ગુજરાતી
English
Gandhinagar, 6 July 2021
There has been no rain in Gujarat for the last 10 days. There is no possibility of the Meteorological Department coming till 12 July 2021. Thus, at least 50 percent of the 45 lakh hectares that do not receive 20 days of rainfall are at risk.
Irrigation of rained crops can also reduce production by 50 percent.
Sowing was done on 24 lakh hectares on June 28. On July 5, 2021, 40 to 45 lakh hectare area is being cultivated. A total of 85 lakh hectares are sown in the monsoon. In which 48.72 lakh hectares were sown on 6 June 2020 and 40 lakh hectares in 6 June 2019.
The state has received an average of 5 inches of rain, which accounts for 15 per cent of the total monsoon season.
Huge expenditure is incurred on precious seeds, fertilisers, labour, pesticides, irrigation. Farmers bear 70 percent of the total cost of monsoon crops.
Gujarat Seeds Corporation had sold a total of 51 thousand quintals of groundnut seeds of 11 varieties to the farmers. The corporation sells seeds of 80 varieties of 20 crops. It provides 2.50 lakh quintals of seeds worth Rs 250 crores for oilseeds, cereals, cash crops, pulses, spices etc.
The Seed Corporation accounts for 25% of the seeds sold in Gujarat. That is, out of 10 lakh quintals, 7.50 lakh quintal seeds are produced by a private company, university or farmer himself. Farmers buy seeds worth Rs 2,000 crore from the market, as well as Shankar seeds worth Rs 1,000 crore and other similar Bt seeds. Equal value farmers grow their own seeds in their fields. In this way seeds worth Rs 4 to 5 thousand crores are produced. Which can cause maximum loss to the farmers.
The cost of a packet of 450 grams of BT 3-4 is Rs 1400, the cost of a packet of BT2 is Rs 750. 10 lakh packets are sold in Gujarat. It is estimated that Bt cotton seeds are sold at Rs 300 crore per acre per packet. A total of Rs 500 crore is spent on cotton seeds alone.
The Seed Certification Agency had produced 7.33 quintals of biryani in 32 crops in the year 2010-11. It is believed to have certified 10 lakh quintals of seed for 2021-22. About the same number of seeds are produced by Bt cotton and the farmers themselves. Thus in the 2021-22 season, excluding wheat seeds, 18 lakh quintal seeds have been sown in the field. Against which there is a great danger.
The Seed Certification Agency certifies 30,000 quintals of groundnut, 60,000 quintals of indigenous cotton, 2.50 lakh quintals of wheat, 55,000 quintals of rice, 25,000 quintals of soybean, 13,000 quintals of mugs and 17,000 quintals of chana seeds.
