Groundnut Production To Rise This Summer.

The Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) has estimated the summer groundnut production in Gujarat to be at around 2.71 lakh tonne as against 1.29 lakh tonne last year, which is higher by 110 percent.

In addition to this, the production of sesame this season is also likely to surge by 37.5 percent to 55,000 tones.

In association Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU), the council had conducted a crop survey in various parts of Gujarat during May 7 to May 13.

As per the survey, groundnut sowing area during the ongoing season has increased from 68000 hectares to 1.21 lakh hectares in Gujarat due to sufficient availability of irrigation water. As a result, production is likely to increase by 110 percent to 2.71 lakh tonnes.

However some local traders disagree with the estimate. According to them groundnut production will be around 3.5 to 4 lakh tonnes. They believe that farmers took more groundnut crops to fulfill the need of cattle feed. During Kharif season high rains also damaged the groundnut crop due to which the farmers faced a shortage of cattle feed.

The survey also mentions that the yield of the groundnut has increased to 2430 kg per hectares which was 1900 kg last year.

Similarly the sesame production is also projected to rise upto 55,000 tonnes in Gujarat during the same period, which would be higher by 37.50 percent as compared to last year's 40,000 tonnes.

The survey says that the area under sesame seed sowing has increased from 32,500 hectares to 34,600 hectares. Farmers preferred sesame crop as the crop has lower production costs, good availability of water and sufficient return.

Source : Sify.com