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Groundnut crop under stress due to poor rain

The groundnut crop in Gujarat is at risk by the lack of showers and dim prospects of rain over the next few days, traders said on Wednesday.

Rainfall in the state, especially in the groundnut growing Saurashtra region, and in central India, has been deficient and the crop outlook was not very bright, they said.

Saurashtra accounts for nearly 90 per cent of groundnut grown in Gujarat, which produces almost half of India's output of the key oilseed.

India has been hit by the worst drought in 15 years, leading to large-scale damage to crops in key grain-bowl states.

But several regions, especially in the north, have received good rains in the past few days with the revival of the southwest monsoon, which runs from June to September, after a largely dry July.

Traders said the groundnut crop, which is at the pod formation stage, needs abundant rainfall during this period.

"There are clouds for the last several days but no big rains in the region," said Vinod Patel, a trader in the state's Junagarh district, where groundnut is grown. "The crop will be saved if there are rains in the next few days."

Patel said some showers in parts of Saurashtra region over the past three weeks had made little difference to the crop and the standing crop was under stress.

"The crop outlook is not very bright but can withstand the moisture stress for the next five to 10 days," said Praveen Patel, a groundnut trader in western Rajkot district.

An official of the India Meteorological Department told Reuters: "The Saurashtra region has had only isolated rains over the past few days and we are not expecting any heavy rains over the next 48 hours."

He said several parts including Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have had good rains.

"There is no system yet to trigger rains in Gujarat, and even if the system develops, it will take two days for rains to fall," said the weather official in Ahmedabad, the state's main city.

A key trade organisation, Solvent Extractors Association of India, has said winter groundnut output was likely to fall to 4.1 million tonnes from 5.1 million due to deficient rains.

Traders said groundnut in Andhra Pradesh, which contributes nearly 20 per cent to India's total output, was also likely to see an output fall given an approximately 30 per cent drop in the crop area.

About one million tonnes of groundnut were produced in the southern state last year.

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