Junagadh Agricultural University - plan Cattle Breeding Farm at Amreli

Junagadh Agricultural University (JAU) is planning to set up a Bull Mother Farm to upgrade the Gir breed of cow and Jafrabadi breed of buffalo at Pratappura village in Amreli district which will rear high pedigree bulls and will supply doses of their semen across the Gujarat state and India.

Gujarat State Agriculture Minister Dilip Sanghani laid the foundation stone of the farm before few days ago.

The farm is expected to be operational within a year.

The project is under the state government.

The farm will come up on 30 hectares of land. The total project outlay is Rs 17.94 crore.

As per Latest Dr PU Gajbhiye Interviews, who is Reseach Scientist at Cattle Breeding Farm of JAU in Junagadh City said that,

“We will raise 200 cows and buffaloes each at the farm. High pedigree bulls will be identified from these herds and their semen doses will be supplied to cattle breeders and dairy farmers of the region for artificial insemination (AI).”

“Ideally, a bull can serve maximum three females per week. However, 1,000 doses of semen can be prepared AI from one-time semen fliching from a bull. This will help raise a high pedigree of milch animals.”

Both the breeds, native to Saurashtra region, are high yielding.

“A Gir cow yields seven to eight lit res of milk every day and the fat content is 4.5 per cent. On the other hand, a Jafrabadi buffalo gives eight to nine liters milk per day and the fat content is as high as 10 per cent to 12 per cent"

As per Latest Dr AJ Kachhia Interviews, who is director of state animal husbandry department said that, “The aim of the farm is to upgrade the two breeds by way of rearing high pedigree bulls and meet the demand for their semen in Gujarat and other states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh etc.”

Minister Sanghani also said in a release on Wednesday that farmers and dairymen of the region would get benefit from the farm as milk productivity of their animal would go up with the upgradation in the breed.

Saurashtra Rainfall News - has got only 6% rainfall till now

5th July 2011, Tuesday - It rained in parts Districts of Saurashtra, including Rajkot, Jamnagar, Surendranagar, Amreli and Bhavnagar.

Saurashtra region has received only 6.13 per cent of its average annual rainfall till July 5 according to the disaster management authority which is not enough to begin agricultural operations in the region.

Junagadh Districts and Porbandar Districts have received good rainfall in comparison with other districts.

Meanwhile, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said that light to moderate rain or thundershowers would occur at few places in all the districts of Saurashtra region, Diu and isolated places in Kutch district.

Weather officials said rainfall activity would increase in the next two days.

The worst-hit districts are Bhavnagar and Surendranagar, which hardly received 11 mm rainfall till date in this season.

According to flood control room officials, on Wednesday, major rainfall was reported in Vanthali (22 mm), Savarkundla(12 mm), Visavadar (7 mm), Amreli (3 mm), Junagadh (3 mm). On Tuesday evening, the first showers lashed Rajkot city and 20 mm rainfall was recorded.

Junagadh Police Range Inter Districts Sports Meet 2011

From 10th February 2011, Thursday, The two day Junagadh Police range Inter Districts Sports Meet 2011 began which is organized by Junagadh District Police Staff Department.

Policemen from four districts - Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh and Porbandar -will take part in various competitions. More than 500 participants, from constables to superintendents of police (SPs) will participate in the two-day event.

As per Latest Praveen Sinha Interviews, who is inspector general of police (IGP) of Junagadh Range, said that, "There will be about 22 sporting events and this time, we have included boxing, swimming and table tennis as well. We are organizing the range level sports competitions for the second consecutive year. The idea is to create a sporting culture within the police department. Fitness, stamina and good health are important aspects of better policing. Sports also help create team spirit."

The event started at 8 am on Thursday in presence of Vikas Sahay, (IPS), director, Sports Authority of Gujarat.

All the winners in each category will be given prizes at concluding ceremony.
Director General of police (DGP) Chitranjan Singh will be present at the concluding ceremony.

Junagadh News – Cotton Quality may damaged by Rain after Diwali

Ginners are worried lot because of heavy rain that lashed parts of Saurashtra region appears to have caused considerable damage to the cotton growers as the rainfall will have adverse impact on the quality of the cotton.

Unseasonal rainfall will play spoilsport for the crops, especially cotton.

