Chhattisgarh set for a record nigerseed crop

Amidst the reports of declining production of nigerseed in the country, Chhattisgarh "� a major producer of the seed "� is all set to create record production this year.

"The state government is making all efforts to promote nigerseed cultivation and has set a target to produce 40,000 million tonne (mt) seed in the current fiscal," additional director with the directorate of agriculture Chiranjivi Sarkar told the Business Standard.

Last year, the state recorded a production of 32,000 mt sown in an area of 1.15 lakh hectares.

The government had set a target to increase the cultivated area from last year's 1.15 lakh hectares to 1.35 lakh hectares, Sarkar added.

According to a report released by the Central Organisation for Oil Industry and Trade (COOIT), total production of the seed was forecast at 100,000 MT from 424,000 hectares this year; down from 110,000 MT from 424,000 hectares in 2005-06.

Production had peaked at 150,000 MT in 2004-05 and totalled 100,000 MT in 2003-04. If the state achieved the target, Chhattisgarh's share in nigerseed production in the country will be 40 per cent.

Sarkar said that the major areas where the nigerseed cultivation was going on in the state included in Jashpur, Sarguja, Koriya, Bilaspur, Korba and Bastar districts.

Sarguja ranks first with nigerseed cultivated in an area of 32,000 hectares while in Bastar finds second place with the crop sown in 30,000 hectares of land.

Demand of nigerseed cultivated in the tribal-dominated areas of Jashpur, Sarguja, Bilaspur and Bastar districts in Chhattisgarh is increasing in American and German markets.

Two local exporters in Jashpur district feel that in next couple of years, the export business of nigerseed in the state is expected to cross a turnover of Rs 100 crore per annum.

Nigerseed, black-colour oilseed of limited utility here, is used as bird feed in the world market.

The two export firms in Jashpur district had done a business of more than Rs 60 crore in last six months, shipping more than 20,000 MT of nigerseed to America, Germany, Italy and Singapore.

"We have set a target of exporting 15,000 MT of nigerseed in another six months," Vinod Jain, an exporter, said.

Jain said that the nigerseed sent from Chhattisgarh were in great demand in Georgia and Fargo cities, besides, New York in America.

The exporters said that since Ethiopia was the only country producing nigerseed, the demand for the Indian seed was going to surge in the months to come.

The farmers cultivating the crop (a kharif crop) are also getting good returns in Chhattisgarh. Earlier, they used to get just Rs 8 to Rs 10 per kilogram.

But now, with the demand increasing in international market, the price has shot up to Rs 18 to Rs 20 per kilogram.