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After record sowing, over 3 lakh Gujarat farmers register to sell gram at MSP

The unprecedented hike comes after the bountiful rainfall during an extended monsoon in 2020, allowing farmers to sow gram in 8.19 lakh hectare (lh) in the Rabi season 2020-21.

The total chana acreage of 8.19 lh is 280.80 per cent of the past three years’ average acreage of 2.91 lh and more than double the last year’s acreage of 3.78 lh. (Express photo by Partha Sarathi Biswas/Representational)The total chana acreage of 8.19 lh is 280.80 per cent of the past three years’ average acreage of 2.91 lh and more than double the last year’s acreage of 3.78 lh. (Express photo by Partha Sarathi Biswas/Representational)

A record number of farmers — 3.12 lakh — have got themselves registered for selling gram (chana), which saw record sowing, to the government at minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,100 per quintal with the registration window to remain open for four more days.

The registration for Rabi marketing season 2020-21 began on February 1 and 3,12,647 farmers got themselves registered by February 10, according to the data available with the Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (GSCSCL). This is more than double the last year’s total registration of 1.48 lakh farmers last year.

The unprecedented hike comes after the bountiful rainfall during an extended monsoon in 2020, allowing farmers to sow gram in 8.19 lakh hectare (lh) in the Rabi season 2020-21. The total chana acreage of 8.19 lh is 280.80 per cent of the past three years’ average acreage of 2.91 lh and more than double the last year’s acreage of 3.78 lh.

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In terms of percent growth, this is the highest among 21 major crops in the state, followed by coriander, the sowing of which was 225% compared to past three years’ average. After wheat (13.66 lh), gram has emerged as the second largest crop this year. The second advanced estimate of the state government projects gram production in Gujarat at 13.01 lakh tonnes (lt), more than double compared to 6.35 lh last year.

Gram is a less water intensive, hence a popular crop in otherwise water-starved Saurashtra region and maximum registrations have been reported from this part of the state. The 11 districts of Saurashtra account for 2.78 lakh registrations or around 89.21 per cent of total registrations in the state.

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This is commensurately higher than 6.10 lakh hectare (lh) brought under gram cultivation by farmers of the region this Rabi season. In all, the pulse crop has been sown on 8.19 lh this Kharif season and Saurashtra’s share in it 74.25 per cent.

Saurashtra is followed by six districts of north Gujarat region where 23,602 farmers have registered, whereas gram acreage stands at 65,600 hectare (ha). This represents 7.54 per cent of total registrations and eight per cent of acreage. In the eight districts of central Gujarat region, 9,880 farmers (3.16 % of total registrations) have registered even as gram has been sown in total 1.24 lh (13.72 % of total acreage). In south Gujarat region, only 253 farmers (0.08% of total registrations) have registered though gram sowing stands at 30,300 ha (3.69 % of total acreage).

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In Saurashtra, the highest number of registrations is from Rajkot district (61,092), followed by Amreli (43,954), Junagadh (41,380), Jamnagar (30,872) Devbhumi Dwarka (25,645), Gir Somnath (20,989), Surendranagar (15,523), Porbandar (12,274), Morbi (13,501), Botad (6,911) and Bhavnagar (6,773). In fact, registrations in Junagadh, the third highest in Saurashtra is higher than total of north, central and sought Gujarat regions.

Outside Saurashtra, Patan (17,189) in north Gujarat is the only district of the state where more than 10,000 farmers registered so far. In central Gujarat, Ahmedabad district leads the chart with 5,795 registrations, lower than Saurashtra’s lowest — 6,733 in Bhavnagar — though gram acreage in these two districts is 50,900 ha and 21,700 ha respectively.

Same as farmers’ registration, Rajkot is also the single largest district in the state in terms of gram acreage also with cultivators having sown the crop in 1.07 lh, which is 13 per cent of the total acreage in the state. But farmers’ registrations in the district account for 19.54 of the state. The registration window is to remain open till February 15 and therefore, the registration figures are likely to be revised upwards, officers of GSCSCL said.