As per Latest Bharat Wala who is president of Saurashtra Ginners Association that represents 540 ginning units in the region, said that, “The rainfall will have reverse impact on quality of cotton production. We are getting reports of impact of rainfall on cotton from various parts of the region. As of now, we can't say exactly but I am afraid the quality will suffer a lot after this rain," said Wala. He said the region produces 70 per cent of total cotton in the state and that is why the rain was causing worry to farmers and ginners in the region. "It is expected that 1.30 lakh bales of cotton will be produced in the state in this season”

Rainfall was reported in Bhavnagar District, Amreli District and Junagadh Districts. According to district flood control room officials, in Amreli district, Savarkundla received 56 mm rainfall, Khambha received 55 mm, Dhari received 41 mm, Jafrabad received 45 mm, Amreli 25 mm, Liliya 24 mm and Babra received 11 mm rainfall. Apart from Amreli district, parts of Junagadh district, mostly coastal areas, received significant rainfall. Officials said that Una received 44 mm rainfall, Talala (19 mm) Kodinar (57 mm), Keshod (13 mm), (15 mm) and MangrolSutrapada received 14 mm rainfall.

Junagadh News – Amreli is rival as host of lions in Gujarat

Gujarat's Junagadh District seems to getting tough competition from Amreli District, a neighboring district, as a host of the coveted Asiatic lions. As many as 108 lions have been sighted in Amreli which is second only to Junagadh City where 270 have been recorded.

Incidentally, the Gir National Park and Sanctuary is located in Junagadh. While Bhavnagar's grasslands are emerging as a favorite of the king of the jungle, not a single lion has been recorded in Porbandar district.

The latest census has reported the existence of 77 cubs less than one year old, and 75 cubs aged less than three. "40% of the lion population is 'youth', similar to India's human population," Modi quipped as he announced the census results on Sunday.

Rajkot Junagadh Amreli District Received Untimely Rain Hailstones

Amid the heat wave in the state, some parts of Saurashtra, including Rajkot District, Junagadh District and Amreli District, received untimely showers and hailstones on Thursday late evening.

While roads in Jetpur City in Rajkot District were covered by hailstones, traffic was disturbed in Dhoraji City following uprooting of trees on the state highway. The fall of hailstones, which lasted nearly half an hour on Thursday, took the Jetpur City residents by surprise.

The fall of the hailstones brought down the temperature in the town which was reeling under the scorching heat of 41 to 42 degree Celsius. Jamkandrona, also in Rajkot district, also saw fall of hailstones. Following the high speed wind and showers, many trees were reportedly uprooted on the state highway between Dhoraji and Jamkandorna.

According to the district police control room, it took a couple of hours to move the uprooted trees and clear the road for traffic on the highway. According to Met department reports, several villages in Jamkandorna, Jetpur and Dhoraji talukas received 0.5 to 0.75 inch rainfall.

Bagasara Town in Amreli district also received showers along with high-speed wind. Following a heavy shower, the roads in the town were flooded with water. Besides, Dhari and Kukavav in Junagadh District also received a sharp spell of showers.

Asiatic Lions Census India – 200 cameras for Sasan Gir National Park

The 13th Asiatic Lion Population Estimates 2010 will begin on April 24 in Greater Gir Sanctuary, which includes Gir National Park and Sanctuary. The area is spread in four - Junagadh Districts, Amreli Districts, Bhavnagar Districts and Porbandar Districts.

Principal sectary forest and environment department SK Nanda informed the media on Tuesday that the population estimates this time will be different from the earlier exercises.

"For the first time, we are using 100 GPS equipment, 200 cameras and 100 special camera teams for making an accurate documentation of the lions and keeping the exercise error free.

Another first is that the exercise will also incorporate Greater Gir," Nanda said and added that the many non-forest staff as ex-government officials, doctors, journalists, nature lovers would participate in the exercise.

"We have identified 450 locations in the Greater Gir area where enumerators will take estimate of the lions," he said.

Giving details of schedule, Pradeep Khanna, PCCF, Gujarat, said the exercise will start on April 24 and continue till April 27.The findings will be announced on April 29. "About 1,600 people will take part in the survey, out of which 100 will be volunteers," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, senior IFS officer RV Asari, the nodal officer for the survey, said, in order to make a comprehensive survey, the Greater Gir Jungle area has been divided into seven regions, 28 zones and 100 sub-zones.

