Gujarat government only buys gram of 2% support price
Rs 5,000 crore loss to farmers
Dilip Patel
25 January 2022
The cultivation of gram in Gujarat has reduced the surface area of 4.66 lakh hectares to 11 lakh hectares from an average of 3 years. Which was 8.19 lakh hectares last year. This time there has been an increase of 235 percent in gram cultivation as compared to the normal sowing.
Gujarat state government has announced timely procurement of gram at support price. Farmers will benefit only when the government understands the farmers’ support price and the real value of the economy. The central government has calculated the support price at Rs 5,100 per 100 kg and the cost of production at Rs 3,004.
This time the gram crop is expected to be 250 crore kg. Out of which the government will hardly buy 2 to 4 per cent support price. The remaining 98 to 96 percent of gram will have to be sold at a lower price. Due to this, farmers may suffer losses ranging from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,000 crore. That’s why the farmers are demanding that whatever the government can produce, it should do it at the support price.
The area of chickpea is same as that of wheat.
In Saurashtra, out of 11 lakh hectares, 8.65 lakh hectares are under cultivation. Chole has been planted in all the districts of Saurashtra, Ahmedabad and Patan.
The area of Rajkot district is the highest in the entire state at 1.50 lakh hectares. Gram accounts for 45% of all winter crops in Saurashtra.
The Agriculture Department had estimated that the area under gram would be 11.32 lakh hectares. 2200 kg per hectare and 2.5 million tonnes of gram will be produced.
The support price is Rs 51 per kg. But the current price is Rs 750 to 900 per 20 kg. The average is Rs 37 to Rs 42 per kg.
So the market price of gram is low. The goods will come in the market so the price will go down further because the tax has been imposed.
The government says the price for farmers is Rs 3,000. We give 5100.
To get fair compensation to the farmers
Last year, the average price of chana was Rs 875 to Rs 900 per yard. In which there was a loss of 100 to 125 rupees. The cost of transporting the goods to the market is Rs 2.50 per kg.
This time too, farmers are incurring a loss of Rs 10 a kg at the current market price.
Last year only 1 thousand kg of gram was bought from a farmer. Before 2014, 2600 kg was bought from a farmer.
107 crores in 34306 million tonnes at a price of 3000 in 13-14.
In 2014-15, it purchased 279611 million tonnes worth Rs 94123 crore at a cost of Rs 3100 crore.
In 2017-18, it had bought 115453 million tonnes for Rs 50799 crore at a price of Rs 4400 crore.
In 2020, permission was given to procure 57,248 tonnes of gram from Gujarat.
In 2021-22, 40 thousand MT will be procured across the country at a price of 5100.
6 lakh tonnes of chana was to be procured in Rajasthan and 1.43 lakh tonnes in Karnataka.
Chana is available in Karnataka in December, Maharashtra in September, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh in January.
The Agriculture Department estimates that Gujarat will produce 2.5 million tonnes of gram, of which hardly 50,000 tonnes will be bought on support prices. This means that the government will buy barely 2% of the gram production at the support price.
As a result of this, if there is a loss of Rs.
The Agriculture Department estimates that out of the total market price of Rs 41 per kg in a production of 250 crore kg, gram worth Rs 10,000 crore will be harvested this time.
At the support price of Rs 51, the total cost of 250 crore kg of gram becomes Rs 12,750 crore.
The total cost of 250 crore kg is Rs 17500 crore as the cost of one kg is estimated at Rs 70 with benefits to the farmers.
The farmer can get a profit of Rs 10 per kg only if the actual price of gram is Rs 70. Thus, the actual loss to the farmers could be Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 crore.