’s power
over his surroundings has been growing at an ever-increasing rate (Nicol
Russell, 1978).
According to the International Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences,
technology is described as “bodies of skill, knowledge, and procedures for
making, using and doing useful things” (Julius Gould, William L. Kolb,
1969).
Technology refers to the application of cultural knowledge to tasks of
living in the environment. It centres on processes that are primarily
biological and physical, rather than psychological and social processes.
They represent the cultural traditions developed in human communities for
dealing with the physical and biological environment, which includes the
human biological organism itself. Technology is defined here as a method
of using science in producing goods and services. It is a parameter of the
system and determined by scientists and technologists (Nicol Russell,
1978).
The term technology also implies: (a) a body of means and skills
characteristic of a particular civilization, community or period; (b) technical
methods used in a particular field of industry. In other words technology
has three components: i) hardware, i.e. the tools, equipment; ii) software,
i.e. knowledge underlying the construction of hardware; and iii) orgware,
i.e. social organization required for implementation of the technology.
David Jary and Julia Jary (1995), observe that technology is the
practical application of knowledge and use of techniques in productive
activities. This definition reflects a sociological concern with technology
6 Chapter I

as a social product, which incorporates both the ‘hardware’ of human

artefacts, such as tools and machines, and the software knowledge and
ideas involved in different productive activities. More recent developments
in energy production and information technology may, however, depend
upon innovations derived from organized science, sometimes technology
is referred to in the narrow sense as machines, whereas wider definitions
include productive systems as a whole and even work organization and the
division of labour. The narrow definition tends to treat technology as
autonomous and ignore the social processes involved in the design and
choice of technology; more inclusive definitions make it difficult to
distinguish between the technology and the social arrangements with
which it is related.

Relationship between Science and Technology

The relationship between science and technology is one of the most
controversial problems confronting historians and philosophers interested
in technology and its history. John Staudenmeier (1985) has pointed out
that they have argued ceaselessly over competing interpretations of the
relationship. The philosopher Mario Bunge (1966) has maintained that
successful technological practice depends on the systematic application of
scientific knowledge. Science influences history in two major ways: i) by
the change in the methods of production, and ii) by the impact of its
findings and ideas on the ideology of the period.
All science is simply an intensified form of technology, generated by
the material needs of society. Throughout the greater part of history,
improvements in techniques have arisen mostly under the stimulus of the
immediate advantage they would give to certain individuals or classes
(Bernal J. D, 1983).
Technology has changed radically in quantity and quality over the
millennia. The rise of technological sciences occurred only with the
creation of a community of practitioners separate from either the body of
inventors or that of scientists. The new group of specialists, who came to
be called engineers, possessed scientific training, a grasp of mathematics
and physics, and an intimate knowledge of technology. During the first
decades of the 19th century, iron became a common material in the
construction of building, bridges and other structures.
Technology is not neutral with respect to history, class, country and
factor endowments, and technological changes take place with the
development of technological knowledge (Stewart Richards, 1983).
Technology is a social activity, all the social sciences-Sociology, Economics,
 Introduction 7

Psychology, Political Science, Anthropology - are also pertinent to studies

of its social origins and influences of technology.
Donald Cardwell (1965) argued that the growth of science owes a great
deal too technological practice, as technological artefacts have provided
tools and the techniques for exploring the new ideas. Edwin Layton (1977)
argues that science and technology are not abstract functions of knowing
and doing; they are social (p. 209).
According to Otto Mayr (1976) this search for a single, timeless
account of the relationship between science and technology may be so
fruitless because it is a fundamentally flawed endeavour. The critical terms,
“science” and “technology”, Otto Mayr (1976) argues, cannot be treated as
invariant across different periods of history and different cultural contexts.
These terms should be treated as historical objects whose invention and
ever-changing definition and mutual relationship cry out for explanation.

Theories of Technology Development

As mentioned earlier, society provides the context and conditions for
growth and development of technology. One of the theories of technology
is technological determinism. This theory assumes that technology is both
autonomous and has determinate effects on society. Technology is seen as
a political and as an independent variable in social change. This
assumption is criticized for ignoring the social processes and choices,
which guide the use of technology and the variety of possible social
arrangements, which coexist with different types of technology. In
Langdon Winner’s words (Mackenzie, 1985) technology could be political
because it is designed, consciously or unconsciously, to open certain social
options and close others. The technological deterministic approach looks
at technology as an independent factor that causes changes in the social
economic, political and cultural aspects of human society. The socio-
technical systems approach focuses on functional groups, i.e. builders,
inventors, engineers, managers, and financiers, and on inventing and
controlling technological systems, heterogeneous social classes/groups,
disciplines, organizations and institutions which become part of the
‘seamless web’ (Hughes, 1986).
The Actor-Network theory emphasizes the relations between actors of
technical and non-technical worlds (Callon, 1986; Latour, 1987; Law,
1987).The notion of ‘actors,’ physical and social, that are involved in the
development of technological systems, replaces the conventional categories
distinguishing animate and inanimate things and forces.
8 Chapter I

The general perception is that new technologies are developed or

existing technologies are upgraded to enhance the efficiency whether in
the field of agriculture or industrial production. The latent object of all
technological improvement is economic efficiency. However, the
consequences of scientific and technological advancement are not just
confined to economics, but pervade all areas of life. This means that there
are always two sides to the advancement of science and technology. On
the one hand, the advance of instrumental rationality or of seeking the
most efficient means to achieve a given end entails an increasing mastery
over the natural and social worlds. On the other, this process also brings
about the increasing impersonality of the external conditions of life. That
is why Brubaker (1984) endorses Weber’s argument that regards science
and technology as central to the process of “disenchantment” or the
increasing extension of instrumental rationality throughout the social
world.
The pervasive influence of technology on society in the contemporary
world is much more widely noticed and seems qualitatively different from
that of past societies. This is for the following obvious reasons. One, the
present day tools are more powerful than any before. For example, while
the domestication of animals and invention of the wheel literally turned
food production around and lifted the burden from man’s back, nowadays
computers have freed human beings from all their hectic and complex
labours. Compared to the rifle of yester year, nuclear weapons of the
modern day could wipe out mankind from the earth. Second, as the quality
and finality of modern technology has improved, it has brought the society
to explicit awareness of technology as an important determinant of human
beings and institutions (Mesthne, 1972).
Technology has been viewed as an important tool in the advancement
of production processes. As a consequence, production processes have
become complex skill-based, mechanized, and automated. Marx (1974),
while analysing the division of labour in the age of technology-driven
industrial revolution, distinguished between organic manufacture and
heterogeneous manufacture. In organic manufacture, the basic raw
material passes through a sequence of stages in which it is converted into
the finished product. In heterogeneous manufacture, different parts are
manufactured by a large number of detail workers and these parts are
collected for the final assembly worker. For example, the making of a
watch used to be an individual product of one craftsman, but in the 19th
century, it became the social product of a large number of workers, like
dial makers, hairspring makers, screw makers and gliders. Marx (1974)
did not consider the worker who assembles all the parts at the end in order
 Introduction 9

to make a watch as a craftsman, despite his skill, since he did not work
directly for the customer, but for the capitalist who organized the
coordination of various component parts (Goody, 1982).
One of the most significant outcomes of technological advancement in
the production process during the eighteenth century was the Industrial
Revolution. The most important change brought about by the Industrial
Revolution was transformation of craft based production to industrial
production. Craft based production lacks specialization and division of
labour. However, industrial revolution led to specialization and a high
degree of division of labour. For example, making pins was broken into 18
separate operations which could be carried out by as many workers with
an astonishing 240 fold increase in productivity, using the same technique
and tools (Adam Smith, 1776).
In the late twentieth century, with the application of biotechnologies,
work in agricultural production processes is undergoing a transition
comparable in scope and magnitude to the Industrial Revolution. The
Industrial Revolution, brought about by capital investments in machines,
was so revolutionary that it substituted mechanical in place of animal and
human energy (Simpson, 1999). However, the bio-revolution seems to be
more revolutionary, brought about by capital and intellectual investments
in general and Research and Development labs that substitute for field and
farmer.

Technology and Social Change

As mentioned above, technology is one of the important sources of social
change, and technological changes produce transformation in all the
spheres of agriculture, industry and services. Technology improves
efficiency, productivity. It affects social relations among workers in the
work place, and also in class relations in a society. Sometimes
technological choices are governed by the goal of controlling the process
of production and the workforce involved in production.
The changes in the levels of and the nature of technology in any sphere
of activity, be it production, education or entertainment, will have an effect
on various aspects of social institutions and culture, thus leading to social
change. The choice of an alternate and new technology in the place of an
old technology will alter the roles of relationships between individuals,
their attitudes, and their values in the course of time, and this leads to
social change.
The knowledge underlying technology, interlinked beliefs and values,
the degree of complexity and the degree of contact it has with the cultures
10 Chapter I

of other societies, are important sources of social and cultural change.

Rahman (1978) believes that science and technology bring deeper changes
in attitudes and value systems, and technology satisfies the basic needs and
helps in removing traditional inequalities in society (Sharma and Qureshi,
1978).
Ogburn (1979) coined a term “cultural lag” to describe the disequilibrium
between material and non-material aspects of a culture. He pointed out
how changes in non-material culture, such as values, belief, norms, family,
or religion, lag behind changes in material culture, that is, technology,
means of production, and output of the economic system.
Ogburn has pointed out that social change is the result of a combination
of new inventions. Since cultural change influences the social relations of
people, it also tends to increase the pace of social change at a greater
tempo through time. Often material inventions result in undermining the
established social patterns and giving rise to new patterns as a result of
them.
Technological innovations are accepted readily from the utility point of
view, but social norms and values are more traditional and get adjusted
much more slowly and gradually compared to the changes in material
conditions. According to Ogburn (1979), various parts of modern culture
are thus not changing at the same rate, since there is a correlation and
interdependences between several parts, or rapid change in one part
necessitating change in the correlated parts of culture.
As per the Human Development Report (2001), technological change,
like all changes, poses risks as shown by the industrial disaster in Bhopal
(India), the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl (Ukraine), the birth defects from
thalidomide, and the depletion of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons.
This report also remarked that technological breakthroughs without
attendant social and infrastructural change could produce distorted results,
being witnessed in India today in the simultaneous existence of grain
stocks and hunger in several states, albeit drought related (HDR, 2001);
agriculture is one of the areas where technological improvements have
been contributing to increased productivity over time.