A record number of farmers — 3.12 lakh — have got themselves registered for selling gram (chana), which saw record sowing, to the government at minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,100 per quintal with the registration window to remain open for four more days.

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The registration for Rabi marketing season 2020-21 began on February 1 and 3,12,647 farmers got themselves registered by February 10, according to the data available with the Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (GSCSCL). This is more than double the last year’s total registration of 1.48 lakh farmers last year.

The unprecedented hike comes after the bountiful rainfall during an extended monsoon in 2020, allowing farmers to sow gram in 8.19 lakh hectare (lh) in the Rabi season 2020-21. The total chana acreage of 8.19 lh is 280.80 per cent of the past three years’ average acreage of 2.91 lh and more than double the last year’s acreage of 3.78 lh.

In terms of percent growth, this is the highest among 21 major crops in the state, followed by coriander, the sowing of which was 225% compared to past three years’ average. After wheat (13.66 lh), gram has emerged as the second largest crop this year. The second advanced estimate of the state government projects gram production in Gujarat at 13.01 lakh tonnes (lt), more than double compared to 6.35 lh last year.

Gram is a less water intensive, hence a popular crop in otherwise water-starved Saurashtra region and maximum registrations have been reported from this part of the state. The 11 districts of Saurashtra account for 2.78 lakh registrations or around 89.21 per cent of total registrations in the state.

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This is commensurately higher than 6.10 lakh hectare (lh) brought under gram cultivation by farmers of the region this Rabi season. In all, the pulse crop has been sown on 8.19 lh this Kharif season and Saurashtra’s share in it 74.25 per cent.

Saurashtra is followed by six districts of north Gujarat region where 23,602 farmers have registered, whereas gram acreage stands at 65,600 hectare (ha). This represents 7.54 per cent of total registrations and eight per cent of acreage. In the eight districts of central Gujarat region, 9,880 farmers (3.16 % of total registrations) have registered even as gram has been sown in total 1.24 lh (13.72 % of total acreage). In south Gujarat region, only 253 farmers (0.08% of total registrations) have registered though gram sowing stands at 30,300 ha (3.69 % of total acreage).

In Saurashtra, the highest number of registrations is from Rajkot district (61,092), followed by Amreli (43,954), Junagadh (41,380), Jamnagar (30,872) Devbhumi Dwarka (25,645), Gir Somnath (20,989), Surendranagar (15,523), Porbandar (12,274), Morbi (13,501), Botad (6,911) and Bhavnagar (6,773). In fact, registrations in Junagadh, the third highest in Saurashtra is higher than total of north, central and sought Gujarat regions.

Outside Saurashtra, Patan (17,189) in north Gujarat is the only district of the state where more than 10,000 farmers registered so far. In central Gujarat, Ahmedabad district leads the chart with 5,795 registrations, lower than Saurashtra’s lowest — 6,733 in Bhavnagar — though gram acreage in these two districts is 50,900 ha and 21,700 ha respectively.

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Same as farmers’ registration, Rajkot is also the single largest district in the state in terms of gram acreage also with cultivators having sown the crop in 1.07 lh, which is 13 per cent of the total acreage in the state. But farmers’ registrations in the district account for 19.54 of the state. The registration window is to remain open till February 15 and therefore, the registration figures are likely to be revised upwards, officers of GSCSCL said.

The state government is likely to set up 188 procurement centres and start procurement of gram from February 16 on behalf of the central government. Under its price support scheme (PSS), the Central government generally procures up to 25 per cent of total production of a crop in a given state in a marketing season. Thus, the gram procurement this season may go beyond four lakh tonnes. However, gram price is hovering around the MSP in agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) mandis in the state when farmers are likely to prefer open markets.

The Central government procured chana last year also at MSP of Rs 4,875 per quintal, which was Rs 255 higher than that in 2018-19. This year, it has been further hiked by Rs 225 with the Central government having calculated production cost of the crop at Rs 2,866 per quintal.

 

 

First uploaded on: 11-02-2021 at 19:28 IST
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