This season, Gujarat farmers bet on cotton

Sowing for cotton done in 2.82 million hectares which is 104% average sowing area

Anticipating good returns, farmers in Gujarat have opted for cotton this year. As of August 4, cotton sowing had been completed across 2.82 million hectares (ha), 104 per cent of the average sowing area in the past three years (2.71 million ha), against 2.65 million ha in the year-ago period.

As of August 4, 75 per cent of the sowing had been completed, against 61 per cent a week earlier.

Experts say due to the delay in rains, farmers are wary of sowing groundnut and have, instead, opted for cotton, as this had fetched them better yields in the previous season. Also, the demand for groundnut and groundnut oil was poor in the last season.

For the groundnut crop, sowing has been carried out on 1.19 million ha, against 1.64 million ha during the corresponding period last year. Sowing for sesame, castor and soybean was completed on 107,500 ha, 188,400 ha and 56,200 ha respectively, according to data provided by the state agriculture department.

“We did not expect farmers to go for cotton, considering the delay in the monsoon. But surprisingly, farmers have opted for this, primarily because of the high returns it fetched last year,” said S R Chaudhary, director for agriculture, Gujarat. He added because of Bt-cotton cultivation, the per-hectare yield had fetched farmers better returns through the past few years.

Anand Popat, secretary of the Saurashtra Ginners Association, said, “Because of delayed rains, farmers have played it safe and diverted from groundnut to cotton. This is because in the case of the groundnut crop, there are more chances of failure due to delay in the monsoon.”

Also, demand for groundnut had been falling, he added. Paddy sowing in the state has picked up pace, with 443, 600 ha being covered, 60 per cent of the average sowing area in the past three years (736,700 ha).

Fodder sowing has been completed on 662,900 hectares, against 711,000 hectares in the year-ago period, while sowing for vegetables has been completed on 125,300 hectares, 55 per cent of the total area, against 170,300 hectares in the corresponding period last year.