Technology and Agriculture

Technology plays a very key role in agricultural productivity. According
to the 1997 World Bank Report, about 12% of the world’s total land
surface is used to grow crops, about 30% is forest or woodland, 26% is
pasture or meadow. The reminder, one third, is used for other human
purposes or is unusable because of the climate or topography. In 1961, the
 Introduction 11

amount of land supporting food production was 0.44 hectares per capita.
Today it is 0.26 hectares per capita, and based on population projections, it
will be in the vicinity of 0.2% a year and continues to fall.
Under these circumstances, there is a need to increase productivity per
hectare to feed the increasing population with the decreasing amount of
land available for cultivation. Global agriculture has been steadily gaining
in production over the past few decades. However, it has not been
successful in overcoming the problem of rising demand, which is a result
of the increasing population. The challenge is immense because, by 2050,
global demand for food may be three times greater than today. Moreover,
during the past two decades the production growth has declined, dropping
from 3% annually during the 1960s to 2.4% in the 1970s, and finally to 2.2%
in the 1980s.
On a global basis, average yields per hectare of wheat, rice and maize
have climbed fairly steadily since 1961. The aggregate figures nonetheless
mask some disturbing regional trends. In Asia, for instance, rice yields
rose drastically in the 1960s with the introduction of new varieties and
management practices. Yields continued to increase in the 1970s, but in
the 1980s began to level off or decline.
According to Wenke (1980), agriculture was made possible by
advancements in technology. Similarly, agriculture allows for further
increases in population. As people come into contact with one another,
there is diffusion of crops, which has resulted in increased diversity of
foodstuffs to consume. Norman Borlaug (1981) lists twenty-three plants
that form the base of world agriculture, as indicated in Table No. 1.1.
Over 80% of harvested food by weight is from plants, and just about
half of all food and calories are from the five cereal grains. When
domesticated plants are diffused to new regions, varieties are bred and
adapted to fit the environmental circumstances. Most of the plants have
been crossed with local varieties to fit micro climatic and cultural needs. It
is interesting to note that the majority of wheat and rice production of the
third world comes from plants which share a common ancestry. This is a
cause of concern, as this is a prescription for disaster because this will lead
to a loss of genetic diversity among the crops.
According to Krimsky and Wrubel (1996), although cultivation of
crops was carried out through the past ten to fifteen thousand years, the
technological advancements started only 200 years ago. These include
mechanization, plant-breeding hybridization, chemical based pesticides
and herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. The Green Revolution, a set of
techniques involving use of high yielding varieties, assured irrigation
facilities, use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, institutional credit
12 Chapter I

facilities, etc., has radically transformed the agriculture scenario in third

world countries.

Table No. 1.1: The twenty-three main crops that form the base of
world agriculture

Category Varieties
Five cereals Wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and
barely
Three root crops Potato, sweet potato and Cassava
Two sugar crops Sugar cane and sugar beet
Six grain legumes (pulses) Dry beans, dry peas, chick pea,
broad bean, ground nut and Soya
bean
Three oil seeds Cotton seed, sunflower and rape
seed (the pulses groundnut and
Soya bean are also oil seeds)
Four tree crops Banana, coconut, orange and apple
Source: A Theory of Technology: Continuity and Change in Human Development,
Thomas R. DeGregori, Ames: The Iowa State University Press, 1982.

Green Revolution Technology in India

In India, the Green Revolution was heralded in the mid-nineteen sixties
with the introduction of high yielding dwarf varieties of Mexican wheat
and some exotic varieties of paddy on a selected scale. Parthasararthy
(1971) stated that the Green Revolution altered social relationships on the
farm, caused shift of power within the rural sector from one class to
another, and in addition implied fundamental changes in farm economy
and in the inter-relationships between the farm and external world. He
summed up that it was an Agrarian revolution/Agricultural transformation.
The Green Revolution is the net outcome of a particular type of
agrarian system covering a wide variety of measures to enhance the
agrarian output. This revolution is based on high yielding varieties of
seeds (HYVS) with closely associated agricultural technology, manures,
chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, weedicides, biological
stimulators, along with capital investment under well-guided irrigation
facilities, i.e., mechanical, chemical, biological and hydrological inputs are
essential for such agrarian transformation.
Introduction of institutional inputs with regard to land reforms,
consolidation of land holdings, banking system and credit facilities,
 Introduction 13

associated service infrastructure in the form of rural link roads, rural

electrification tube well irrigation, marketing support, storage facilities,
etc., have also been instrumental in bringing about the Green Revolution.
These institutional inputs have brought structural changes in agrarian
economy in the country. Keeping all other facilities aside, the introduction
and developments in the field of irrigation - tube wells and canals - have
been most rewarding in the genesis of the Green Revolution.
Spatially, the Green Revolution is limited to certain parts of the
country where necessary infrastructural development in associate aspects
is better than other regions. The most prominent among such areas are
North-Western Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Western
Uttar Pradesh, Regions of the Northern Plains, Krishna-Godavari Delta,
Coastal Tamil Nadu (Thanjavur Area), and parts of Maharashtra.
The Green Revolution is appreciably localized in some particular areas
of toiling farming communities like the Jats (Punjab, Haryana, Western
Uttar Pradesh),the Reddys (Andhra Pradesh) and the Gounders (Tamil
Nadu),who have been entrepreneur cultivators since ages past, and they
carry almost a mystical love for their farm holdings (Singh, 1974). In
Punjab and Haryana, besides an economically viable and socially
acceptable technological package, the public polices and service provided
were conducive for giving a lead in the field of agricultural affluence
(Chopra, 1982).
As per Surender Singh’s perceptions (1992), regional disparities have
been widened in India in rural development after the Green Revolution.
This has led to many socio-cultural and politico-economic repercussions in
the country.
Like land reforms, farm machinery has also been instrumental in
augmenting farm production. Farm machinery is the direct form of energy
input in the agrarian sector. Farm machinery has resulted in several
structural changes in agrarian economy in India. The tractor is the basic
piece of farm machinery, which is capable of supporting other mechanical
inputs. Punjab has only 1.53 per cent of the total geographical area of the
country, but has over 25 per cent of the tractors and 8 per cent of the tube
wells of the country (Surender Singh, 1998).
Similarly, the highest ratio of stationary threshers, combine harvesters,
tillers, harrows, puddles and chemical-spraying apparatus etc. in Punjab, is
also proving the relationship between the Green Revolution and farm
mechanization. The process of farm mechanization has been directly
instrumental in the realization of the Green Revolution.
Increased productivity, area, and production of certain crops have also
influenced the market mechanism in the agrarian sector. Over 60% of the
14 Chapter I

food grain production in Punjab, Haryana, part of north-western Rajasthan,

and western Uttar Pradesh is rendered surplus to be marketed. Farm input
requirements also increased tremendously with the advent of the Green
Revolution, demanding huge investment in a traditional static agrarian
landscape. It has resulted in the stimulation of institutional infrastructural
development in rural areas, which indicates the consequence, as well as
the stimulator, of agrarian development.
Technological transformation of agriculture in India has not resulted in
dramatic changes, and moreover, its localized nature has set a chain
reaction for surrounding peripheral areas for agrarian reforms and
development. Rural roads have also proved to be carriers of agrarian
progress and a means of rural development. It has eased the transportation
of inputs and marketing outputs.
The self-sufficiency of food grains in India may be ascribed to the
Green Revolution. Annual food grain production in the country was 51
million tonnes in 1948, which touched 120 million tonnes in 1976, 150
million tonnes in 1984, and 151 million tonnes in 1986, recording an
overall growth of three times in thirty-seven years. Suchan increase in the
agrarian sector has never been recorded in India. It has been possible due
to the increase in cropping intensity. This development has not only made
India self-sufficient in food grains, but has also generated a deep-rooted
confidence of feeding its fast increasing population.
The realization of the Green Revolution in India is primarily achieved
through expansion in irrigation facilities. In 1949-50, the total irrigated
area in the country was little over 19 million hectares, which increased to
over 63 million hectares in 1983-84, and 70.4 million hectares in 1986-87,
recording an overall growth of 3.7 times in thirty-seven years. It has
resulted in all round changes in endogenous and exogenous linkages of
agriculture’s, agricultural community, villages and society, breaking the
isolation of the peasantry. The total estimated potential of irrigation in the
country has been estimated at around 113 million hectares. This increase is
possible in the northern, western and southern regions of the country, and
these areas have already out-run other areas in agricultural yields (Soni,
1987).
The Green Revolution has been the cause of the unusual spread of rice
(a wet crop) to relatively dry areas of the country, notably in Haryana,
Punjab, and North-Western Rajasthan, due to the assured supply of water
for irrigation from canals and tube wells. Similarly, wheat has perpetrated
in non-traditional areas of Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, west Bengal, and Assam, giving a
new dimension to our agrarian landscape. The constant rise in production
 Introduction 15

is the outcome of balanced interaction among various favourable forces,

including proper inputs, encouraging policies, and quick adaptability of
the farm community (Singh, 1987). The Green Revolution has not only
changed the agrarian landscape but also helped other economic activities
based on agro-products governing a new set up to farming systems.
Food grain production in Punjab was 32 lakh tonnes in 1960-61, which
touched the figure of 172 lakh tonnes in 1985-86, recording an overall
increase of 5.4 times in 25 years, resulting in socio-economic changes in
rural Punjab. During 1968-69, wheat recorded an increase of 229.5 per
cent, rice 1221.2 per cent, sugarcane 20.9 per cent, rapeseed 80.1 per cent,
and mustarded 126.9 per cent, which, except the sugarcane, is much higher
than the national average. The Realization of the Green Revolution comes
through the increased productivity of cereal crops. In 1966-67, the average
yield of wheat in the country was 8.8 quintals per hectare, which reached
13.8 quintals per hectare in 1971-72, and 18.2 quintals per hectare in
1982-83, recording an overall increase of about 2.1 times in sixteen years.
In the corresponding period, wheat yield in Punjab was 15.1 quintal
per hectare in 1966-67, which rose to 24.1 quintals per hectare in 1971-72,
and 30 quintals per heater in 1982-83. In Haryana, it was 14.3 quintals per
hectare in 1966-67, 20.4 quintals per hectare in 1971-72, and 25.2 quintals
in 1982-83. Growth in yield in Punjab was two times and in Haryana 1.8
times. On average, the yields in Punjab and Haryana are numbers one and
two in India. Similarly, increasing yield in other crops has also been
recorded. The level of yield indirectly reveals the level of inputs for
enhancing production and also indicates the potentialities (Singh, 1987).
The phenomenal rise in area for cereals and their production may be
attributed to the carefully planned inputs strategy in the field of judicious
use of fertilizers, high yielding seeds, and availability of water for
irrigating the thirsty lands, along with crop protection programmes,
various incentives, subsides, and procurement of cereals by various
Government agencies to provide the economic umbrella to the farming
community and avoiding the situation of glut in the market. This has all
resulted in the orientation of the agrarian system in the country in favour
of cereal crops, which has deeply influenced other crops (Singh, 1987).

