PRODUCTION OF gram in Gujarat is set to almost double as compared to the previous year thanks to a significant increase in sowing area and a sizable jump in per-hectare yield, the state government’s latest forecast says.
As per the Second Advance Estimates of the state government for the year 2021-22 made public recently, farmers of the state area likely to harvest 24.90 lakh tonnes (lt) of gram (chana) in the Rabi harvesting season 2022.
This is more than a million tonnes higher than 14.37 lt production recorded as per the Final Advance Estimates for the year 2020-21.
The estimated huge jump in total production of this important pulse crop is based on the gram acreage shooting up to 11.32 lakh hectare (lh) this Rabi season from 8.16 lh recorded the previous season.
The state government also estimates a significant jump in yield—from 1.761 tonnes per hectare in 2020-21 to 2.490 tonnes this season.
The 11.32 lh chana acreage this season represents around 28 per cent increase in year-on-year sowing and more than two-thirds increase as compared to the previous three year’s acreage of 4.66 lh.
Incidentally, the Central government has been increasing the minimum support price (MSP) every year in recent years. It has fixed MSP of this pulse crop at Rs 5,230.
The Central government has also been procuring gram from farmers of Gujarat regularly for the past six years and has plans to do the same this year too.
Farmers’ registration for this year’s procurement started on the first of this month and is to go on till the end of this month.
The Second Advance Estimates of the state government also peg the groundnut production of the state in Kharif season 2021 at 41.66 lt. That is almost 2 lt higher than the 39.94 lh estimated by the government at the beginning of Kharif harvesting season in the beginning of October last year.
Overall, Rabi sowing has been recorded at 47.44 lh which is 122 per cent of normal area.
Gujarat: Govt pegs two-fold rise in gram production
