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| Rains, firm prices brighten castor sowing prospects in Gujarat |
| Kalpesh Damor / Mumbai/ Ahmedabad Jul 26, 2010, 00:31 IST |
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In the wake of monsoon lashing almost all the parts of Gujarat and record prices of castorseed, traders and farmers expect the area under castor to increase during ongoing Kharif season. Traders see castor acreage in the state rising by around 25 per cent this year.
Sowing of castor has begun in the state and the possibility of rise could be seen from the fact that the area under castor sowing is higher as compared to the same period last year.
As per the data provided by the agriculture department of the state, around 66000 hectares have been brought under castor crop as on date, which was nearly 49700 hectares same period in 2009.
"Castor sowing is expected to rise atleast by 25 per cent this Kharif season considering the higher prices and arrival of rains at a time when castor sowing is taken up," said Nilesh Shah, Ahmedabad-based leading castor expert and trader.
In past couple of days, rain god has smiled on North Gujarat, one of the major castor growing region in the state. This will help increase increase castor acreage as castor sowing starts in the first half of July.
Another major factor to push up castor sowing is record prices of the commodity. Increased demand of castor oil from China, Europe and other overseas markets has resulted into castor prices touching a record level of Rs 750 per 20 kg in various markets of Gujarat. The prices are currently hovering around Rs 710-725 per 20 kg in Ahmedabad.
Interestingly, spot prices of castor at present are higher than rapeseed/mustard, groundnut and cottonseed. "This will attract farmers to go for castor sowing," said another castor trader from the city.
As per the castor crop survey of The Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), total area under castor crop in Gujarat for the year 2009-10 stood at 4.37 lakh hectares, which was down by 3 per cent as compared to the corresponding year. Area under the crop had declined in all the major castor growing districts except Ahmedabad, Patan, Rajkot, Surendranagar and Vadodara.
However, the production during 2009-10 was one per cent higher due to better yield. The output hovered around 7.34 lakh tonnes. The growth was mainly seen in the districts such as Vadodara (28 per cent), Ahmedabad (24 per cent), Rajkot (19 per cent), Patan (16 per cent) and Sabarkantha (8 per cent).
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