Socio-Economic Impact of Green Revolution Technology

Socio-economic impacts of the Green Revolution have been different in
various areas according to geographic and socio-political environment. It
has averted famine and hunger, despite the brunt of the population
explosion in various parts of the globe, including India.
16 Chapter I

So it may not be improper to designate it as the food grain revolution.

No doubt, the Green Revolution has heralded the era of self-sufficiency in
food grains, but not without repercussions and problems in the socio-
cultural and economic-political fields, because the dynamism of the Green
Revolution has been introduced into a tradition-bound, static, rural society
in India. The process of change in the traditional rural societies is usually
very slow, and accepted values are cherished despite their outmoded
nature.
Agriculture is a land-based occupation, which is a non-elastic and
immovable resource. After the Green Revolution, the significance of
landholdings has tremendously increased along with their social values. It
has also increased their demand, and with the increasing productivity, this
demand is also rising fast. Land holding is fast emerging as the point of
social power and status. As the new techniques are not favourable for
small holding farmers, so such people sell their meagre holdings and
become landless labourers. It has also been observed that the farmers with
medium holdings (6-12hectares) are eager to increase their holdings. An
important relationship exists between land and people who strive about the
nature of property rights, distribution of ownership and control of land,
system of land division, and settlement patterns (Smith, 1959). Such
relationships are constantly changing in the areas of the Green Revolution.
Land transaction directly influences the distribution of holdings
according to size. The numbers of large and medium sized holdings
increase, and small sized ones are abolished due to land transactions. Thus
the position of operational land holdings’ size seems to be controlled by
economic and technological forces. Heralding of the Green Revolution has
made the traditionally popular system of tenancy cultivation unpopular,
and the holding owners now prefer to cultivate their holdings themselves,
owing to enhanced returns. The Green Revolution has also adversely
affected the share-crops, tenant farmers, and landless agricultural labourers,
because 40 percent of farm households (over 8 hectares) are economically
capable of investing in the Green Revolution. It has made the rich farmer
richer and has resulted in the concentration of wealth and rural power in
the hands of rich farmers, while the poor peasants have not benefitted at all
(Dutt and Sen, 1986).
Similarly, benami transfers of the land on a very large scale in these
areas have also adversely affected the poor and landless farmers, as the
Government could get very little surplus land to be distributed among
them. The Green Revolution has caused a decrease in the number of small
and medium farmers due to economic and technological constraints. It has
 Introduction 17

resulted in an increase in the number of relatively large holdings either by

selling or leasing of the land.
It has also caused a significant income differential between the income
of farmers and the farm labour. In Punjab, the farmers’ income produced
an increase of about 195 per cent during 1979-80, but the increase in the
income of farm labourers could rise only up to 114 per cent during the
corresponding period (Arora, 1987). It has widened the economic gap in
the rural areas, which will have its own impact on the socio-economic
stratification of the rural society. The higher risk-bearing capacity of large
farmers, their greater political power, and control over the developmental
resources and agencies have provided them access to credit and input
supply systems, while the farmers with relatively limited economic
capacity languish behind.
With the advent of the Green Revolution increasing economic returns,
the farmers have been encouraged to enlarge their holdings, either by
purchase or encroachment on to the common lands, reclaiming the sub-
standard areas, or clearing the fruit plantations adjacent to the towns or
cities. This tendency is widely prevalent in agriculturally rich areas.
Particularly cutting of fruit plantations around the settlements has made
them devoid of their traditional green belts. New plantations of dwarf
species giving fruits early are of very restrictive utility for green belt
purposes. Track gardening around the urban centres has also now become
a most potent factor for clearing of the plantations.
Fast growth of towns and cities has also adversely influenced the fruit
plantations on the outer periphery of the old parts of the towns and cities,
both for agricultural and colonization purposes.
Notable changes have been recorded in agriculture after the Green
Revolution. Agricultural labour is one of such fields that have recorded
notable changes. It has also influenced the occupational structure due to
the increased productivity, mechanization, and replacement of traditional
farm techniques with modern methods. Certain types of agriculture have
become labour intensive and produced a unique labour cycle. Local
labourers have migrated to the cities and towns in the neighbourhood for
more remunerative jobs, small business, or self-employment, keeping the
residence in villages. All this had resulted in a wide gap in labour
availability and requirements.
Consequently migration of labour from distant areas increased. Factors
of the cropping pattern and its nature also affected the supply of labour.
Rice cultivation in the Punjab area has increased at a very fast rate, and it
has penetrated to totally new and non-traditional areas even in southern
Punjab. But the local cultivator is not conversant with its cultivation. So
18 Chapter I

the required labour comes from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, eastern
Madhya Pradesh and parts of Orissa. According to an estimate, such a
labour force for crop-husbandry may vary from four to six lakh people
(Grewal, 1988).
Local labour joins this work only during the peak season of sowing and
harvesting when the wages are at the maximum in the year. Thus the
traditional labour-farmer relations have changed from Jajimani relations to
financial relations on a contractual basis. In some aspects of agriculture,
mechanization has also affected the labour negatively, resulting in the
need for labour for various farm jobs, which were previously done
manually, causing unemployment. Growing unemployment in rural areas
will have its own socio-economic consequences.
The Green Revolution has caused a serious disturbance in the cropping
pattern in its sprawl. The traditional crop rotation was soil fertility
conserving and enriching.
Fertility recharges are essential to get better yields during the next crop.
But in the new crop rotation, one soil-exhausting crop is followed by
another soil-exhausting crop, with no intervening period of rest and
fertility recharge for the soil.
Introduction of new factors in the agrarian landscape in under-
developed areas sometimes produces unique and unprecedented results.
The introduction of canal irrigation into previously dry areas has produced
such noticeable changes in various parts. It has even become the ultimate
cause of out-migration and large scale land transactions, because the
farming communities of the areas were not aware of the irrigational know-
how, which attracted people from irrigated areas. Land transition rendered
local people landless labourers. Later it became the cause of social
tensions and rising economic disparities, which disturbed the special fabric
in a peaceful society.
Singh (1974) propounded that though the term Green Revolution has a
global acceptance in academic parlance and social recognition, in the
Indian context, as per Singh (1974),the Green Revolution term conjures in
the minds of many people a vision of agricultural prosperity, which is not
in consonance with the reality (Singh, 1974). Dantawala (1987) reasoned
that the Green Revolution was not spread in all types of agro-climatic
regions, and further he exemplified that, in the context of attaining food
self-sufficiency, less than 15 per cent of the area under food grains in the
country (mostly in the GR belt) has contributed as much 56 per cent of the
increase in food grain production in the post-Green Revolution period.
As per Surendra Singh (1992), the Green Revolution in India has
changed the traditional subsistence farming system to a market-oriented
 Introduction 19

production system. It resulted in multi-facet socio-economic changes in

rural areas. The concept of increasing returns per unit of area and per unit
of time is the basic consideration. The traditional native farming
technology was replaced in the Green Revolution areas in the country,
which has been instrumental in some structural changes in the agrarian set-
up.
The technological inputs, in the form of tractors and associated
implements, tube wells and pumping sets, electricity, threshing and
winnowing machines, along with combine harvesters etc. have resulted in
positive gains everywhere. Associated biological, chemical, and water
technology led to a continuously increasing volume of harvest. Structural
change in the agrarian sector encompasses a cross-section of inputs and
outputs closely related to various types of farming. Consequently the
resultant influence will be different in various areas. These changes have
also brought a pattern of crop specialization in India because the
infrastructural development proved favourable for particular types of crops,
while restrictive for others, e.g. regular growth irrigational facilities have
restricted the growth of dry farming crops.
Green Revolution Technology, according to Himmat Singh (2001),
paved the way for a new development in Punjab; it eliminated the
‘Jajimani’ system, and the ‘Sefi’ and ‘Begar’ systems, which involved
servitude. The demand for new skills and labour led to the breakdown of
caste-based occupations and encouraged inter- and intra-generational
mobility. There was a real increase in wages and work opportunities for
the labour class. It brought a new system of wage labour, like contract
work, that grew in importance due to new agricultural technologies
leading to better terms, more work for women and less child labour.
According to Himmant Singh (2001), new technology has benefited small
and marginal farmers.
According to Bhalla and Chadha (1983) the impact of Green
Revolution technology in Punjab not only led to accentuation of inequalities,
but also resulted in perpetuation of poverty and destitution. According to
them, any capital-intensive technological change, by its very nature, was
bound to benefit only the upper strata of peasantry and may lead to an
accentuation of tensions in the countryside.
Some of the technological change may have direct consequences; other
changes may not be directly caused by technological factors, and they may
have indirect consequences. The acceptance of a few innovations may not
always bring in considerable social change, but the social change could be
a cumulative effect of many innovations (Nicol Russell, 1978).
20 Chapter I

Development of production and productivity has resulted in demand

for the creation of certain amenities in rural areas, like drinking water,
surfaced roads, transport services, health and sanitation facilities, regulated
markets, regular supply of electricity and further electrification, creation of
more storage facilities close to the villages, improved housing facilities,
educational facilities and local availability of consumer goods to avoid
unnecessary commutation.
Transfer of the cultivated land also testifies to the fact that, during the
period of the Green Revolution, the large farmers are increasing their real
assets while the marginal farmers are selling their small pieces of land and
moving to the urban areas in search of employment. Uprooting people who
were born and brought-up in a farmer’s family leads to psychological
depression and social tensions (Hussain, 1987).
Such changes in the socio-economic scenario in rural areas are also
leading to changes in other sectors, causing polarization of landless
labourers, marginal farmers, share-croppers, and labourers unemployed
due to the mechanization of agriculture. This polarization is becoming a
great danger to the peace and tranquillity in the rural society.
The potential to improve plant and animal productivity and their proper
use in agriculture relies largely on newly developed DNA biotechnology
and molecular markers. These techniques enable the selection of
successful genotypes, better isolation and cloning of favourable traits, and
the creation of transgenic organisms of importance to agriculture. Together,
these genetic techniques are both an extension and an integral part of
classical breeding, contributing successfully to shortening.

