February 1-March 8, 1961 Second Tour Begins: Consultations in London and Rome, First Meeting of Joint Planning Committee (JPC) Under Chairman [Prime Minister's Economic Adviser] Prasad, Grubbing for Planning Data, Gov. "Soapy" Williams' Visit

January 25. Met Sir Eric Tansley at the Nigerian Produce Marketing Board, London. He greeted me warmly. The cocoa price has dropped catastrophically by more than £30 a ton. The Nigerians had to reduce the price they paid to their farmers in the middle of the season for the first time since the system of Marketing Boards was introduced during the war. The Nigerians and Ghanaians had apparently decided to withdraw from the London cocoa market altogether, but the Nigerians gave it up after a few days when they found out that the Ghanaians were selling anyway. There is utter confusion. Tansley said they had no inkling from the agricultural statisticians that this year’s crop would be so big; and it looks as if future crops would continue to increase as the result, probably, of spraying in the past. This year Brazil had a bad crop. If next year the Brazilian crop is also normal, the price of cocoa will drop even more.