Somnath Mandir Gujarat India – with wireless surveillance system

Gujarat State Police has allotted Rs 50 lakh for purchase and implement a wireless surveillance system on the Somnath Mandir Coastal Area.

The system once installed would keep vigil over five nautical mile coast from Somnath Mandir. Gujarat Police Chief S.S.Khandwawala, Coast Guard (Gujarat) Chief Satyakumar Sharma, DIG Pravin Sinha and District Chief of police from Junagadh District, Porbandar District and Amreli District took a glance of system in Junagadh City where cameras were put at five places for demonstration.

Gujarat State Police Chief Khandwawala briefed the reporters that this system would connect all 26 police stations of Junagadh State. After planting such cameras on all main roads of the district, the police would be able to trace suspects from Somnath Temple to Junagadh.

Khandwawala said the district of Junagadh has been selected as model district and Rs 50 lakh are to be allotted for that.

Khandwawala and state Coast Guard Chief Satyakumar Sharma took area survey of Junagadh district’s coastal areas from Keshod Town. They also visited Somnath.

Asiatic Lions Population Sasan Gir Jungle Junagadh District Gujarat India

The suspense that has built up over the last five years over the lion population in Sasan Gir Jungle will end within 72 hours of April 24, when the scheduled Asiatic Lions census in the region begins. But the exact number by which the population of the Asiatic Lions in Gir Wildlife Forest has risen will be known only on May 1, when Gujarat turns 50 as an independent state.

The census will be carried out by a team of 1,300 volunteers who will be joined by senior state foresters and big cat experts drawn from all over the country. Spotting the lion king was never easy but foresters are hoping that technology will come to their aid this time.

This is the first time that the lion census is being conducted on such a massive scale over a large area and much more scientifically than in previous years. The laborers, forest staff and volunteers involved in the census will fan out over 300 beats carved out of a 5,000 sq km area called the Greater Gir.

Seven regions were identified; these were then divided into zones, sub-zones and beats. This is also the first time that the ‘Greater Gir’ region which includes areas in – Amreli Districts, Junagadh Districts, Bhavnagar Districts and Porbandar Districts- is to be covered for the census. Earlier, it was restricted to the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary spread over an area of 1,412 sq km.

The inclusion of other areas for the census is a restrained admission by the establishment that the lion habitat has now expanded much beyond the sanctuary area. The majestic beast is now steadily reclaiming its traditional corridor all the way from Porbandar to Bhavnagar.

The last lion census of 2005, which stated that the lion population in the Gir sanctuary was 359, was conducted by identification of pug marks. This time the methodology of ‘direct sighting’ will be used. Under this method, specific body marks will be identified and uploaded into the GPS device carried by each team. This data will be available to all other teams simultaneously.

“It will reduce redundancies to a great extent, but not completely,” said principal chief conservator of forests, Pradip Khanna. Ironically, it might be relatively easier to enumerate the lion king in summer as they tend to hover close to the water holes because of the heat.

Saurashtra Kutch News – about Narmada Water Pipelines

With soaring temperature, water looks a distant mirage in Saurashtra and Kutch where many villages and small towns are reeling under acute water shortage for want of connectivity with Narmada Canal Water Pipelines.

While the state government claims to have supplied Narmada pipeline water to 10,000-odd villages and more than 100 cities, Amreli City, Junagadh City, Bhavnagar City and Surendranagar City, Morbi City and Kutch are getting water supply only once in four or 10 days.

"If some areas are hit by water scarcity, we will do our best to supply water there through pipelines. In fact, the administration has already been instructed to take necessary steps to ensure adequate water supply in those areas. That apart, collectors of several districts hit by water paucity have been instructed to ensure fodder supply for animal husbandry in the affected areas to be made available at cheaper rates from the forest department," said State Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel.

According to Gujarat State Water Resources Minister Nitin Patel, 1,100 cusec water is released on daily basis in Narmada canal to meet the requirement of Saurashtra and Kutch. "It is true that most of the reservoirs are drying up. Whatever water left in them has been conserved for drinking purpose. Yet, we are trying to find other alternative means to upgrade water supply in the affected areas. The alternative means could be repairing of hand pumps and sending water tankers," Patel said.

