Groundnut yield in Gujarat to be highest in decade

AHMEDABAD: Groundnut production in the state is heading towards a record yield this year that may be the highest annual groundnut crop yield in a decade, say agriculture experts.
An official of the state agricultur department said, “This year, we estimate groundnut sowing to cross 19 lakh hectares and with plentiful rain the yield will touch 40 lakh tonnes.” The official said groundnut sowing had already crossed the annual acreage of 15.40 lakh hectares and reached 16.36 lakh hectares with almost a month of sowing season still in hand.
The official said, “The sowing until now is just 60,000 hectares short of that in the entire kharif season in 2016, when 16.42 lakh hectares were sown. That was probably the highest since 2011.”
Higher yield and better returns in groundnut last year, and comparatively poorer returns in cotton, made many farmers switch to the oilseed crop this kharif season. Last year, groundnut was cultivated in nearly 10 lakh hectares. This year, the area sown with the crop is already 60% larger.
“Around 85-90% sowing of groundnut has been completed across the state. I think, there is room for addition of another 1.5 to 2 lakh hectares at least,” said Samir Shah, president, Saurashtra Oil Mills Association (SOMA). “Going by the progress, groundnut acreage is set to be the highest since 2008-09,” he added.
“Increase in groundnut acreage will also help reduce our dependence on import of edible oils,” Shah added.
According to SOMA, groundnut acreage had touched a record high of 19.07 lakh hectares last in 2008-09. After having remained subdued at the onset of the season last year, groundnut prices recovered and hovered around the minimum support price of Rs 1,018 per 20kg. Currently, the prices range from Rs 1,100-1,150 per 20kg.
Vegetable oil industry body, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) had estimated the kharif groundnut production to be 32.15 lakh tonnes on a total acreage of 15.52 lakh hectares in 2019-20. The yield increased to 2,070kg per hectare in favourable weather conditions. SOMA, on the other hand, had estimated 30 lakh tonnes.
K L Dobariya, a former professor in Junagadh Agriculture University said that the intensive sowing of groundnut indicates that farmers are moving away from cotton due to pink bollworm. “The yield last year of over 200kg per hectare will stay this year too as rain and atmosphere is conducive for groundnut,” Dobariya said.