The Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) has estimated summer groundnut production in Gujarat to be at around 1.21 lakh tonne as against 2.20 lakh tonne last year. The figures provided by IOPEPC, a 45 per cent decline from last year, is also 10,000 tonne less than the government's prediction.
The promotion council had conducted a crop survey in various parts of Gujarat during April 30 May 6, 2010 with the assistance of Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU).
The survey report stated that because of water scarcity in the Saurashtra region, farmers have been shifted to other crops like pulses, sugarcane from groundnut.
The report also shows that summer groundnut sowing area has came down by 50 per cent to 53,520 hectare. Add to that, the average yield has decreased by 30-40 per cent to 2,262 kg per hectare in Gujarat. "Since last few years, groundnut sowing area is coming down as farmers face the problem of scarce water. They are forced to move to other crops like pulses, sugarcane and others," said Nilesh Vira, chairman of IOPEPC.
According to Vira, exports of groundnut has also decreased as farmers in Gujarat are unable to match importers' criteria in terms of quality. "Export demand has been coming down by 25 per cent in recent time in European countries and other EU countries," he added.
Meanwhile, NC Patel, vice chancellor of JAU said, "We have to educate farmers in providing better quality in farming. So much research work is conducted but hardly any results out of it is conveyed to the farmers. On its part, JAU is working to provide any kind of support in this area."
