Country's groundnut output likely to be 30% down

Trade body estimates total kharif production at 3.3 mt as farmers shift to other cash crops

Groundnut production in India is estimated to be down  30 per cent this year, according to Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), the vegetable oil industry and trade body.

Total kharif groundnut production will be 3.3 million tonnes in 2014-15 as against 4.7 mt in 2013-14, it says.

“Groundnut production will decrease by about 30 per cent as farmers did not get a sufficient price the previous season. Most had to sell below the minimum support price (of Rs 4,000 a quintal),” said B V Mehta, executive director, SEA.

The SEA report states Gujarat, the largest groundnut producing state, might see 1 mt of less output this year, at 1.42 mt from last year’s 2.5 mt. Production in Andhra, another major producer, might decrease by 220,000 tonnes from last year’s 600,000 tonnes.

The total area under groundnut in the country reduced by 620,000 hectares or 14.4 per cent, from 4.32 mn hectares last year to 3.7 mha in 2014-15. Gujarat's reduced by 435,000 ha, from 1.66 mha last year.

  Poor returns on groundnut, Mehta said, had forced farmers to shift to alternatives such as cotton. Low procurement by government agencies was another factor.

The downfall in production, is however, estimated to be moderate in Karnataka and Rajasthan. In the latter, it is estimated to be 470,000 tonnes, from last year's 520,000 tonnes. Production in Karnataka is estimated to be 310,000 tonnes, from last year's 350,000 tonnes.

Last week, the Jamnagar-based Saurashtra Oil Mills Association estimated groundnut output in Gujarat to about 1.2 mt this year, down 55 per cent from last year's 2.6 mt.