[Abundance From India's Acres: Footage]

Cfa collection: John Nash Ott Collection
Notes: This film was made in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and sponsored by Madras Fertilizers, Ltd. Footage includes opening shots of farmers casting handfuls of seeds into paddy fields, oxen plowing fields and threshing out grain by tramping over it, farmers spreading harvested rice over roads to dry, shots of bamboo scaffolding (possibly related to construction for the Madras Fertilizer Plant), mobile soil testing laboratory workers setting up their station and analyzing samples, farmers carrying bundles of rice down the road, laborers operating a human-powered water pump, shots of roadside shrines, and concluding footage of several farmers carrying small bundles of rice balanced on their heads.; A soil testing laboratory program began in India in 1955. By 1970, 25 new laboratories were established to meet increasing demand, as well as 34 mobile soil testing vans which were introduced to better serve the needs of farmers located in remote areas.; In 1966, India's grain deficit was estimated between 15 and 22 million tons. By May of that year, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi helped push through Parliament a contentious deal (preceded by 17 months of negotiations) between the Indian government and the American Oil Company (AMOCO) to develop a 200,000-ton fertilizer plant which would operate by mid-1969 at a 700-acre site in Manila village 10 miles north of Madras, India. It was agreed upon that the Indian government would own 51% of Madras Fertilizers, Ltd. and AMOCO would own 49%, and AMOCO would also maintain managerial control during the first 10 years.
Sponsor: Madras Fertilizers Ltd.
Subjects: Rice; Farming; Farms; Food industry; Laboratories; Scientific equipment
Places: Asia > India
Cfa elements: 615 feet; 740 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/36470; https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/36471