Low rainfall raises spectre of crop failure in Gujarat

Overcast skies and the occasional rain notwithstanding, Ahmedabad district has had very little rain this year. According to state government officials, the district, till Monday (July 19), had received a mere 23% of the average rainfall of the last 10 years.

An official of the revenue department of Gujarat government said that the statistics indicated that, so far, the district had received much less rain that it normally gets. “The average annual rainfall of Ahmedabad district is 710 mm,” the official said. “Of this, it has received merely 167 mm this year. This is much less than the total annual rainfall of 358 mm the district had last year.”

The official, however, added that as the monsoon was not yet over, it was difficult to say whether the whole season would prove rain deficient. “Usually, the monsoon begins in mid-June and lasts till the end of October,” he said. “But the maximum rainfall is witnessed in July and August.”

Ahmedabad is not the only district in the state praying for more rain. “Except for some parts of Saurashtra and Kutch, the whole of Gujarat has had inadequate rainfall this year,” the official said. “The average rainfall for the last 10 years in the state is 970 mm. However, this year so far Gujarat has received only 24% of the average. The total rainfall received so far in Gujarat this year is 236 mm.”

The poor rainfall is causing worry to the farmers of the state. “Apart from Junagadh and Amreli, the other areas districts of the state have received poor rainfall,” said Praful Senjalia, president of organic farming, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh. Senjalia said the cotton crop in Gujarat is on the verge of ruin. “If the state does not have more rain in the days to come, cotton farmers would suffer huge losses,” he said.

Director of agriculture, Gujarat, Dr BR Shah, also said that rainfall this year had been deficient. “If the situation does not improve, farmers in the state may switch to new crops,” he said.