It may result in inferior quality of crop, which in turn may reduce prices, feel agro experts.
The recent unseasonal rains may have cheered up Amdavadis but it has given farmers of the state a reason to frown. For, the cold wave coupled with the unseasonal rains have put a question mark on the quality of kharif crops this year.
Kharif crops include cotton, groundnut, fennel (saunf) and cumin seeds (jeera). The crops were ready to flood the market but the rains have resulted in quality getting deteriorated. This in turn will lead to a fall in prices. The kharif crop is the autumn harvest (also known as the summer or monsoon crop).
It is usually sown with the beginning of the first rains in July, during the south-west monsoon season. Cotton crops were also ready to be harvested but now farmers will have to wait a bit longer. This is because the crop has absorbed moisture and will require adequate sunshine to dry up and be fit for harvesting.
Similar is the case with groundnuts which were kept for drying only for the rains to thwart farmers' plans. Experts said that such fluctuations have not affected the production but will have an effect on the quality of the crops. The farmers are disappointed but are sure that they can manage the situation.
Bharat Valji, a Surendranagar-based farmer said, "The rains were not heavy and hence did not have much impact on the crops. The weather is always unpredictable and we are prepared to meet its vagaries."
Experts also said that the farmers were lucky as the rains were not heavy or else the situation could have worsened. "The unseasonal rains were limited to light showers and haven't severely affected the crops. At present, all that has happened is a decline in the quality of crops, which is something that can be managed over a period of time," informed Dr BR Shah, director of agriculture, Gujarat government.
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