Rains arrive as saviour for Rajasthan kharif crops

The kharif crop output in Rajasthan is expected to be better than earlier estimates due to late showers during the first fortnight of September that helped salvage some of the wilting summer crop. The state's agriculture department has revised the estimated damage down to 25-30 per cent from the August estimates of 40-50 per cent.

"Thanks to these late rains, we now think that we would be able to save 70 per cent of our kharif crops. Particularly, fodder production is expected to be very good," said Prabhu Lal Saini, the minister for agriculture, Rajasthan on Wednesday.

About 12.60 million hectare in the state were sown with various kharif crops this season, against a target of 14 million hectare.

In 2004, 13.6 million hectare were planted during kharif.

The rains are also a boon for the coming rabi crop (winter crop), as most fields have retained their moisture, earlier feared lost due to scanty rainfall, the agriculture department officials said.

Kharif crops such as maize, millet (Bajra), groundnut, guar, and soybean are generally sown during the last week of May to the end of July.

Rajasthan contributes 70-74 per cent of India's guar seed output.The main guar producing areas are Jodhpur, Nagaur, Merta, Degana, and Balotra, which contribute 60 per cent of the state's total produce. Sekhawati, Bikaner, and Churu are also major guar producing regions.

Due to the late rains, guar production in the state has now been revised upward to 425,000-475,000 tonne, up almost 30-40 per cent from the August estimates. However, production will still be much lower than the target of 600,000 tonne, since guar production depends heavily on rainfall.

As per the agriculture department estimates, guar was sown across 2.2 million hectare, 0.3 million hectare below the target of 2.5 million hectare.

"Had there been no rains in the state, about 50 per cent of the guar seed produce would have been damaged. But the recent rains have reduced the figure to a merely 20-25 per cent," Ravi Kant, a guar trader said.

Agriculture is one of the key contributors to the state's gross domestic product, usually contributing between 26-31 per cent.