ગુજરાતી
English
Gandhinagar, 30 January 2021
A gang of traders have conspired to rob farmers by reducing castor crop prices by 40 per cent. Yet the Gujarat government has done nothing. Profits of farmers are being looted by buying goods worth Rs 1,500-1,600 for Rs 800. In fact, according to the calculations of the Swaminathan Committee, the value should be Rs 1500–1600 for the benefit to the farmers, 20 kg. According to statistics, if 90 percent of castor is sold, the robbery of the gang is estimated to be Rs 5,000 crore.
Buy at a low price
Prices have been artificially lowered for 12 consecutive days to capture castor of poor farmers. 12 days ago, the price was Rs.1300 that this gang has bought millions of tons of castor by bringing down Rs.800. Loot is going on in the futures market. The price has been reduced by 35 to 40 percent.
50 to 100 percent profit
Castor cultivation has dropped by about 40 percent this year. Behind which it is revealed that such gangs are paying less. The gangs will raise prices after 90 percent of the farmers purchase the goods. This merchant gang will be robbed of billions of rupees. Despite a 40 per cent drop, prices have instead come down. If new laws are introduced, such robbery gangs will loot more farmers.
30-40 percent reduction
In 2019, 7.40 lakh hectares were planted. Against this, in 2020, 6.38 lakh hectares were planted. Thus, 1.02 lakh hectares has been reduced. Which indicates a decrease of 13.78 per cent. The figures are official. But according to farmers, the decline has been 30 to 40 percent.
Kutch first
In Kutch, 1.26 lakh hectares were planted. Which is the highest in any one district. Is ranked second by zone.
50% state cultivation in North Gujarat
There is 3.39 lakh hectares i.e. 50% of Gujarat is castor in 6 districts of North Gujarat. In which 1 lakh hectare was planted in Banaskantha, 1 lakh hectare in Patan, 80 thousand hectare in Mehsana.
Agriculture Department’s assumptions wrong
In 2020-21, the Gujarat Agriculture Department calculated that castor would be planted in 6.43 lakh hectares. In fact, it was 6.38 lakhs, thus according to the Department of Agriculture, the area is 5,000 hectares less. But according to the farmers, no more than 5 lakh hectares of castor were planted.
Yield per hectare
With production of 2293 kg per hectare in 2020-21, the total production before planting by the Department of Agriculture was expected to be 14.74 lakh tonnes. But even less production has been done.
10 million tons production
According to the farmers, the actual production does not exceed 1 million tonnes. Thus, not only planting is low, but production is also low. Whom this gang knew well. Yet farmers have been looted by breaking prices.
Loot of 5 thousand crores
Production of 75 to 100 crore kg yields Rs 40 per kg. Which is actually Rs 80. With a total production of 100 crore kilograms, farmers can get Rs 4,000 to 6,000 crores. Which was actually to get 8 to 12 thousand crores rupees. Thus, on an average Rs 5,000 crore can be looted. This can be a disadvantage if all the goods are sold and the gang buys them. This is just a statistical assumption.
Betting gangs of North Gujarat
The drop in prices is also attributed to the trade gangs of North Gujarat. This gang is active around Deesa-Tharad. These 3 districts have suffered the most due to price-breaking gangs. Despite supporting the BJP government, these three districts have been a poor condition.
Saurashtra and South Gujarat survived
Farmers in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Kheda districts have also suffered well. Due to the North Gujarat gang, farmers in Saurashtra did not plant anywhere except in Surendra Nagar in the last monsoon. Casters do not grow in South Gujarat. So the farmers of Saurashtra, South Gujarat have survived.
