In its first advance estimate for the kharif crops production for 2020-21, the Gujarat government has projected groundnut output at a record 54.65 lakh tonnes, which is nearly 10 lakh tonnes higher than 45 lakh tonnes in the fourth estimate for last year.
The trade, however, estimates a lower crop size at 38 lakh tonnes for the oilseed owing to monsoon fury in the key growing pockets such as Saurashtra and Kutch.
The government’s higher crop estimates comes at a time when a large part of Gujarat’s groundnut cultivation area has suffered flooding following excessive rains. The government has announced to conduct a survey for assessment of crop damage, which will be concluded within a fortnight.
Groundnut sowing touched all-time high at 20.72 lakh hectares and estimated yield is 2637 kg per hectare, which was 16.29 lakh hectares and 2764 kg per hectares respectively last year.
Soybean crop is estimated at 105 Lac tonnes against previous year’s crop of 85 Lac tonnes.
Cotton takes a hit
For the other major kharif crop i.e. cotton, the Gujarat government has projected a reduced crop size of 82.39 lakh bales (each of 170 kg) which was 88.01 lakh in the fourth estimate for last year. Notably, the area under cotton has also gone down to 22.81 lakh hectares as against 26.55 lakh hectares recorded last year. Expected yield this year is 614 lint (each of 356 kg) per hectare, as against 564 lint recorded last year.
Overall foodgrains production for the kharif 2020-21 is expected to rise to 33 lakh tonnes with average yield of 1818 kg per hectare, which is higher from 29.91 lakh tonnes of production with 1687 kg per hectare of yield.
Among the major kharif cereals, rice (paddy) output is expected to be 20.50 lakh tonnes, with average yield of 2380 kg per hectare, as against 18.21 lakh tonnes and 2143 kg per hectares of yield recorded last year.
From the oilseeds segment, soyabean outout in Gujarat is expected to touch 1.97 lakh tonnes, which is more than 65,000 tonnes higher from 1.32 lakh tonnes recorded last year. The average yield for current year is expected at 1315 kg per hectare, as against 1318 kg per hectare last year.
Castor seed production is projected to be 14.74 lakh tonnes, which is a tad higher from 14.32 lakh tonnes recorded last year. The average yield is likely to be higher at 2292 kg per hectare as against 1944 kg recorded last year.