RAJKOT: Delayed and deficient rainfall has raised serious concern for the groundnut farmers in Saurashtra region as many of them are staring at crop failure if the monsoon doesn’t revive in the next four to five days.
Saurashtra is the largest producer of groundnut in the country with a harvest of nearly 32 lakh to 35 lakh tonnes.
This particular period is extremely crucial as it is that time when the crop requires more water. According to farmers, roots of plants penetrate deeper into the soil and therefore the water requirement is high.
The state government has announced releasing water from dams for irrigation, but groundnut farmers say it could be quite late for the crop.
Pravin Patodiya, a farmer in Jetpur said, “Not many farmers in Saurashtra have irrigation facilities. They are mostly dependent on rain. Water from the dam will take at least five days to reach us, but by then the crop will have failed.”
According to agriculture experts, groundnut plants require maximum water 45 days after sowing. At present, this is the second stage of growth and it takes around 90-120 days for yield. Barring the last 20 days, groundnut requires maximum water. Last year, farmers got good returns for groundnut because of high demand in China and this year too they were expecting handsome earnings, but the rain deficit might ruin their hopes.
Samir Shah, president of Gujarat state Edible Oils and Oil Seeds Association said, “The average yield per acre is around 400 kg, but if the rains play truant over the next four-five days, it would fall to just around 150kg-200 kg per acre. This means that the overall crop yield would be between 15 lakh to 18 lakh tons.”
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) procures groundnut at minimum support price (MSP) every year and sells the stock to oil millors in this season. Last year was exceptional as the farmers got better prices in the market than MSP. The oil millers are currently importing groundnut for crushing from Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
Kishor Viradiya, president of Saurashtra Oil Mills Association (SOMA) said, “Saurashtra’s land is most suitable for groundnut but the majority area under cultivation is heavily dependent upon monsoon as there is no proper irrigation network. Looking at the current rain figures, we are staring at huge crop failure. For crushing, we will have to depend upon the crop of Maharashtra, south Indian states and Rajasthan.”
Groundnut is cultivated in Junagadh, Amreli, Surendangar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar and Devhbhumi Dwarka districts.