The water reservoirs report inadequate water level as the state registered only 76 per cent rain fall last year. After the last year monsoon, the water level in reservoirs was measured only 50 per cent, following which, the government ordered that the water in reservoirs be kept reserved for potable water. At present, there is only 24 per cent water left in 195 reservoirs across the state, which, it is feared, may not last till June 25.

Rajkot Junagadh Kutch Porbandar Water Shortage Summer News Gujarat India

Cultivation area for summer crops like sesame and pulses has shrunk by 1 lakh hectares.

The Saurashtra region and Kutch region, which is reeling under a drinking water scarcity, is now facing the problem of unavailability of irrigation water, leaving the farmers high and dry.

The total cultivation area for summer crops like sesame, pulses, millet and groundnut has shrunk by one lakh hectares, implying the yield will go down by at least 50 per cent.

Sowing in — Rajkot District, Jamnagar District, Junagadh District, Amreli District, Surendranagar District, Porbandar District, Bhavnagar District and Kutch District — has been over. The total cultivation area has touched the 1.62 lakh hectare mark, nearly 1 lakh hectare less than the previous year. Last year, the cultivation area for the main summer crops remained around 2.64 lakh hectares.

Bhartiya Kisan Sangh Secretary Laxman Patolia said: “Water is not available to the farmers either through bore wells or the pipeline supply. Farmers cannot even think of sowing and cultivation.”

A senior agriculture department official said on condition of anonymity that the water crisis has led to a shrinking of the area under cultivation.

“The farmers are going to miss one season. For the past 5-6 years, the rainfall had been good; the farmers could take summer crops also. But this is not the case this time, which means a big revenue loss for the agriculture sector,” Patolia added.

Sesame cultivation has been the worst affected. The sowing area has gone down by 67 per cent — from 63,772 to 21,077 hectares. In the last couple of years, sesame has emerged as one of the best cash crop for farmers in Gujarat. But this time, the water scarcity has changed the scenario a bit.

Junagadh City tops the list of areas under sesame cultivation at 6,785 hectares followed by JamnagarCity and Surendranagar City. These were the districts that received better rainfall.

In other districts, sesame sowing has remained between 500 and 1,500 hectares. Cultivation of black gram (urad dal) has gone down by 66 per cent — the sowing area has shrunk from 1,771 to 598 hectares. In case of groundnut, the sowing area has shrunk by 55 per cent.

The sowing of millet has been reduced by 15 per cent, from 17,592 to 15,094 hectares. In Junagadh and Surendranagar districts, millet has been sowed on 4,750 and 3,975 hectares, which were 6,785 and 5,550 hectares last year.

BT Cotton Seeds Amreli Bhavnagar Junagadh Rajkot District News Gujarat India

Monsanto study says crop in four Gujarat districts showed susceptibility to pest.

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) is learnt to have received a report confirming pink bollworm developing resistance to BT cotton in four districts in Gujarat. The apex regulator of genetically modified (GM) crops is likely to consider these findings by Monsanto and Mahyco scientists in its next meeting.

Monsanto has revealed that in 2009 it had found BT cotton crop in four districts — Amreli District, Bhavnagar District, Junagadh District and Rajkot District — demonstrate unusual susceptibility to pink bollworm.

“During field monitoring of the 2009 cotton crop in Gujarat, Monsanto and Mahyco scientists detected unusual survival of pink bollworm in first-generation single-protein Bollgard cotton. Testing was conducted to assess for resistance to Cry1Ac, the BT protein in Bollgard cotton, and pink bollworm resistance to Cry1Ac was confirmed in the four districts,” Monsanto stated in a press statement issued in Mumbai on Friday.

“Gujarat is one of nine states in India where cotton is grown. Till date, no insect resistance to Cry1Ac has been confirmed outside the four districts,” he stated.

Single-protein Cry1Ac products continue to control bollworm pests other than pink bollworm in the four districts in Gujarat. In addition, no instance of insect resistance in any of India’s cotton growing states, including the four districts in Gujarat, has been observed in case of Bollgard II.

“Pests developing resistance is an expected event for a dynamic system. However, scientists now need to look into the spread of this and get behind the reasons and the nature of resistance,” Dr K C Bansal of National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, IARI, Delhi, said.