Limitations of Green Revolution Technology

David Tillman (1998) reasoned that, although the Green Revolution in
agriculture met the food needs of most of the world’s population, it paved
the way for contamination of groundwater, release of greenhouse gases,
loss of crop genetic diversity and eutrophication of rivers, streams, lakes
and coastal marine ecosystems (contamination by organic and inorganic
nutrients that cause oxygen depletion, spread of toxic species and changes
in the structure of aquatic food webs).
It also unclear whether high-intensity agriculture could be sustained
because of the loss of soil fertility, the erosion of soil, the increased
incidence of crop and livestock diseases, and the high energy and chemical
inputs associated with it. But, as per David Tillman, the hallmark of high-
intensity agriculture is its dependence on pesticides and chemical fertilizers,
especially those containing nitrogen. Since 1960 the worldwide rate of
 Introduction 21

application of nitrogen fertilizers has increased by several times, and now

exceeds 7 tonnes of nitrogen per year. In a nutshell, with the Green
Revolution, productivity reached a plateau; environmental hazards
increased and raised social inequalities. It is in this context that
biotechnology becomes an important technology for the improvement of
crops.

Biotechnology: Setting New Technological

and Social Agendas
Biotechnology is often hailed as the new ‘revolutionary’ science.
Undoubtedly, it has meant some very big changes in certain fields of
strategic and applied science, as well as ushering in new high-tech
biological products. Like any other technology, however, its impact and
direction reflect the interests of those making use of it and not some
asocial unfolding of an inevitable scientific path. Revolutions depend on
the interaction of human agency, and social structures and technological
revolutions are no exception. There is nothing necessarily revolutionary
about any technology; it depends on the way it is adapted by people in
specific social circumstances (Webster, 1991).
Moreover the apparent ‘novelty’ of biotechnology in the late 1970s can
also be overplayed, as, like any other field, it has depended on prior
developments in biology and biochemistry. At the same time, however,
simply because this is the case, we would be wrong to assume, for
example, that all biologists in the late 1960s would have considered
genetic engineering, the most significant biotechnology, a serious
proposition, and a do-able task. Some, such as Stent (1968), even believed
the heyday of molecular biology to have come and gone.

Biotechnology: Definitions
Biotechnology is broadly defined by the Congressional Office of
Technology Assessment (OTA, 1984) as “any technique that uses living
organisms (or parts of organisms) to make or modify products, to improve
plant or animals, or to develop microorganism for specific uses”. The
fermentation of beer, the making of cheese, and the baking of bread can all
be considered “biotechnological” processes, given the use they make of
yeasts.
Biotechnology is the application of biological methods or processes to
produce useful products. The ancient Egyptians were credited with the
invention of fermenting beer by using yeast. Several conventional
22 Chapter I

biotechnology processes and approaches, such as fermentation, are in use

in India. Indians have been making curds by using biological methods for
centuries. Biotechnology was in practice for ages to make fermented foods
and drinks.
Biotechnology is defined as the application of biological organisms,
systems, or processes, to manufacturing and service industries (John E.
Smith, 1988). Biotechnology is the use of living organisms and their
components in agriculture, food and other industrial processes (John E.
Smith, 1988). While agriculture is a source of livelihood for millions of
farmers, biotechnology inputs into it can enhance productivity, improve
quality of the produce, minimize adverse environmental impact, and
increase sustainability and income of the farmers. Today biotechnology
includes (a) fermentation techniques, (b) tissue culture, (c) embryo transfer,
(d) cloning, and (e) genetic engineering.
Modern Biotechnology became prominent after the invention of the
recombinant DNA in the Biochemistry Department of Stanford University
in 1972 by Paul Berg and Dale Kaiser (C. R. Bhatia, 2002). It was shown
that genetic material can be cut at specific sites by using the restriction
enzymes and these pieces can be cloned, spliced, transferred and expressed
in a heterogonous organism. This made it possible to transfer and express
genes into cells of other organisms. Genes can now be synthesized and
expressed in the desired organism. This is also called genetic engineering.

Plant Biotechnology: An Overview

Plants and their products have been necessary components of the material
base on which the complex structures of human societies have been raised,
historically, whatever the period and the mode of production.
Crop improvement is as old as agriculture itself, and the earliest
agriculturalists were engaged in a simple form of biotechnology. There is a
substantial amount of genetic diversity within species. And germ plasma—
the complement of genes that shapes the characteristics of an organism—
differs from individual to individual. Out of each year’s harvest, farmers
selected seed from those plants with the most desirable traits. Over
thousands of years the slow but steady accumulation of advantageous
genes produced more productive cultivars. Following the rediscovery in
1960 of Mendel’s work illuminating the hereditary transmission of traits,
this global process of simple mass selection was augmented by the
systematic “Crossing” of plants by scientists with the express purpose of
producing new varieties with specific characteristics.
 Introduction 23

The process of plant breeding can be thought of as “applied

evolutionary science”, because it encompasses all of the features of neo-
Darwinian evolution (Simmonds, 1983; 6). Plant breeders collect the
genetic material provided by nature and recombine it in accordance with
the parameters of speciation. In essence, they apply artificial selection to
naturally occurring variance in the DNA “message” characteristics of
different genotypes (Medawar, 1977).On this basis humanity has enjoyed
tremendous productive advances in plant agriculture (Kloppenburg, 1988).
But though modern breeding methods of considerable sophistication
have been developed for the recombination of plant genetic material, the
sense in which plant breeders can be said to have “made natural history” is
somewhat limited. Breeders have had to work within the natural limits
imposed by sexual compatibility. In their work, plant scientists have
rearranged a given genetic vocabulary, but they have not been able to
create new worlds or novel syntactical structures. As Marx might have
phrased it, we have not historically had the powers to alter “species being”.
That is, we have not had this capacity until very recently (Kloppenburg,
1988).
In Biotechnology, genetic engineering has far-reaching economic and
social implications upon agricultural production. We are now witnessing a
radical re-characterization of the nature of the link between the
“productive organs of man in society” and the productive organs of living
creatures. This profound advancement in the process of science and
technology could be expected to have broad and important effects on
social and economic relations in agricultural production.
Many observers of what is often perceived as a “bio revolution” have
emphasized the degree to which the global “bio future” will break with the
past (e.g., Hutton, 1978; McAuliffe and Mc Auliffe, 1981; Sylvester and
Klotz, 1983; Yoxen, 1983).
Kloppenburg (1988) pointed out that new technology’s objective is the
improvement of yield of agricultural productivity. And he said that plant
improvement took place in the historical context of capitalism. He argued
that agricultural plant sciences have, overtime, become increasingly
subordinated to capital, and that this on-going process has shaped both the
content of research and, necessarily, the character of its products. This is
not to say that capital has achieved complete domination of the sector.
Capital has encouraged a variety of barriers in its attempts to penetrate
plant breeding and make the seed a vehicle of accumulation. As per
Kloppenburg’s (1988) analysis, there is increasing subordination of
agricultural science to capital and its effect has been complex in social
structure.
24 Chapter I

Biotechnology and its Application in Horticulture

India is second in fruit and vegetable production in the world. However,
India’s share in the global export of horticultural commodities is negligible
due to low productivity, lack of infrastructural facilities, and inadequate
post-harvest management. The various wealth available in the country can
be exploited for production throughout the year. Biotechnology as a tool
offers great scope to remove many such impediments (Ghosh, 1999).
Intervention of biotechnology in horticulture promises a great potential
in increasing productivity, enhancing quality and shelf life of the produce,
and meeting the challenges posed by insect pests and diseases (Ghosh,
1991). Some genetically modified horticultural produce has reached the
market, establishing their commercial viability. Even in India, micro-
propagated banana, cardamom and certain ornamentals, available in large
numbers, are well received by the farmers.

