Guarseed sowing has significantly progressed following rainfall in the major growing region of Rajasthan. Though the crop has already been delayed by around three weeks, traders said that within 3-4 days, sowing will be completed.
The prices of the commodity slipped substantially in the last one week on rains, resulting in good demand from the overseas market.
Haryana, the other main grower of guarseed in the country, which received substantial rains in June and July, is expected to give a good output. However, the weather situation in Rajasthan, which produces over 70 per cent of the crop, was the main concern as till the end of July, sowing was negligible in the state.
“In the next five days, areas such as Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur will see completion of sowing. Sowing is not an issue now, but it is yet to be seen whether the sowed crop will see the required spell of rains in the coming days,” said R K Chandak, a Bikaner-based guarseed trader.
As on 4 August, 2008, guarseed acreage stood at 1.64 million hectares as against 1.65 million hectares at the same time last year. According to commodity analysts at Angel Commodities, overall production of guarseed in this season could cross a crore bags (each of 100 kg). Last year, the country produced around 7.5-8 million bags of guarseed.
According to market analysts, it is too early to speak about crop projections. However, they said that farmers who cultivate mustard and gram (chana) may not be interested in guarseed as the delayed sowing will have its impact on the sowing of mustard and chana crop, which usually starts after guarseed is harvested.
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Similarly, growers of moong in the state may not go for guarseed as the former is a 60-day crop whereas the latter takes 90-120 days till harvest, they added.
For the time being, Rajasthan does not require further rains for guarseed sowing. However, it will require a second spell of rains by the end of August and a third and final spell before September ends for a better crop. “Due to late sowing, yield may see some impact,” added Chandak.
Uncertainty now is in Haryana as the state witnessed fresh rains recently. Navratan Daga, another Rajasthan-based trader, said, “If it rains more in Haryana, there could be crop losses.”
The last few trading sessions — both on the futures and spot market fronts — have seen bearish trend setting in the market. Commodity analysts said that if maket comes below Rs 1,735 a quintal, a further fall of Rs 35-40 is on the card.
In the spot market, prices were reported to be Rs 1,750 a quintal in Bikaner which a week ago were trading above Rs 1,800 a quintal level.