Gujarat: Foxed by spell of rains, farmers a worried lot

Chandubha Jadeja, a farmer of Sidasara village of Jamnagar district, is a worried man. Another one week without rains can well ground his hopes on groundnut sowing. The gap after the initial spell of rains is nearing three weeks, and his village lacks canal irrigation facility. To make things worsen, the water level in the wells too have depleted. He only prays that he gets full share of crop insurance, in case of a crop failure.

Jadeja is not alone, Dipak Bhagwanbhai, of Moti Bangar village of Jamnagar district, who has sown cotton over 20 bigha of land and was about to sow groundnut in rest of the field, too is at wit's end. He has spent Rs 20,000 on seeds and other inputs, and is hoping that showers will bless his village ponds and facilitate sowing.

Jaman Rathod of Udepur village of Jamnagar district, who had sown groundnut in about 10 bigha of farm following the initial spell of rains in the aftermath of Vayu cyclone, says he expects 50% loss this sowing season. "There is no canal in the village and water levels in wells have depleted. Rain is the only way we can irrigate."

We need rains in next five days," he said.

Situation is similar in north Gujarat as well. Hitesh Patel of Dadhaliya village of Arvalli district said almost all the fields in the village underwent sowing. He has sown groundnut over 15 bigha and cotton over 5 bigha. "There is some water in the wells. All the big dams are empty. If it does not rain in 10 days, we would face a major crop failure," Patel told DNA. He also said with the delay in subsequent spell of rains, groundnut crop is infected with insects as well, which means production would further drop.

The data with state Agriculture department says sowing was taken up in about 39.81 lakh hectares till July 8, this kharif season. This is close to 47% of the 84.76 lakh-hectare of average kharif acreage of past three years and is significantly higher than 23.68 lakh-hectare during the corresponding period in the previous year.

However, farmers' representatives are not getting swayed by the rosy figures and say a significant portion of acreage is at a risk of getting damaged. Ramesh Bhoraniya, a farmer of Naranka village of Padadhari taluka, said with the exception of about half a dozen villages, which receive canal water for irrigation, most of the villages in Rajkot district and other parts of Saurashtra are in dire need of rains to avoid crop failure. "After about two inchies of rains, farmers were lured into sowing with the expectation of more rains. Now cotton and groundnut are facing a risk of failure. If it does not rain in about a week, farmers will have to undertake fresh sowing," he said.

Sagar Rabari, founder president of Gujarat Khedut Ekta Samiti said the situation is deteriorating with every passing day. Farmers are increasingly reliant on rain water as actual irrigation potential of the state is not getting utilised. Moreover, with successive bad monsoons in past three years, groundwater level has further depleted and the wells have dried up.

Widespread rains unlikely soon: IMD

Widespread rains are unlikely in the state for next five days, said a forecast of India Meteorological Department (IMD). Accordingly, a rain bearing system is prevalent over south Gujarat and neighbouring areas. This will bring light to moderate rains are very likely at few places in parts of south Gujarat and Bhavnagar district in Saurashtra. Dry weather will be witnessed in north Gujarat, Kutch and other districts of Saurashtra.