Plant Tissue Culture Technology in Agriculture

Historically, farming communities have been selecting and sowing the
seeds from plants with beneficial characters, such as higher yield, better
nutrition and resistance to diseases and pests etc.; unknowingly, they have
been modifying the genetic make-up of plants and animals, albeit slowly.
The power of these practices was enhanced dramatically in the
twentieth century by the breakthroughs achieved in the basic science of
genetics, leading eventually to modern hybrid seed varieties for important
food crops such as maize and, by mid-century, to high yielding “Green
Revolution” seed varieties for wheat and rice. Today tissue culture is
extensively used in agriculture and horticulture. Genetic engineering has
potential for improving productivity, but it has become controversial
because of its implications for environment, morals, and ethics.
Micro-propagation is an important alternative to more conventional
methods of plant propagation. It involves production of plants from very
small plant parts (e.g. buds, nodes, leaf segments, root segments etc.),
grown aseptically (free from any microorganism) in a container where the
environment and nutrition can be controlled. The resulting plants are
genetically identical to parent plants.
It has been the most successful commercial application, and has a large
potential to meet the demand of high quality planting material in
horticulture, plantation and vegatatively propagated crops, forestry and
agro forestry. This technology can play a major role in rapid multiplication
 Introduction 25

of elite planting material, and in providing clean, disease-free material of

vegatatively-propagated crops.
Plant tissue culture technology has introduced a new phase into plant
multiplication, and is being increasingly utilized in plant breeding. Many
horticultural important plant species are difficult or impossible to
manipulate by conventional propagation and breeding programmes.
Consequently, propagators and breeders seeking more effective methodologies
employ tissue culture technology, with the goal of enhanced production of
improved ornamental plants. Plant tissue culture is an increasingly
important aspect of plant biotechnology and has introduced an exciting
new phase into plant multiplication and breeding.
By experimental methods, isolated cells and tissue can be grown in the
laboratory, under aseptic conditions, subjected to various biotechnological
manipulations. Because of their tot potency, they can be stimulated to
undergo regeneration into whole plants.
The concept of improving plants by tissue culture methods is not new.
Steward (1970), with his characteristic forward vision for plant biology,
foresaw the development of micro-propagation systems and a ‘sort of
tissue culture genetics’, all of which would be based on the totipotency of
plant cells.
Later studies confirmed Steward’s vision of the use of this methodology
for the improvement and rapid multiplications of horticultural plants and
shrubs. Tissue culture has become commonplace and routinely used by
many commercial laboratories for the large-scale production of ornamental
plants, vegetables, fruit and some edible oils.
There are two distinct areas in which plant tissue culture methodology
is important for horticulturalists. The first includes situations where large-
scale multiplication and the Maristems of genetic stability are paramount.
This comprises the micro-propagation of plants, their improvement as a
result of pathogen elimination, and conservation in a stable form. The
second concerns situations in which spontaneous and induced variations
can be induced by modern cell biological methods. Both approaches,
however, rely on our ability to successfully control plant cell genesis and
to develop reliable cell to plant regeneration systems.

Tissue Culture in Horticulture Production

Today, Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) is one of the most commonly used
techniques of biotechnology in commercial propagation of horticultural
plants. PTC has been proved to be the most successful commercial
application of biotechnology for the following reasons:
26 Chapter I

x Large-Scale propagation of elite clones from hybrids or specific

parent lines is possible.
x A large number of plantlets can be obtained in very little time and
in a small space, starting from a single plant. This makes
propagation of temperate species possible throughout the year.
x Making plant material disease-free through eradication and also
maintaining plants in a virus-free state.

PTC applications have tremendous commercial prospects in case of

horticultural plant species, most of which are vegatatively propagated. A
large variety of high value horticultural plant species, ranging from
ornamental, to flower, plantation, and fruit, can be produced through PTC.
PTC represents a group of techniques comprising of the simplest micro-
propagation technique to the most sophisticated one of genetransfer.
However, the most popular application of PTC is micro-propagation.
The need for a healthy stock of plants and quality planting material is
of paramount importance for farmers, nurserymen, traders, seed producers
and exporters. Quality planting material can help farmers in increasing
yields, thus high economic returns.
Through pro-active policies of the state and central Government,
private entrepreneurs came forward in establishing PTC laboratories.
These laboratories, though they started as export-oriented units
concentrating on production and export of high value horticultural plants,
such as ornamentals and flower plants, to developed and western countries,
in recent years they have shifted their attention to the domestic market and
started producing plantlets, which were hitherto produced through
conventional propagation methods. The range of plant species produced
through PTC has increased significantly over the years; the plant portfolio
includes the plants shown below.
 Introduction 27

Table 1.2 Plant Portfolios of Plant Tissue Culture Nurseries

Product Category Plant Portfolio

Foliage Focus, Spathiphylim, Syngonium,
Ferns, etc.
Flowering Anthurium, Chrysanthemum,
Carnation, Gerber , Orchids,
Marigold, Rose , Kalaheo,
Saintpoulia etc.
Fruit Banana, Fig, Strawberry, Grapes, etc.
Vegetable Potato, Onion, Asparagus, etc.
Spices Turmeric, Ginger, Cardamom,
Vanilla, etc.
Plantation Sugarcane, Coffee, Teak, Paulowia,
Neem, Eucalyptus, Bamboo, etc.
Medicinal Liquorice, etc.
Source: C. Raghava Reddy and E. Haribabu’s paper on ‘Biotechnology and the
industrialization of horticulture in India’ in Outlook on AGRICULTURE Vol. No.
3. 2002, pp. 187-192.

Tissue Culture Research in India

In India, the significance of the in vitro culture technique was realized
quite early by Professor P. Maheswari. He initiated investigation with
complex tissues such as ovary, ovule, and control of fertilization. The
initial exploratory work on these organs laid the foundation of several
achievements in plant cell, tissue and organ culture in India. During 1956
to 1966, attempts were initiated to culture the pollinated ovaries of Aerva
tormentors, Allium, Cepa, Althea rosea, Anethum graveolens, Foenciculum
Vulgae, Ityossameus, Niger, Iheris amoara, and Linaria maroceana.

Progress in Commercialization of Plant Tissue Culture

in India
In India, commercialization of agricultural biotechnology began in 1987
(Swaminathan, 1991), when various private sector organizations looked at
this technology as a means of increasing the productivity of their primary
produce or as a part of their diversification programme. These include the
A. V. Thomas Group Companies (AVT), Indo-American Hybrid Seeds
(IAHS), Hindustan Lever, Tata Tea, Uncorn Biotech, Nath Seeds, RPG
28 Chapter I

Enterprises, Indian Tobacco Company, Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company,

Hindustan Agrigenetics Ltd, and many others.
The first professionally managed commercial plant tissue culture in the
country was set up in 1987-88 by AVT, when the author was their
Research Director. This unit was set up in Cochin Export Processing Zone
and remained one of the largest in Asia and the only one of its kind in
India, until IAHS began production in its Bangalore based unit, which not
only has forty-eight laminar flow work stations, five US-class 100 growth
rooms, each accommodating 400, 000 cultures at one time, but also has a
greenhouse covering 30, 000 sq. feet (2790m sq.) With the most advanced
equipment, such as an automatic shade system, fogging, blackout,
irrigation systems, and movable benches for hardening of tissue culture
plants.
Both IAHS and AVT have exported millions of tissue culture plants to
Europe and released several hundred thousands of bananas and
cardamoms to farmers at home. According to Swami Nathan, during the
last 2 or 3 years, several corporate plant tissue culture laboratories have
commercialized at least two important crops-cardamom and banana - for
the domestic market, selling them at a price of Rs. 5 to Rs. 8 per plan table
seedling.
As Jiterndra Prakash (1991) described, laboratories book the orders at
least one year in advance with some down payment, and accept it only if
the order is at least for ten or twenty thousand plants. If the private sector
laboratories operate in any other way than described above, it is not
profitable to them (Swaminathan, 1991).
As per the observation made by Jitendra Prakash (1991), to take the
advantage of such plant tissue culture progress in India, a farmer must
have Rs. 50, 000, something small scale farmers do not have. Doubtless it
is the large scale farmer who will benefit from the current advances in
India. The priorities of the private sector laboratories have to be
commercial, not necessary national, although they may fall under national
priorities.
Jitendra Prakash propounded that, although we have achieved
considerable technical strength in plant tissue culture, the penetration of
such technology to the small scale farmers is absolutely essential
(Swaminathan, 1991).

Tissue Culture Technology in Banana Fruit Production

Micro-propagation through tissue culture has acquired commercial
significance owing to uniformity in crops, earliness, freeness from disease,
 Introduction 29

and high yields. The banana in India ranks fourth in terms of gross value
after paddy, wheat and milk, and is the largest fruit crop in terms of
production (Ganapathi et al.,1999).The majority of the edible bananas are
triploid and are propagated vegatatively by suckers. In addition to this,
sterility and polyploidy often hamper the breeding programmes for the
development of superior banana varieties.
Plant cell and tissue culture techniques have helped in the rapid
multiplication of elite varieties employing shoot tips or floral apices
(Ganapathy et al., 1999). As per Mohan and Ganapathi (1997), the banana
being propagated vegatatively by suckers has been seriously limited by its
low rate of multiplication. Several attempts have been made to increase the
number of suckers, but the rate of increase has only been marginal and
hence commercial production of planting material in some of the elite
varieties of banana has not succeeded. In recent years, tissue culture
propagation of the banana through shoot tips as well as floral apices has
been demonstrated successfully (Ganapathi and Mohan J. S. S., 1995).
The major limitation in employing tissue the culture technique on a
commercial scale is the high cost of production per plant compared to
suckers and the appearance of off-type plants in the progeny. Also, labour
and media constitute more than half the cost of tissue culture operations
(Ganapathi and Mohan et al., 1995).

Biotechnology in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is endowed with rich bio-resources. There are 7 agro-
climatic zones across the state, with 19 major food and commercial crops
grown in different parts of the state.
There are more than 5000species of flowering trees. About 40 percent
of the land is utilized for agriculture, and 23 percent of the land is covered
by forests in the state. Agriculture is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh
economy. The sector contributes over a third of the state’s GSDP and
provides a livelihood for over 70% of its population. It is one of the top
three rice-producing states in the country and accounts for about 12% of
the nation’s rice production. The state has a strong base in horticulture,
producing a variety of cardamoms, fruits and vegetables, such as mangoes,
citrus fruits, grapes, custard apples, and bananas. In fact, Andhra Pradesh
is the second largest producer of fruits in India and one of the largest
vegetable producing states in the country. Thus, abundant and diverse
agriculture and forests are the wealth of the state; large marine resources
and cattle populations provide tremendous opportunities for the development
of the biotech industry.
30 Chapter I

In Agri-biotech, tissue culture for food crops and ornamental plants has
been taken up in several parts of the state with considerable success. There
are about half a dozen agri-biotech companies doing flourishing business
in this sector in the state.
Andhra Pradesh has several pioneers in the Biotech industry, such as
Shanta Bio techniques Pvt. Ltd., Bharat Biotech International Ltd.,
Biological E. Ltd, Indian Immunological Ltd, Krebs Biochemical’s,
Jupiter Orga, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (India) Ltd, Bio tissues Pvt. Ltd,
Fortune Biotech Ltd, etc.(Andhra Pradesh Biotechnology policy, 2001).
In Andhra Pradesh, Agriculture Biotechnology will be given a thrust in
the districts of Gunter, Krishna, West Godavari and east Godavari using
the facilities available at the Larm Farm in the Günter District, Marutur
Farm (for rice research) and Kovvur Research centre (for vegetables,
tubers, and bananas) in the West Godavari district.
In Andhra Pradesh, the vision 2020 programme also identified the
significance of biotechnology, and it will be used to enhance production
and productivity.

