More rains may hit agri output in Gujarat

The state's farmers were earlier worried that lack of rain would ruin this year's crops but now they are afraid that their crops would die in fields flooded by torrential rains. Agriculture experts, too, are worried about this, as any setback to agricultural production will further push up prices.

According to Gujarat's agriculture department, sowing is complete in 74 lakh hectare of land in the state with cotton garnering the lion's share of 25 lakh hectare. Groundnut has been sown in 16 lakh hectare.

"If the farms remain waterlogged for more than 24 hours, farmers run the risk of losing their crop," said NC Patel, vice-chancellor of Junagadh Agriculture University. "Seeds sown in fields that are now flooded may die." He further said that besides cotton, groundnut sowing had also been undertaken on a large scale in the state.

"Cotton and groundnut sowing is the highest in Amreli, Jamnagar and Surendranagar districts," Patel said. "If the water currently flooding the fields does not drain out soon, cotton and groundnut production may be severely hit."

He further said that as the sowing season had already passed, it would be difficult for farmers to get fresh seeds. "Even if they manage to get seeds somehow, their quality will not be very good. Moreover, the seeds will also be costly," he said.

An agriculture department official said that sowing this year had been almost equal to the average of last three years. "The average crop sowing in the last three years was 77.11 lakh hectare; this year it is 73.66 lakh hectare. For cotton and groundnut, the sowing is almost equal to the average of last three years," the official said.