The Hindu Business Line : Gujarat wheat: Agencies procure 1.14 lt in 2 months

The State is expected to harvest a record 33 to 34 lt this Rabi season. It is racing to catch up with Punjab’s productivity of 50-60 quintals/hectare.

Our Bureau

Gandhinagar, May 2 Nearly 1.14 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat has been procured between March 1 and April 30 this year as harvesting in the season picked up in Gujarat.

This procurement was made at the support price of Rs 1,000 per quintal even as the wheat price in open market remained between Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,200 per quintal.

Official sources told Business Line that the Food Corporation of India had so far procured 75,297 tonnes of wheat while NAFED has procured 35,625 tonnes during the last two months.

The Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation has procured 3,205 tonnes so far. Thus, a total of 1,14,127 tonnes of wheat has been procured by the three agencies.

Targets

The apprehensions that unseasonal rains a few weeks ago could have damaged the crop significantly have proved wrong. The Centre has targeted to procure 6 lt of wheat in Gujarat by June-end this year.

Gujarat is expected to harvest a record 33 to 34 lt of wheat this Rabi season, which is four times higher than in 2002-03 (8,27,700 tonnes), and double as compared to 2004-05 (17,53,600 tonnes).

Yield metre

This year, its wheat productivity is expected to increase by 10 per cent (35 quintals per hectare) and the State is racing ahead to catch up with Punjab’s productivity (50-60 quintals per hectare) in the next few years.

The nation’s highest yield of 100 quintals per hectare was reported from Ludhiana last year. Punjab is expected to produce more than 150 lt of wheat this year.

cultivable area

Of the total geographic area of 188 lakh hectares, Gujarat’s cultivable area is nearly half of it, at about 91 lakh hectares.

Four years ago, the area under Kharif and Rabi crops was 79 lakh hectares and 17 lakh hectares, respectively, which have now increased to 88 lakh and 33 lakh hectares.

The land under wheat has increased from nearly seven lakh hectares five years ago to 13 lakh hectares in 2007-08.

Push factors

Due to reasons like water harvesting, satisfactory rains and new variety of seeds, wheat productivity in some parts of Saurashtra has increased from 35 quintals to 45 quintals per hectare.

In North Gujarat also, it has increased from 26 quintals in 2001-02 to 27.5 quintals in 2005-06 and now to 30 quintals.