Our Bureau

Hit by a water shortage and rains being delayed by about a fortnight, the sowing process in Gujarat has almost come to a standstill with only 26 per cent of last year's sowing area being covered under Kharif sowing till June 18.

The latest sowing data from the Gujarat agriculture department revealed that as of June 18, total sowing stood at 2,25,231 hectares, which is nearly 26 per cent of the 8,71,700 hectares sown during same time last year.

Notably, earlier, the State government had issued an advisory to the farmers asking them to postpone sowing till it rained. Also, as early as in January this year, the government had flagged the water crisis with the water storage position at various dams showing a depletion.

With the Met department forecasting dry weather for almost the whole of Gujarat barring some parts in South Gujarat for the next few days, there doesn't seem to be any immediate relief in sight for farmers.

The State government data, however, showed a tilt towards cotton over groundnut as cotton sowing was seen on 1,39,740 hectares so far, as against 37,788 hectares for groundnut.

However, as compared to last year, cotton sowing was down 72 per cent, whereas groundnut sowing was down by about 85 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

Farmer sources indicated that there may not be much difference in the crop pattern even for the next one week.

Crop shift possible

However, if there is a further delay in rains after July 1, there are fears of farmers shifting to short-duration crops from the main kharif crops of groundnut and cotton.

So far, pulses sowing has been carried out on about 3,840 hectares, which is about 64 per cent less than what was seen around the same time last year.

Tur or pigeon peas and urad or black gram sowing has gained pace over other pulses.

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