Plant Tissue Culture Method in Banana Production

In this method, explants are selected from a disease-free mat; after initial
treatment, it is cultured under controlled conditions wherein it proliferates
and roots with 8 weeks. Rooted plants are banded in three stages before
planting in the field. Sword sucker is the best source material. A healthy,
free sucker of an elite mother plant is chosen after it is indexed for BBTV
and BSV virus by biological or molecular tests.
Mohammed Jaffar (2003) suggested that banana propagation through
tissue culture was made popular in the District for its guaranteed increase
in productivity.

Banana Tissue Culture Technology in Andhra Pradesh

Plant Cell and Tissue technology will be used to develop horticulture in
the State with a focus on clonal propagation, disease elimination,
germplasm exchange, gene transfer by wide hybridization, molecular
genetic engineering, and variant selection including some clonally
variation; initially, the new techniques will be applied to crops such as
mango, banana, citrus and turmeric and to some ornamental crops.
Currently in Andhra Pradesh, in almost all districts, banana tissue
culture products are under cultivation. The main areas are Pullivendula in
Cuddapah District in the Rayalaseema Region, Medak and Rangareddi
 Introduction 31

Districts in the Telangana Region and West Godavari District in the

Coastal Andhra Region are extensively cultivated as per known
information.
Conventionally, edible bananas (Musa sp.) are propagated by suckers,
since most of the cultivars are seedless. This propagation is seriously
limited by its slow multiplication rate as well as clonally
degradation/degeneration. Since virtually all of the edible clones are
parthenoncarpic, and for all practical purposes seedless or seed sterile,
multiplication must be vegetative. Although in bananas the conventional
method of vegetative propagation has commercial acceptability, to ensure
an extremely rapid rate of multiplication, the tissue culture technique has a
definite and indispensable advantage over the conventional method. This
technique is independent of season due to controlled conditions and
requires limited quantity of plant tissue as the explants sources
(Madhumita, Vijay Joshi, 1998).
According to Jacob George and Ravishanker (1996) Plant Tissue
Culture products are estimated to have a potential market of 15 billion US
dollars per year worldwide. As per Mohamed Jaffer’s observation (2003),
banana propagation through tissue culture became popular in the ‘Theni’
District in Tamilnadu, for its guaranteed increase in productivity.
Micro-propagation through the tissue culture has acquired commercial
significance owing to uniformity in banana crops, earliness, freeness from
diseases, and high yield. In this method, explants are selected from disease
free mat; after initial treatment, it is cultured under controlled condition
wherein it proliferates and roots with 8 weeks. Rooted plants are banded in
three stages before planting in the field. Sword sucker is the best source
material. A healthy, free sucker of an elite mother plant is chosen after it is
indexed for BBTV (Banana Bunchy Top Virus) and BSV (Banana
Sigatoka Virus) by biological or molecular tests.
Advantages of micro-propagated platelets are: pathogen free plant
material, such asfusarium wilt, banana bunchy top, etc.; more uniformity
in stature, with high vigour; plantation comes once over harvest; and20-30
per cent higher yields than conventional material. With drip irrigation and
use of liquid fertilizer tissue culture, plants are becoming acceptable, as
expenditure on planting material is compensated in terms of better returns.
Of all the above-mentioned crops, the banana is the most widely
produced plant cultivated through micro-propagation. In India almost all
PTC laboratories are concentrating on banana crops and producing a large
number of plantlets. In India, bananas are grown on an area of nearly 240,
000 ha, with an annual production of approximately 3.7 million tonnes.
Conventionally, the banana is propagated by vegetative means through
32 Chapter I

suckers and the annual requirement was estimated at400 million

(Viswanthan, 1990).
Through tissue culture, disease-free cultures of selected high yielding
mother clones are raised and multiplied for transfer to the field. The
average yields of commonly grown varieties of banana were estimated to
be 12-14 kg per plant, whereas tissue culture raised plantlets were reported
to have given an average yield of 20-25 kg per plant (Mehra, 1994). It is
projected by PTC laboratories that yield up to 30 kg per plant is possible
with micro-propagated banana plantlet cultivation. However, according to
the literature circulated by the PTC laboratories and of horticultural
experts, the package of practices of cultivation of micro-propagated
bananas is significantly different from that of conventionally propagated
ones.

Micro-propagated plantlets are sensitive to weather in the initial stage of

establishment and to water and nutrients in the later stages. Ensuring
proper and timely irrigation and nutrient or fertilizer supply is an essential
requirement in the cultivation of micro-propagated banana plantlets in
order to achieve the specified yields. Thus, a farmer who cultivates micro-
propagated bananas must be aware of these prerequisites associated with
cultivation practices. It may be observed that the Green Revolution
technology encapsulated a battery of practices and techniques concerning
irrigation, chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and etc. Similar components are
also required for the application of the PTC; in addition, awareness and
economic resources are required for adoption of the PTC.
Presently there are no studies concerning a) accessibility of micro-
propagated seed/plantlets, and b) background of farmers who are involved
in the cultivation of micro-propagated plants. The available literature also
does not indicate that there have been any attempts to study cultivation of
other micro-propagated plants, such as tea, coffee, etc.
In Andhra Pradesh, the banana is a traditionally cultivated crop in all
regions. Farmers engaged in the cultivation of the banana have been
procuring the planting material, i.e. suckers, from nurserymen or fellow
farmers. Earlier, there was no other alternative available to the farmers
than conventionally propagated suckers.
However, tissue culture laboratories, in recent times, have been
offering suckers developed through micro-propagation to the farmer.
These laboratories claim that the micro-propagated plants are superior in
terms of quality, and thus are assured of higher yields. The laboratories
also assist farmers in adopting the new package of practices associated
with incorporated plantlets.
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of "Strictly
Business"
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and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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Title: "Strictly Business"

Author: F. Morton Howard

Release date: June 21, 2022 [eBook #68366]

Language: English

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "STRICTLY

BUSINESS" ***
This etext was transcribed by Les Bowler.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

HAPPY RASCALS

“A book such as this restores the hope that the spirit of humor
has not wholly perished from the earth.”

—Philadelphia Ledger.

“Any reader who designs to have a most enjoyable time is

urged to get hold of ‘Happy Rascals’.”

—The New York Times.

“A solid chunk of entertainment from cover to cover.”

—The Literary Review, New York Evening Post.

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

“STRICTLY BUSINESS”

BY
F. MORTON HOWARD
Author of “Happy Rascals,” etc.
 NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
681 Fifth Avenue

Copyright, 1923
By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

TO
David Whitelaw
 CONTENTS

EPISODE PAGE

I. “Strictly Business” 1
II. A Watching Brief 27
III. Circumstantial Evidence 53
IV. Black Cats are Always Lucky 75
V. A Matter of Advertisement 101
VI. “All’s Fair—” 124
VII. Hidden Treasure 144
VIII. A Special Performance 167
IX. The Green Eyes of the Little Birmingham God 192
X. The Girl He Left Behind Him 215
 EPISODE I
“STRICTLY BUSINESS”

