RAJKOT: Last year turned out to be exceptionally good for the groundnut cultivators of the country.
Fuelled by unusual high demand from China, farmers got high returns from the groundnut crop.
As the sowing season started this year, it came as no surprise when farmers of the region went for large scale groundnut cultivation.
The groundnut crop area of the state increased to 20 lakh hectares last year from an average 16 lakh hectares.
And the trend is expected to continue this year.
Gujarat’s total groundnut production was around 33 lakh ton out of which 40% was consumed by the export market.
In the domestic markets too the price of groundnut oil rose by 25%.
With the new crop set to hit the market by October, the farmers are expecting a windfall this year too.
According to exporters, last year the groundnut oil export was around 2.25 lakh tonnes which was five times more than normal exports of 40,000 tons.
Thanks to the good export demand, the market price of groundnut remained high last year resulting in lowest procurement at the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) in the last four years.
Even if the market price goes down, groundnut growers won’t be at much loss, informs Pravin Patodiya, a farmer of a village near Jetpur in Rajkot district.
“Last year we got good prices in the market so we didn’t sell our crop at MSP centres.
This year if the market price is low we can bank on the government to procure our crop,” Patodiya said.
The MSP of groundnut was Rs 1,055 per 20 kg last year.
Those in the know of the international groundnut business say farmers can expect good demand this year too.
China exported huge quantities last year as its groundnut crop was damaged due to the floods.
Experts say that this year too China will import from India in the initial months of the new season, which will start from October.
“We can’t predict China’s demand.
Sudan and Senegal are our major competitors but their crop will come in December-January so in that case we expect good export demand from October to December,” said Samir Shah, president of Gujarat State Edible Oils and Oil seeds Association.
Apart from the high price the crop fetched, the other reason why so many farmers from the region are opting for groundnut is the pink bollworm that has been infesting the cotton crop.
“I generally cultivate cotton but this year I have sowed groundnuts on 20 bighas of my farm.
Last year my cotton crop got damaged due to pink bollworm.
Also, if I cultivate groundnuts I can take a winter crop, which is not possible in the case of cotton,” said Haresh Buha, a farmer from Amreli.
According to sources the new groundnut crop will hit the market by October but currently there is no sufficient stock in the market that can last till October.
The government has around 1.75 lakh ton stock while oil millers require around six lakh ton in next three-four months.