With a long list of drawbacks, the farmers of a small village, Khoraj, near Sanand are giving up Bt cotton and tilting towards crops like paddy, castor, jowar and others.
With a long list of drawbacks, the farmers of a small village, Khoraj, near Sanand are giving up Bt cotton and tilting towards crops like paddy, castor, jowar and others. This small village has made a major shift from cotton to paddy, due to easy availability of water. For the past many years, Gujarat has seen a rise in area under cotton cultivation.
It is estimated that cotton sowing is being carried out in around 30 lakh hectares of land this year, which translates into more than one-third of the total land where kharif sowing is normally undertaken.
But in Khoraj almost 90% sowing has shifted to paddy in the past couple of years. This year, farmers are expecting good profit from paddy instead of cotton. Farmers in Khoraj said that Narmada canal and good rains have increased water availability.
"Earlier, we went for Bt cotton but it needs lots of pesticide and water. This in turn hardened the soil. So around three to four years ago, farmers of Khoraj shifted from Bt cotton to Kalyan cotton," said Raghu Jadav. He said now they are moving to paddy. Farmers said that the easy availability of water has made them look at other crops for better profits. Now, of the total 5,000 bigha under cultivation, over 90% is used for paddy production. Gambhir Jadav who has around 200 bigha of land in Khoraj said earlier rains were normal and labour was easily available which made cotton a viable option. "Now rains are good but very uncertain and last longer which spoils the standing cotton crop. So we mainly sow paddy and castor," he said.
"Cotton being a cash crop gives more profit. But past experience has taught us that the crop is often lost due to unseasonal rains, disease or limited availability of water," said Hitesh Chavda. He has around 100 bigha of agricultural land, said that between 2008 and 2010, over 50% of his cotton crop failed due to unseasonal rains and various diseases.
"In case of cotton, the crop cycle takes eight months and if it fails a farmer cannot sow anything else as water is not available," he said.
Jamsangh Umarsangh, who owns 150 bigha of land said good rain for the past many years has made them shift to paddy. "The arrival time for paddy is three to four months. By Diwali, we will be enchasing paddy and, post-Diwali we will start sowing the second kharif crop. Similarly, in summers too we can go for jowar, castor or any other crop," said Umarsangh. The farmers of Khoraj believe that if rains remain bountiful, their counterparts across the state will have to shift to other crops as cotton will not be feasible any more.
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