Scanty monsoon rainfall fans crop loss fear among farmers in Rajasthan

Scanty monsoon rainfall recorded in parts of the state in the past fortnight has started to adversely affect the kharif crops, commodity traders have said.

 

“In the past 15-20 days, a very few places in Rajasthan have received rainfall, triggering apprehensions among farmers. They fear that if it does not rain soon, crop damage will increase,” said a trader.

 

Lack of rainfall is likely to damage the most important crops, guar, and pearl millet (bajra). The state is one of the largest producers of guar cultivating over 70 per cent of the country’s total production.

 

Guar trader Ramavtar Khandelwal, a resident of Jaipur, said crops have started drying up due to lack of rainfall.

 

“Guar is intensively sown in the Jaisalmer and Barmer districts, which are facing lack of rain. Crops such as guar, moong, moth and millet are completely dependent on the monsoon. In case of insufficient rainfall, there is a high possibility of guar crops getting affected,” he added. 

 

Shyam Nattani, a moong trader in Jaipur, said the crop depends on the monsoon, but farmers who have irrigation facilities can cultivate more moong. Currently, moong has a low risk of getting damaged due to irrigation facilities. However, several other crops, including bajra, face higher risks of damage.

 

“Due to lack of rain, the quality of millet can deteriorate. If there is no rain in the next couple of days, the crops will also start drying. The farmers now hope for one or two good spells of rain,” he added.

 

In the kharif season, millet, sorghum, maize, moong, moth, urad, groundnut, soybean and guar are mainly sown in Rajasthan.

 

Millet, moong, and guar are mostly sown in the entire state. According to data of the agriculture department, bajra has been sown on 4.25 million hectares, around 99 per cent of the target set by the department. Similarly, around 92 per cent of the target of moong cultivation has been done on 2.35 million hectares, and 96 per cent of guar has been sown on 2.39 million hectares.