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Cereals and A gricultural Development.
90. The departure of Dr. Millspaugh might have upset the cereals collection
system, but it was arranged that the British officers of the cereals collection team
should remain at their posts and work as long as it was seen that the newly
appointed Persian officials refrained from interfering with or upsetting their
carefully prepared plans for the fixing of prices and the collection of the wheat-^
and barley due for harvesting in the summer of 1945.
91. At the end of March the stock of food-grains in the Tehran elevator
amounted to 36,000 tons of wheat and 22,000 tons of barley, enough for 221 days
for Tehran City, at the current rate of adulteration, which has been increased
from 7 per cent, to 10 per cent, of barley, while the total stock held by the Persian
Government was 251,241 tons of bread-grains, well distributed throughout the
country. ... -n •
92. It is forecasted that the excellent snow and rain this winter will give
a surplus of 30,000 ton§ of grain (20,000 tons of wheat and 10,000 tons of barley)
from the existing stocks and another 50,000 tons after the harvest. Enquiries are
being made of the Soviet Embassy as to whether they need any of it for Russia
before it is offered to the Middle East Supply Centre for other areas in which
food-grains are deficient. If, however, the threatened locust invasion (see below)
takes serious proportions, all this may have to be reconsidered.
93. At long last the Khuzistan Agricultural Society is to be wound up and.
a commission is at Hamid iah Farm for this purpose. As might have been
expected, the Persian Ministry of Finance seemingly went out of its way to do
the wrong thing by hoodwinking their American “ advisers” and by allowing
subordinate officials to make this liquidation as awkward as possible. The
incorrectness had to be pointed out to the Persian Minister of hinance and a
promise extracted that another emissary would be sent to complete the taking-over
from Lieutenant-Colonel E. W. C. Noel, C.I.E., D.S.O., who has been technical
manager for the past two years and more.
T ransport.
94. Following the removal of Dr. Millspaugh’s economic powers and the
reversion of executive control to Persians, Mr. Shields, Director of the Road
Transport Administration, also resigned. The Persians then tended to leave
most of the work in the hands of the British officers lent to the administration to
such an extent that the tendency had to be checked. So despite the change this
department has, on the whole, continued to work with less confusion than was
anticipated, largely because of the strenuous efforts of the British advisers. Tyre
stocks are low, but every endeavour is being made to ensure that the few available
are being distributed only to essential consumers. It has been decided to convert
three-quarters of the lorry chassis imported under the 1944 procurement
programme into buses, so that communications between the capital and provincial
towns may be improved.
95. The transport of oil, coal and cereals by road and the transport of goods
by rail proceeded satisfactorily.
Locust Control.
96. It appeared at the beginning of the quarter that the campaign of the
Locust Officer for Persia, as far as the desert or migratory locust was concerned,
was destined to be superfluous. However, in the early days of March Cairo
reported that flights could be expected to invade the Persian coast in the Gulf.
Indeed, by the middle of March several swarms in the ovipositing stage made their
appearance on the coast, and by the end of the quarter the locusts had infested
considerable areas of the coastal belt.
97. The success of the campaigns against the invasion is not yet
substantiated, and the position is viewed with considerable concern by the British,
Soviet and Persian authorities. The Bandar Abbas area, where a joint Anglo-
Persian effort is being made, is heavily infested with ovipositors and widespread
areas are reported to be covered with eggs and there is likelihood that these will
increase in magnitude. Khorramshahr area is also reported to have received an
attack, but the seriousness of the infestation has not been confirmed.
98. The Moroccan or non-migratory locust did not emulate the tardiness of
his travelling cousin. By February in the province of Shiraz, in the Fasa Jahrum
and Darab districts, 4,000 hectares were covered with eggs. Unfortunately, the
Persian authorities in the area were poorly equipped with transport, so the British
Locust Officer lent two of his trucks to assist in this campaign, which appeared
to be reasonably successful.