With the debate on allowing commercial cultivation of BT-brinjal raging, this development has created a challenge for scientists working in the field of agricultural bio-technology. BT corn and BT soya crops have not yet demonstrated such resistance anywhere in the world.

Incidentally, this pest resistance has been observed in Gujarat, where spurious Bt cotton was reported to have got into the fields much before the GEAC approved the first such GM crop in the country.

“Resistance is natural and expected, so measures to delay resistance are important. Among the factors that may have contributed to pink bollworm resistance to the Cry1Ac protein in Gujarat are limited refuge planting and early use of unapproved Bt cotton seeds, planted prior to GEAC approval of Cry1Ac cotton, which may have had lower protein expression levels,” Monsanto expressed its apprehensions and left the matter to be examined by GEAC-approved panel for the same.

Porbandar Junagadh Rajkot Saurashtra District News Gujarat India

Pace of peace to pick up from Bapu's land.

Peace activists, writers, religious leaders and senior police officials are all set to go to grassroots level to spread the message of peace in the society.

A Shanti-sadbhavna and Samvad Yatra' is being taken out by Sadbhavna Forum from Mahatma Gandhi's birthplace Kirti Mandir in Porbandar to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. The (vehicle) yatra will be flagged off on December 14 by religious leader Morari Bapu. The forum is an open platform of people who work for peace and communal harmony in the state.

"During the 20-day yatra, former member of Parliament (MP) Ramjisinh, Narayan Desai, Gunvant Shah, Kumarpal Desai,Maulana Abbas Sahib Khui, Anna Hajare, Shahbuddin Rathod, Chandrasekhar Dharmadhikari, Kulinchandra Yagnik, PK Laheri, Mehbub Desai, director general of police SS Khandvawala, deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Hasmukh Patel, Sanath Mehta, Swami Agnivesh, Vidyut Joshi and writer Narrottam Palan among others will interact with people,'' said one of the organizers Sanjay Bhavsar.

Bhavsar and his wife Tula have devoted their life to work for peace in the state through Vishwagram' at Jagudan village in Mehsana district.

The yatra will pass from Junagadh City, Amreli City, Savarkundla City, Mahuva City, Bhavnagar City, Sanosara, Rajkot City, Surendranagar City, Deesa, Palanpur, Mehsana, Visnagar, Himmatnagar, Modasa, Gandhinagar City and Ahmedabad City.

"At each station, dignitaries will interact with local people, students and teachers about conflict issues. The speakers will try to resolve their perception towards certain communities and other issues. A street play Parth ne kaho utare ban, have Buddh ej kalyan' will be performed at every place,'' Bhavsar said.

"The aim is to work for peace. Generally we rush to places like fire fighters when riots break out, but after that we forget about it. But after 2002 riots, we realized that we need to work more during the peace time and strengthen it at grassroots level by establishing peace committees,'' Bhavsar added.

Amreli Junagadh City District News Gujarat India

Amreli farmer develops wilt resistant groundnut variety which matures early.

A bout of stem rot infestation that damaged his standing groundnut cultivation did not deter this 38-year-old farmer from Amreli City.

Progressive and innovative in his thoughts, Dhiraj Thummar used this failure to turnaround and fights back the infestations.

Thummar, thus, developed Dhiraj 101 a groundnut variety selected from the GG 20 variety which is not only resistant to wilt due to stem rot but goes a step further and matures faster.

For his innovation, Thummar also bagged a National Award by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) at 5th national biennial grassroots technological innovation and traditional knowledge awards 2009 at Delhi.

Dhiraj 101', once sown, flowers in 28 to 30 days and matures within 95-105 days. A 30-45 cm high and semi-spreading type of crop, it bears 35-40 pods per plant with a seed rate of 90-100 kg per hectare. "If sown at rate of 3,200-3,500 kg per hectare, the yield is higher than the locally cultivated varieties and so is the oil content once milled. It also performs well in an average monsoon and less irrigation conditions," says Thummar, a resident of Pipalag village in Amreli district, proudly.

Farmers of the region are known to have switched over from groundnut to BT cotton due to the decreasing yield in groundnut. Another major cause of switch is the disease of wilt, locally known as Sukado' which reduces yield substantially.

