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| It is estimated that of the total 1,000 edible oil mills in the state, 700 are in Saurashtra and they have a total turnover of about Rs10,000 crore. |
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| The market has over 40,000 merchants and brokers engaged in the edible oil business and it provides work and wages, directly and indirectly, to around 40 lakh people. |
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| The main consumers of groundnut seeds and oil include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. |
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| Traders from these states regularly purchase the commodity from Saurashtra. |
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| The groundnut market is now spread over all the seven districts of Saurashtra. |
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| Groundnut has been the principal crop of Saurashtra for the last 98 years. |
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| Up to the end of 1900, wheat and bajra were the major crops of the Saurashtra region. |
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| In 1905, a progressive farmer, Padambhai Patel of Moti Marad village in Gondal state of Kathiawad, started sowing groundnut in his fields and then onwards, this cash crop has been widely accepted by most of the growers in the region. |
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| As groundnut is entirely a monsoon-based crop, the output varies with the amount and timing of the rainfall. |
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| In 1989, the yield was 16 lakh tonnes. This declined to five lakh tonnes in 1993. |
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| In the current year, the yield is expected to reach a maximum of 40 lakh tonnes on an evenly distributed above-average seasonal rainfall in all districts of Saurashtra. |
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| Also, the timing of the rainfall was conducive for the crop. As groundnut seed and groundnut oil are essential commodities, sale of these commodities has been under government regulations from early days. |
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| Old records reveal that in 1931, King Bhagvatsinhji of Gondal state had imposed price control on groundnut oil. |
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| Prices of groundnut oil have been increasing steadily over the years, in keeping with the demand. |
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| A 15-kg tin of groundnut oil had cost between Rs 175 and Rs 200 in 1980-81. |
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| The cost rose to Rs 650 in 1992-93 and Rs 1,000 in 2002-03. Oil farmers and millers, however, argue that the present price of groundnut oil is not sufficiently high. |
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| Traders say the present prices of groundnut, the raw material for oil, ranges between Rs 305 and Rs 350 per 20 kgs, which was between Rs 280 and Rs 290 in 1992-93. |
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| Ukabhai Patel, president of Saurashtra Oil Millers Association (Soma), said from 1965, groundnut has become a political issue. |
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