Farmers in distress as rains affect crops, biz

The huge rainfall in the state has caused a major distress to the farmers. The recent spell of showers has damaged groundnut, paddy and pulses across the state. This impact will not only pull down the production, the quality of the output will also worsen which will directly affect the income of the farmers. The net cash loss in groundnut is estimated at 50-70 percent, while for paddy, the damage is around Rs 75 crore in southern Gujarat. Also as the by-product of groundnut — which is used for fodder — has also taken a severe hit, farmers fear they might have to buy fodder from the open market.

Parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra received late rains last week when the groundnut crop was ready for harvest. "Not only will the production of groundnut go down, the oil content in groundnut will also slip. Fodder is a by-product of groundnut, making the farmers self-sufficient. Now, we will have to buy fodder. While the income will dip by almost 35 - 40 percent, additional expenditure will result in a net income loss of about 50 - 70 percent for individual farmers," said Bakul Patel, a farmer of Halariya village of Bagasra taluka of Amreli.

The talukas that received rains recently include Dhari, Bagasra, Gir, Talala, Somnath, Bhavnagar, Rajula, Talaja, Amreli, Vanthli, Keshod, Visavadar, Mendarda, Amreli and Junagadh.

The local farmers have been adversely affected. Another farmer, Hamir Ram, of Mandrakhi village in Vanthali taluka, of Junagadh district, said the late rains will also increase the requirement and cost of labour to remove the wastage.