Poor monsoon likely to dampen kharif yield in Gujarat

About 70% crop failure reported in groundnut and cotton from Saurashtra, Kutch regions

Poor monsoon this year has taken a toll on kharif crops in Gujarat, especially cotton and groundnut, as government officials estimate nearly 70 per cent failure in these two crops.

With majority of the crop failure reports coming from the Saurashtra and Kutch regions, farmers in the scarcity-hit areas feel the situation is more serious than it appears.

Till date, 74 per cent sowing has taken place in 6.5 million hectares in Gujarat for the ongoing kharif season, against normal sowing of 8.8 million hectares. Last year, during the same period, sowing was done on over 8.3 million hectares.

“About 70 per cent of groundnut and cotton crop have failed this kharif season and if it does not rain over the next few days, the figure could cross 85 per cent,” a state agriculture official said. As on August 20, groundnut was sown on about 1.2 million hectares against 1.4 million hectares during the same period last year. Most of the groundnut sowing has taken place in Saurashtra region, which has received a mere 20 per cent rainfall this year. The situation in Kutch is worse as the district has received just nine mm or two per cent of the season’s average rainfall.

 

About 2.3 million hectares has been covered under cotton against 2.9 million in the same period last year. Cotton is mainly cultivated in scarcity-affected Saurashtra region, consisting of seven districts - Rajkot, Amreli, Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbander and Bhavnagar.

“In Amreli district, over 55-60 per cent of groundnut crop has already failed, while crop failure in cotton is estimated at about 30-35 per cent. There is a threat on the remaining crop as well if there is no rainfall in the coming days,” said an official at the Amreli district agriculture office.

However, farmers do not agree with government figures. Some farmers in the affected regions claim the cotton crop has completely failed, while groundnut crop failure is estimated at over 80 per cent. They said there is an urgent need for showers to save the remaining crop.

Ganeshbhai Bhimani, a farmer from Chatara village of Tankara taluka in Rajkot, said, “The crops which have survived are of those farmers who have water sources like borewell and groundwater irrigation facilities. We are trying hard to irrigate our crops through such sources, but we are not sure of success as groundwater sources are unreliable.”

The situation has been aggravated with reports of 11 farmer suicides from some districts of Saurashtra region. With families of the dead holding crop failure as a reason behind the alleged suicide of the farmers, the issue has acquired political colour with both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress blaming each other.

According to agriculture experts, crop conditions in Saurashtra and Kutch are critical, while there is some relief in the northern and southern parts of the state, where canal irrigation is available.

“The entire stretch between Banas Kantha district to Valsad district is saved as they have canal irrigation to meet their water requirements. Lately, though, this area has received rainfall to cope up with farm requirements. But, the monsoon has not been too good here as well. So, there could be serious problems for the winter crop,” said Vyas Pandey, agrometeorologists and professor at the Anand Agriculture University (AAU).

He said the Saurashtra and Kutch regions continue to be critical as dams and small reservoirs in that region have dried up due to lack of rainfall.

Sources maintained that scanty rainfall in the key growing area for cotton and groundnut has not only affected the sowing, but is also likely to affect the yield. According to farm experts, crop conditions for paddy and sugarcane in south Gujarat, have turned worrisome, as both these crops require high quantum of water.

“Cotton yield is likely to be lower by around 25 per cent for 2012-13. It is more likely that farmers may take up only two picking for cotton, which is generally a three-picking crop,” said N M Sharma, managing director, Gujarat State Cooperative Cotton Federation.

“Cash crops have been affected, but, pulses, millet and soya are doing well. However, in south Gujarat, crops such as paddy, sugarcane and banana are in bad shape. There are the possibily of damage, though, officially nothing has been declared,” said M V Patel, professor and head of department, agronomy, at AAU.