In at least three inns, the landlords, on hearing the news, spoke

words of grave warning to their assistants. More than one
inexperienced tradesman, foolishly finding satisfaction in the tidings,
began to rummage eagerly among old accounts. In the local police-
station, the inspector instructed his subordinates to stand no
nonsense. And the harbour-master removed his rabbits from outside
his kitchen door to an apartment at the top of the house.
The “Jane Gladys,” after long absence, was back again in her home
port.
Doomed to pleasant disappointment, however, were such good folks
of Shorehaven as anticipated any spectacular ill-conduct that
evening on the part of the returned crew. Before the rope fender of
the despicable “Jane Gladys” had rubbed the sides of the quay for
five minutes, an atmosphere of heavy gloom had settled upon the
hardy mariners who peopled her, and this though they had arrived in
port in the best of spirits, and were, moreover, furnished with several
half-formulated plans of campaign which only awaited the inspiration
of environment to touch success in the form of financial or liquid
bonuses.
For the harbour-master, ever ready to placate the “Jane Gladys,”
was waiting on the quay for her with such correspondence as had
come addressed to her in her absence. And Captain Peter Putt,
taking his mail and sorting through it perfunctorily, found his attention
arrested by an envelope imperatively marked “Urgent.”
Ripping it open, he glanced rapidly through the missive it contained.
This done, he pushed his cap to the back of his head with a helpless
gesture, blowing stertorously, and then read the letter for a second
time.
After that, he stared about the vessel for some while, blinking
incredulously. At last, with a comprehensive sweep of his arm, he
summoned his crew about him. Leaving their labours to be
completed by indignant hands on the quay, they gathered round the
plump little form of Captain Dutt.
“Boys,” announced the skipper, simply, “the show’s bust!”
There was a startled, perplexed silence, and then the voice of Mr.
Joseph Tridge rose aggrievedly.
“What ’ave they been finding out about us now?” he wanted to
know. “Some folks is never ’appy without they’re trying to make
mischief. What are we supposed to ’ave done wrong now, eh?”
“It can’t be that chap we sold the fish to in Starcross,” declared Mr.
Horace Dobb, the cook. “Because I saw ’im the night before we left,
and ’e never said a word about it to me. Kept ’is ’ead turned stiff the
other way all the time, in fact.”
“There was that chap in Teignmouth,” recalled the aged Mr. Samuel
Clark, uncomfortably. “You know, what we sold the—the tobaccer
to.”
“’Im?” returned Horace, the cook, with scorn. “’E ’asn’t got a leg to
stand on. I never told ’im it was smuggled tobaccer, did I? I simply
said it was stuff that ’adn’t paid duty. No more it ’ad! Serves ’im right
for jumping to conclusions, just because a sailorman’s carrying a
parcel on a dark night!”
“Yes, boys,” said the skipper, with a long, quivering sigh, as one
awakening to cold reality from a happy dream, “it’s all over! All over!
Itchybod!” he remarked, with sad satisfaction in finding the word.
“Itchybod, that’s it!”
“And ’oo’s ’e?” truculently demanded Mr. Tridge. “What’s ’e got to
say against us? Why, I’ll take my oath I ain’t ever even ’eard of ’im
before!”
“It ain’t a ’im,” explained the skipper. “It’s a bit of clarsical learning
I’ve picked up in Latin, and it means ‘the game’s up.’ Boys, prepare
for the worst!”
“Which of us?” asked Mr. Horace Dobb, not without apprehension.
“All of us!” replied the skipper. “Our owner’s giving up business, and
’e’s goin to sell all ’is ships!”
Again there was a hush, and then, from the hinder spaces of this
period of shock, there crept forth the voice of Mr. Horace Dobb, the
cook, attuned to a sweet reasonableness.
“We’ll be all right,” he contended. “Just as if anybody would ever buy
the old ‘Jane Gladys’!”
“Except,” slowly said Mr. Clark, “to break ’er up!”
As some ill-omened sound in the still watches of the night may
paralyze its hearers into a cold, suffocating inaction, so did the grisly
words of Mr. Clark bring his companions to silent, wide-eyed
consternation. The debonair Mr. Peter Lock was the first to recover,
but, though he roundly stigmatized Mr. Clark as being a gloomy old
horror, there was no elasticity in his tone, and his effort to exhibit
unconcern by lighting a cigarette was marred by the manifest
shaking of his fingers.
“Well, there it is, boys,” presently said the skipper, with an
unconvincing attempt at briskness. “It’s as much a surprise to me as
it is to you. For myself, I shan’t go to sea again after the next trip.
The owner’s fixing me up a bit of a pension. And as for you chaps
well, if you’ll take my advice, you’ll start looking round for fresh jobs
without delay.”
“And they’ll take some finding,” stated Mr. Horace Dobb. “’Oo is
likely to engage us off the ‘Jane Gladys’ I’d like to know?” he asked
the skipper, with some indignation.
“Some’ow the fact that we’ve sailed on the ‘Jane Gladys’ doesn’t
seem to be a recommendation,” mentioned Mr. Clark, regretfully.
“Contrariwise!” said Mr. Tridge, tersely.
“She might be bought up and repaired and repainted and refitted,”
ventured Captain Butt, but with no great hope.
“’Er new owners would never keep us on, though,” frankly opined Mr.
Tridge. “They’ll ’ave ’eard too much about us.”
“Ho, hindeed?” said Horace, loftily. “Well, in that case, I don’t know
as I’m anxious to sail under folks what listen to gossip.”
“Luckily, we’ve got a full week before we leaves ’ere again,”
remarked the skipper. “That’ll give you time to keep your ears open,
and, if any of you finds anything to suit you meantime, I shan’t stand
in the way of you leaving when you want to. And it’ll be about two
months before the ‘Jane Gladys’ is put up for auction, so you’ll ’ave
plenty of time to go on looking round.”
“And so we shall after them two months,” dismally foretold Mr.
Samuel Clark. “When first I come on this boat, twenty-seven years
ago,” he told the skipper, reproachfully, “I was given to understand it
was a permanent job. If I’d known—”
“Well, there it is,” said Captain Dutt, again rather lamely, “and it can’t
be helped.”
He waited a little while, uncomfortably conscious of the unhappy
visages of his crew. Then, with symptoms of commendable emotion,
he scuttled to his cabin. The mate, hitherto silent, addressed to the
crew a few words of sympathy with himself, and followed his
superior.
The four sailormen of the “Jane Gladys,” bleakly regarding each
other, expressed their feelings in this crisis in a sort of forceful,
rumbling fugue. This done, they sulkily retired to their bunks, to lie
down and meditate over the impending upheaval in their affairs.
But before long Mr. Clark began to snore challengingly, while Mr.
Lock sought distraction of mind by rising and performing a number of
arias on his melodeon, whereat Mr. Tridge, a slave to music, sat up
and joined his voice to the harmony in a melancholy wail which he
called “tenor.”
Mr. Horace Dobb, the cook, was a man of temperament, and he
found himself keenly resenting these encroachments on his
ruminations. A person who openly plumed himself on the
possession of superior brain power, he now desired opportunity to
explore this gift to the fullest. Also, he had in his pocket a shilling
which he preferred to spend privily, rather than in the company of Mr.
Clark, who had but ninepence, or of Mr. Lock, whose sole wealth
was fourpence, or of Mr. Tridge, who had nothing at all.
Wherefore, then, Mr. Horace Dobb, crying aloud his utmost
annoyance at this disturbal of his peace, bounced from his bunk and
repaired to the bar-parlour of the “Jolly Sailors,” a discreet inn on the
quayside which gave promise of being an excellent refuge where a
man, equipped with a shilling, and an anxiety about an unsettled
future, might commune comfortably with his thoughts.
In this sanctuary the cook of the “Jane Gladys” remained for some
while, with his cogitations becoming lighter and lighter in texture with
every lift of his glass, till presently he had reverted to the normal, and
was once again looking on the world as nothing more formidable
than a vast territory bristling with chances for a quick-witted sea-cook
to grasp.
And, therefore, when the door opened to admit Captain Simon
Gooster, of the “Alert,” it was but natural that Horace’s bouyant
imagination should present to him the bulky figure of the new-comer
as not being alone, but as stalking in arm-in-arm with smiling
Opportunity.
“Evening, sir,” said Horace, very respectfully. Captain Gooster
nodded, glanced at the measure which Horace had hastily emptied,
and then, disappointedly, glanced away again. Mr. Dobb ventured to
commend the weather, to which Captain Gooster responded,
absently, and, indeed, somewhat fretfully.
Horace at once conceded that doubtless Captain Gooster was right,
but the skipper of the “Alert,” passing on, selected a seat in a remote
corner and there posed unsociably.
Mr. Dobb, dissembling his irritation, entered into casual talk with
another patron, who, it transpired, had a precocious child at home,
an infant whose sallies so diverted Mr. Dobb that soon his glass was
being refilled for him by order of the gratified parent. Immediately
after, Horace’s interest in the prodigy seemed suddenly to wane,
though this was due less to thankfulness than to the fact that he had
perceived Captain Gooster to be looking at him in a concentrated
and speculative manner.
The captain’s stare fascinated Horace, and continually his eyes
roved back to the skipper of the “Alert,” and each time he accorded
Captain Gooster a more ingratiating leer on meeting his gaze. At
last Captain Gooster beckoned authoritatively and patted the empty
chair beside him, whereat Mr. Dobb readily sprang to his feet and
took the indicated place, leaving the sire of the infant prodigy
indignantly helpless in the very middle of a family anecdote.
“You’re the cook of the ‘Jane Gladys,’ ain’t you?” opened Captain
Gooster.
“At present, sir,” said Mr. Dobb.
“I’ve ’eard about you,” remarked Captain Gooster.
“I dare say you ’ave, sir,” guardedly returned Mr. Dobb.
“You’re the one they call ’Orace,” continued the other.
“Mostly, sir,” agreed Mr. Dobb.
“Mind you, I ain’t the kind of man ’oo’s fool enough to believe all he
hears,” said the skipper of the “Alert.”
“Thank you, sir,” replied Horace, gratefully.
“I’ve ’eard Cap’n Putt say you’re a real smart, sharp, clever chap.”
“Ah, well, of course ’e does know what ’e’s talking about, sir,”
observed Horace, with the air of one making a concession.
“I’ve ’eard old Peter Dutt keep on by the hour about your cleverness
and artfulness,” said Captain Gooster. “’E swears you’re a wonder,
and, if ’alf ’e says about you is true, so you are.”
Mr. Dobb, nodding his head, modestly refrained from speech.
Captain Gooster, as though he had satisfactorily disposed of all
preliminaries, sat back and stroked his chin in thought for some
moments.
“I’m glad I came across you to-night, ’Orace,” he said, at length. “A
man with a ’ead-piece—that’s what I’m looking for.”
“Well, that is lucky!” declared Horace. “I’m looking out for another
job and the ‘Alert’ would just suit me.”
“Yes, I ’eard about the ‘Jane Gladys,’” said Captain Gooster, slowly.
“But I wasn’t looking out for a man for my crew. It’s just a private
