Groundnut sowing may increase in Guj this year

For the new Kharif season, groundnut sowing in Gujarat may increase slightly by 5-7 percent. According to BK Kikani, vice chancellor of Junagadh Agriculture University, the area under cultivation of groundnut may see a boost.

"The area under cultivation of groundnut will get a boost but it may not be that noticeable. Cotton is still the favourite among farmers. However, last year groundnut covered about 18 lakh hectares area and this year we are expecting 19 lakh hectares of sowing. Groundnut area may rise in Junagadh, Rajkot and Jamnagar district, while in Bhavnagar and Porbandar it will be similar to last year," said Kikani.

 

"Also, irregular rain may have a negative impact on farmers and they may not be as experimentative as expected. Usually, rain scarcity during the five critical stages while growing the groundnut crop is very damaging. But since farmers are aware about it, cotton cultivation area has increased in Gujarat," he added.

Comparatively during the last three years, groundnut area has not increased so much but the productivity has reached to levels of 800-1200 kg per hectares.

From 2002, cotton production has registered a remarkable growth every season – from three million bales in 2002 to 10 million bales in 2008. An increase in area under cotton cultivation and production, coupled with an improving export scenario inspired investment and expansion in the ginning industry, which outgrew the supply of its main raw material-cotton bales, last year.

Groundnut had been sown on 1.7 million hectares across Gujarat in 2008-09, which was an over one lakh hectare more than the previous season.

Conversely, the area under cotton now stands at 2.4 million hectares, down by three lakh hectares compared to last year. Last season, the area under cotton cultivation was 2.7 million hectares.