"In 2004, I had sown GG-20 groundnut variety. The whole crop got infested with stem rot disease resulting in wilting and almost complete crop failure. However, I identified a few plants that were not affected and realized that these may have some inherent property that makes them stem rot resistant, I harvested and kept the seeds of these plants separately and sew them in the following season. I continued this research by continuous screening for three consecutive years and finally got a produce which was stem rot and wilt resistant," explains Thummar.

NIF facilitated field trial of Dhiraj101' at the Oil Seed Research Station in Junagadh. The report from there confirms Thummar's claims.

"Soil conservation and crops that requires less irrigation is an urgent need for farmers to keep agriculture sustainable in changing climate condition,'' says Thummar. "The innovation is an important aspect for sustainable agriculture. Groundnut sowing also helps for better soil conservation. It is also considered good for animals."

Professor at Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) and executive vice-chairperson of NIF Anil Gupta says, "Many technical innovations have been centered on groundnut crop in Saurashtra region. It's an urgent need to invent and popularize the crop varieties, which requires less water and more productivity in present perspective.''

Thummar has also distributed seeds to some farmers in Amreli District, Rajkot District and Bhavnagar districts and received positive feedback.

Kutch Saurashtra Cities Districts Latest News Gujarat India

Dew drops in Saurashtra, Kutch Districts.

Asphalt roads in the city were awash with dew drops as cold wave swept across Saurashtra and Kutch on Thursday. However, the mercury dipped only in early morning and before sunset. The day temperature remained between 26 and 31 degree Celsius in major cities.

"There is a difference of 16 degrees in temperature. While nights and early mornings are cold, it becomes somewhat sweltering during the day. The dew drop generally occurs where there are clusters of trees," said weather expert DD Sahu.

Apart from Rajkot, fog enveloped Jamnagar City, Amreli City and Junagadh City. Cities with minimum temperature include Bhavnagar City (14.6 degree Celsius), Amreli (14.8), Jamnagar (16.1), Junagadh (16.2) and Rajkot (17.7).

Rajkot Junagadh Jamnagar Saurashtra Kutch Districts Winter News Gujarat India

Foggy Thursday morning sets in winter pace.

A fog enveloped several cities in Saurashtra and Kutch in the wee hours of morning and late evening on Wednesday. The lowest temperature was recorded in Deesa in Kutch, which recorded 13.1degrees Celsius, followed by Gandhinagar 13.2, Naliya 14.6.

The minimum temperature recorded in Rajkot city was 17.7, while the maximum was 32.1 degrees Celsius. Bhavnagar recorded maximum temperature at 31.0 and minimum at 14.6 degrees Celsius. Amreli was shivering at minimum of 15.8 while it recorded maximum of 32.6 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave seemed to have skirted Porbandar, which recorded the minimum temperature at 21 and maximum at 32.5 degrees Celsius. Similarly, Junagadh also remained at the minimum temperature of 21.8 degrees Celsius.

However, woolens were out in Jamnagar where the minimum temperature remained at 16.1 while the maximum temperature was recorded at 30 degrees Celsius.

In Bhuj, the minimum temperature was at 19, while the maximum was at 32.0 degrees Celsius.

Junagadh Rajkot Porbandar Amreli Kandala Port Kutch Winter News Samachar Saurashtra Gujarat India

Cold wave grips Saurashtra, Kutch Districts.

Cold wave swept Saurashtra and Kutch on Friday, and Naliya in Kutch recorded the lowest temperature of 9 degrees Celsius. Bhuj recorded the minimum temperature at 15.4 degrees Celsius.

According to the state meteorological department, the cold wave precipitated by heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir is affecting several parts of Saurashtra region including Jamnagar City, Junagadh City, Rajkot City and Amreli City.

Jamnagar was the second coldest city with the minimum temperature recorded at 12.6 degrees Celsius. In Junagadh, the maximum temperature was 33.5 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 13.2 degrees Celsius.

Woolens were taken out in Rajkot City with the mercury dipping at 15.2 degrees Celsius. Also, shivering with cold were people of Bhavnagar City (17.2 degrees Celsius), Kandala Port (17.6 degrees Celsius), Veraval City (18.4 degrees Celsius) and Porbandar City (19 degrees Celsius).

Junagadh Jamnagar Saurashtra News Samachar Gujarat India

Groundnut yield plummets, hits 800 oil mills.

India's groundnut bowl is shrinking, both in terms of the area under cultivation and the yield.

