Late rains hit sowing in Gujarat

Agricultural activities, primarily sowing, have been badly hit in several districts of North Gujarat and Saurashtra as a result of the delayed monsoon.

Sowing had been completed on approximately 75 lakh hectares of land by July 19 in 2003. Sowing till date in 2004 had covered just over 60 lakh hectares.

Worst hit were Ahmedabad, Patan and Mehsana districts of the state, which have witnessed the lowest sowing in Gujarat this season.

Sowing had been completed in less than 50 per cent of the total crop area so far in these districts, state agriculture department officials said.

The state government, in response, started a survey of agricultural land to ascertain the possible loss because of delayed rains this year. A central government team was likely to visit Gujarat next week to survey the situation.

Sowing had been completed on 31 per cent of normal agricultural land in Ahmedabad district, 32 per cent in Patan and 50 per cent in Mehsana, according to a survey conducted by the agriculture department of Gujarat.

Only 56 per cent sowing had been completed in Banaskantha and Gandhinagar districts, although the peak season for sowing was the first half of July.

Other affected districts included Kutch with 52 per cent sowing completed and Surendranagar with 68 per cent sowing on available land till July 12.

State agriculture department officials said sowing in 2003 covered 74,64,300 hectares till July 19, 2003.

In contrast, seed sowing had covered just 62,03,900 hectares till July 19, 2004. Total agricultural area in Gujarat was 81,73,100 hectares, according to average of last five year crop area.

The survey by the state agriculture department indicated west, north and certain pockets of central Gujarat were short of water. Rainfall in Ahmedabad so far was 128.7 mm compared to over 255 mm during the same period last year.

The scenario was worse in Saurashtra and Kutch region where majority of the population was dependent on agriculture or trading. In Saurashtra, sowing of the major crop, groundnut, had covered 18,47,200 hectares of land against the target of 18,48,000 hectares.

Sowing of cotton was hit as well. Sowing covered only 14,92,000 hectares against the target of 16,36,100 hectares.

Farmers sowing crops like groundnut, cotton and bajra were better off in case of a delayed or deficient monsoon, as these crops required less water than paddy.

Short rains would hit paddy cultivation the most as it required water storage in farms at the initial stage of sowing. This could not be done this year.

Paddy sowing covered one-third of the total target area so far. Farm department officials said paddy was sown over 6,20,000 hectares in a normal monsoon year. This year, sowing covered 2,30,000 hectares or so.

The other major crop, jowar, has been sown over 74,800 hector of land only, just 52 per cent of the normal agricultural area under the crop.

Bajra and maize were badly affected too, with sowing covering 74 and 82 per cent of normal coverage respectively.

"We are hopeful. Heavy rainfall in parts of central and south Gujarat will help farmers to go ahead with sowing," said an official of the agriculture department.

Agriculture department data updated weekly indicated sowing covered 72 per cent of agricultural land for the week ended July 12, 2004.

This rose four per cent to 76 per cent in the week ended July 19 following good showers in central and south Gujarat. A survey of agricultural activities to estimate losses was under way.