matter. You ’elp me, if you can, and as far as a pint or two goes—”
“You’ll excuse me, sir,” interrupted Mr. Dobb, with dignity, “but brain
work ain’t bought with pints, nor quarts, neither. I’m looking for a job,
not a evening out.”
“Well, we’ll see,” temporized the master of the “Alert.” “If you needs
a job and does me a good turn, I ain’t the man to forget it.”
“Thank you, sir; and a gentleman’s word is good enough for me!”
stated Mr. Dobb, profusely. “And you won’t ever regret taking me on
the ‘Alert.’ And I can start this week with you, if you like.”
“Steady!” begged the startled captain. “Why, you ain’t even ’eard
what the trouble is yet.”
“I’ll soon settle it, sir, whatever it is,” vaunted Horace. “Just you tell
me about it, and leave the rest to me.”
“Well, then,” said Captain Gooster, confidentially, “to begin with, you
must know I’m a widower.”
“Ah, I see! You’ve been a-carrying on,” diagnosed the cook,
cheerfully. “Well, we’ll soon choke ’er off. I reckon, on the ‘Alert,’
you ought to pay me—”
“A widower!” repeated Captain Gooster, frowning at Mr. Dobb’s
precipitancy. “And I don’t mind confessing to you that I was
disappointed in my marriage. You see, I married for love.”
“Oh, well—” commented Horace, shrugging his shoulders.
“And she married me for my money.”
“Ah, women’ll do anything for money,” said Mr. Dobb.
Captain Gooster, sitting suddenly erect, dissected the observation in
silence.
“I can see what a disappointment it must ’ave been for both of you,”
continued Horace. “’Owever, let’s ’ope you ’ave better luck next
time, sir.”
“I mean to!” asserted Captain Gooster. “Marrying for love is a snare
and a sham and a deloosion. I’ve learned wisdom. ‘Strictly
business!’ that’s my motter in future.”
“And it ain’t a bad motter, neither, sir,” approved Mr. Dobb,
thoughtfully. “Strictly business!” he repeated, nodding his head over
it. “It’s a jolly good motter.”
“Yes, and next time,” went on Captain Gooster, “I marries for money.
And I may add, what’s more, that I’ve got my eye on a certain lady
already.”
“’As she got ’er eye on you, though?” queried Horace, sagely.
“She ’as. In fact, not to beat about the bush, both of ’em ’as!”
“Both of ’em?” queried Horace.
“There’s two parties,” explained the master of the ‘Alert.’ “I’m
keeping my eye upon both of ’em.”
“Once I ’ad my eye on two parties at the same time,” recalled Mr.
Dobb. “One day they got introduced to each other. And I went ’ome
in a cab.”
“My two ’ave known each other all their lives.”
“Well, they won’t go on knowing each other much longer,” acutely
prophesied Mr. Dobb.
“And they lives together in the same ’ouse.”
“If you’ll excuse me saying so,” observed Horace, civilly, “you’ve got
a dashed sight more pluck than sense. Two in the some town is bad
enough for the ’eart, with all the excitement you get in turning a
corner when you’re out with one of ’em. But two in the same ’ouse
—”
“It’s mother and daughter, you see,” elucidated Captain Gooster.
“Goffley is the name. Mrs. Goffley is a widow, and Ann’s ’er
daughter. They live in Shorehaven ’ere.”
“First I’ve ’eard of ’em,” said Horace.
“Ah, they’re new-comers. They bought that little second-’and shop
what Meyers used to keep at the corner of Fore Street. A snug little
business. It only wants a man be’ind it, and it’ll be a little copper-
mine.”
“And you’ve chosen yourself to be the man be’ind it? Good luck to
you, sir!”
“What with my little bit saved up, and my job on the ‘Alert,’ and the
little shop earning profits at ’ome, I shan’t be doing so badly for my
old age,” stated Captain Gooster, complacently. “But there’s just one
little drawback—I shall ’ave to marry one of them two females, and
each time I imagine myself married to one, I finds myself wishing it
’ad been the other. You’ve only to see ’em both, and you’d
understand.”
“Well, which of ’em’s got the money?” asked Mr. Dobb. “That ought
to settle the question easy enough.”
“That’s just the trouble. I can’t find out for certain which of ’em ’as
got the cash. I’ve ’eard rumours that old Goffley left all ’is money to
’is daughter, with instructions to ’er to look after ’er ma. And then I’ve
’eard rumours that ’e’s left everything to ’is wife, with instructions to
look after ’er daughter. Far as I can see,” disconsolately ended
Captain Gooster, “whichever of them females I marries, I shall
always ’ave the other as a burden round my neck.”
“Which of ’em gives all the orders?” inquired Mr. Dobb. “’Oo is the
boss of the two?”
“They both bosses,” returned the skipper of the “Alert.” “And they
both tries to boss each other, most independent. That’s what makes
it so difficult. I’ve tried all ways to find out which is the one I ought to
make up to, but I can’t. And that’s where I want your ’elp.”
“I see,” said Horace, softly. “That’s what you’re going to give me a
job on the ‘Alert’ for, eh?”
“Well, you get this job settled satisfactory for me, and you won’t ’ave
no cause to complain,” promised Captain Gooster. “You be ’elpful to
me and you’ll be ’elpful to yourself.”
“Well, suppose you was to ask ’em straight out, sort of joking like,
which one of ’em ’ad got the money,” suggested Horace, but with no
great confidence.
“Tried that!” retorted Captain Gooster, curtly. “No good.”
“Which of ’em seemed most annoyed at the question?” asked Mr.
Dobb, shrewdly. “She’d be the one ’oo ’adn’t got any.”
“They neither of them said nothing. They just looked at me, and I
began to talk about the weather.”
Horace, leaning back, folded his arms and tightly closed his eyes.
Captain Gooster realizing that his companion was thus incubating
thought, forbore from offering further speech, but sat waiting in some
anxiety for demonstration of Mr. Dobb’s ingenuity.
“You’ll ’ave to take me up there and let me see ’em,” said Horace, at
length. “Introdooce me to ’em as the new cook you’re signing for the
‘Alert.’ That’ll be the truth, so it’ll be quite all right.”
“What? A skipper introdooce ’is new cook—”
“Well, if they seems surprised at all, you can tell ’em what a superior
young man I am really, and ’ow I’m an old friend of yours, and so on.
It’s the only way I can do anything—I must see ’em personal.
Suppose I was to start making inquiries off the neighbours, for
instance. The fat would soon be in the fire then, wouldn’t it?”
“Matter of fact,” confessed the skipper, with reserve, “there ’as been
more gossip about already than I care for.”
“Let me see ’em and keep my eyes open and ask a question ’ere
and there, most innocent, and I’ll find out the truth quick enough,”
boasted Mr. Dobb. “It won’t be too late to call on ’em to-night, will it?
Just about right, I should think; with luck, we ought to catch ’em just
at supper-time. You wait ’ere, and I’ll run back and tidy myself a bit.”
“All right. I should think that’s the best thing that can be done,” said
Captain Gooster, ambiguously.
Mr. Dobb took a swift departure to the “Jane Gladys,” finding an
empty fo’c’sle, and thus being able to garb himself for ceremony
without loss of time in answering questions. Returning to the “Jolly
Sailors,” his improved appearance won a grunt of approval from
Captain Gooster, and then, together, the two men repaired to their
objective in Fore Street.
They found Mrs. Goffley and her daughter amid the ordered
confusion of the little second-hand shop. Captain Gooster made
Horace known to the ladies as an old acquaintance unexpectedly
encountered in the town. Introductions thus achieved, the
gentlemen were hospitably conducted to partake of supper amid the
more congenial surroundings of the back parlour.
Mr. Dobb claimed but little prominence in the talk, and, indeed,
seemed bent on eliminating himself as far as possible from the
interest of his hostesses, and this was rendered the more easy for
him by the fact that both ladies appeared to concentrate their
attentions on the skipper of the “Alert.” Mr. Dobb, however, was
vigilant towards all that was going forward, and when once or twice
the ladies bickered, he plainly submitted every word of their spirited
utterance to the closest analysis.
And when at length they left the house, Horace had arrived at certain
deductions, which he hastened to lay before Captain Gooster.
“It’s the old gal what’s got the money,” he stated. “She done the
carving, for one thing. And, for another, it was ’er that put the coal
on the fire. Besides, I ask you, ain’t it only reason that ’er late
’usband would ’ave left ’er everything, knowing from the look of ’er
that she couldn’t ever really ’ope to get married again? No, I bet that
rumour you ’eard was right—’e’s left ’is money to ’is wife, with
instructions to look after ’er daughter. P’r’aps she’s to ’ave it after
the old gal’s popped off,” propounded Horace, delicately.
“Ah, but that’s just what I’m frightened of,” said Captain Gooster.
“Suppose I married the old lady, and one day she pegs out and the
daughter gets the lot? A nice return that ’ud be to me for all my
kindness, wouldn’t it?”
“But there’s nothing to prevent the old lady ’anding over the money
to ’er second ’usband while she’s alive, to speckylate with, is there?
And once it’s in your name—”
“’Orace, if I could only think ’alf as clear as you,” remarked Captain
Gooster, “I’d be driving my own carriage and pair by now!”
He halted, gazed back at the Goffley abode, and patently came to
decision.
“Wait ’ere for me,” he directed. “I’m going to strike while the iron is
hot. I’m going to propose to the old geezer now and get it over!”
He traced his way to the shop, knocked, and was admitted. Scarce
five minutes had elapsed ere he was again at Horace’s side.
Captain Gooster’s reply, in response to an interested question, took
the form of a fierce growl of wrath.
“What, she wouldn’t ’ave you?” asked Horace, in surprise.
“Oh, yes, she ’ad me right enough!” exclaimed Captain Gooster, with
extreme bitterness. “Oh, she’s ’ad me proper! And you’ll get a job
with me on the ‘Alert,’ I don’t think! Clever? Ha! Smart? Ha, ha!
Sharp? Oh, ha, ha, ha! Why, I believe your brains must be more
like a wool mat than anything else!”
“But if she’s accepted you—”
“Accepted me?” bellowed Captain Gooster, passionately. “She
jumped at me! Put ’er arms round my neck and made such a noise
a-kissing of me that ’er daughter come ’urrying in from the kitchen at
it! And Ann said it was ridic’lous, and Mrs. Goffley said it was love,
and Ann crinkled ’er nose sarcastic, and told ’er mother that I was
simply marrying ’er for ’er money, as any one could see.”
“There you are!” cried Mr. Dobb. “You picked the right one, anyway.”
“Wait a bit!” urged Captain Gooster. “Of course, I says at once that
I’m pained and ’urt by such a suggestion, and that of course I’m only
marrying Mrs. Goffley for love. ‘Sure?’ she asks, smiling at me in a
way what would ’ave been tantalizing in a young gal. ‘Positive
certain!’ says I. ‘Money,’ I says. ‘What’s money to me? I’ve got
plenty of my own!’ ‘There you are!’ she says to Ann. ‘Just as well
though, ain’t it?’ says Ann, with a sniff. ‘Because, you know, ma, you
ain’t got any money, ’ave you? It all belongs to me, don’t it?’”
Mr. Dobb, finding verbal comment inadequate, took off his cap and
shook his head helplessly.
“Well, when I ’eard that,” narrated Captain Gooster, “the room sort of
went round and round for a bit, and the next thing I knew was that I
was saying I must not keep you waiting here any longer. And, with
that, I stumbled over the mat and left the place. And as for you—”