As the kharif sowing season nears, groundnut is set to eat into cotton area in Gujarat. According to farmers, area under cotton is likely to fall significantly in the main growing regions of Saurashtra and Kutch.

The drop in cotton area is mainly attributed to growers continuing to lose from the crop over the last two years due to lower realisation.

Cotton prices are currently hovering in the range of ₹790-910 for a maund of 20 kg in Saurashtra. During 2013, prices had ruled over ₹1,000.

“Till today farmers have not been able to get remunerative price for their crop. From the sense we get from farmers in this region, there will be a drop to the tune of 30-35 per cent in cotton area. And about half of that will be replaced by groundnut and rest by guarseed or other crops,” said Dinesh Tilva, an agriculture expert from Saurashtra.

Saurashtra is a cotton bowl of India with the 11 districts making up about 16 per cent or two million hectares of the total cotton area of 12.5 million hectares in the country.

According to State government data, kharif groundnut sowing has been declining in Gujarat from 19,12,800 hectares in 2003-04 to 12,25,000 hectares last year.

This resulted in a sharp surge in the groundnut prices, attracting farmers towards the oilseed crop.

An indication of increase in groundnut sowing will boost the prospects of groundnut.

“Cotton has been a disaster for most farmers here. Same had been the experience for past two years. We expect groundnut production to be good this year and fetch us better returns,” said Ukabhai Patoliya, a farmer and Bhartiya Kisan Sangh leader from Junagadh district.

On the other hand, guarseed and pulses are second most preferred replacements to cotton. Guarseed acreage rose from 2,66,000 hectares in 2003-04 to 3,10,000 hectares in 2014-15 in the State.

For pulses, it will be reclaiming the lost ground as kharif sowing of pulses had fallen from 6,77,900 hectares in 2003-04 to around 3,99,000 hectares in 2014-15.

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