On stake is the survival of more than 800 oil mills in the Saurashtra Kutch region, which accounts for 35 per cent of the country’s total production of five million tonnes of groundnut oilseed.

The slide began a couple of years ago, and this season, the plummet was steep and unchecked. The scanty rainfall has accounted for an all-time low yield this season.

The Saurashtra Oil Millers Association (SOMA) estimate the fall at over 45 per cent, which is now likely to hasten the en masse closure of mills, with groundnut oil prices expected to touch Rs 1,500 per 15 kg by Diwali.

“Owing to the shortage of kernels, groundnut is likely to touch Rs 1,500 by Diwali,” said SOMA president Ukabhai Patel. At present, groundnut oil costs Rs 1,100 per 15 kg. SOMA secretary Samir Shah said, “More than three out of four of the 800 mills will remain shut this season.”

With only 25 per cent of mills likely to reopen the coming season, SOMA wants the government to lift the ban on groundnut exports in a bid to encourage the cultivators.

Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the major producers of groundnut oil in the country. The coastal belt of Saurashtra tops this list. Besides, groundnut is also grown at Vadodara, Bharuch and Surat districts.

At its Annual General Meeting on Sunday, SOMA estimated groundnut yield this season to be between 9.5 to 10 lakh tones, 45 per cent less than the 17 lakh tones yield in the previous year.

The area under groundnut cultivation in Saurashtra-Kutch has also gone down from 26 lakh hectares in 2002 to 19 lakh hectares, reducing production from 26 to 19 lakh tonnes.

According to the government agriculture department figures, the area under groundnut cultivation stood at 17 lakh hectares this season.

This year, barring Jamnagar and Junagadh districts, the yield in the other six districts including Rajkot, Amreli, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Porbandar and Kutch is not even 40,000 tonnes on an average. For both Junagadh and Jamnagar, which recorded more than average rainfall, the yield is expected to be around three lakh tonnes.

Incidentally, the politically-powerful SOMA, which once decided the composition and course of the state governments, has now been reduced to pleading with the government to increase the import duties on other oils, for their sheer survival.

Soma had once rocked the Chimanbhai Patel Government, forcing the then minister Ashok Bhatt to resign when the industry was not happy. But, with the License Raj no longer in existence, the industry has lost its clout. The plummeting yield has made matters only worse for it.

“We are going to make a representation to the Centre to allow exports of groundnut and to impose import duty on other edible oils that have flooded the market,” said Ukabhai Patel.

Junagadh Tourism District Saurastra News

Fresh inflow in dams reverses Saurashtra’s water crisis Moderate to heavy rains in Saurashtra have brought much awaited respite for the residents of the region.

While most of the120 dams in the region were about to hit rock bottom because of scant rain in June, half of them have now registered fresh inflow even as 11 dams have been put on high alert.

As per the latest status, the water crisis is almost over for Porbandar and Jamnagar Districts and is relaxed for rajkot and Junagadh.

In the past three days, 58 dams have registered fresh inflows.

These include 39 in Rajkot, Jamnagar and Surendranagar and 19 in Amreli, Bhavnagar and Porbandar.

In all, 129 irrigation projects have recorded fresh inflow bringing respite to farmers during this sowing time.

According to Gujarat Water Supply and Sewage Board sources, 120 dams in the region were left with only 20 per cent of water quantum and most of them were about to hit the rock bottom.

With several dams in Rajkot district having registered fresh inflow, the district has received fresh water quantum of over 3,000 million cubic feet (MCFT). With Nyari-I dam receiving significant amount of fresh inflow, Rajkot residents have heaved a sigh of relief.

With over 300 MCFT fresh quantum of water, the water level in the dam has touched 8 feet. “While this dam was about to hit rock bottom, now it has received quantum of water bringing respite to the citizens.

This water quantum is expected to last more than four months,’’ said RMC city engineer N H Waghela. As many as 11 dams in various districts have been put on high alert.

These dams include Sorthi, Vartu, Khodapipar, Sonmati, Bhansar, Fodala, Fulzar, Pingali, Sonmati-2, Dayminsar and Fodar Nes.

“These dams are now holding water quantum to the tune of 80 per cent of their capacity,” said a GWSSB official.

He said an alert has been raised in many villages located in the downstream of these dams.