Unseasonal Rains Damages Wheat and Vegetable Crops in Rajasthan
Unseasonal rains and thunder showers have damaged between 3 to 20 percent of the wheat crop in India’s fourth largest producer Rajasthan.
What Type of Crops have been damaged ?
Psyllium seed, popularly known as Isabgol, suffered the maximum damage with 50 to 90 per cent of the crop damaged by the rains. Barley suffered 2 to 10 percent loss, chana 2 to 5 percent and jeera 5 to 15 percent suffered. The state government may lower its winter output estimates for wheat, barley, gram, pulses and rapeseed, as crops grown over 273,000 hectares have been damaged because of the rains.
Rajasthan had earlier estimated wheat output of 6.38 million tonnes wheat and a rapeseed crop of 3.82 million tonnes.
Top Producer of rapeseed - Accounts for 42 percent of national output.
Rajasthan surprises most observers with its highly diversified agricultural produce. The State is India’s largest producer of oilseeds (rapeseed & mustard), seed spices (coriander, cumin and fenugreek), coarse cereals and ‘bajra’ in India and accounts for close to 70% of the country’s production of guar.
The State is major producer of soybean, food grains, gram, groundnut and pulses.
Rajasthan Agriculture Industry
Rajasthan’s economy is mainly agriculture-based. About 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas and is dependent on farming.
Cereal crops such as bajra, juar, wheat and barley cover the largest cultivated area. The Indira Gandhi or Rajasthan canal provides irrigation to the arid western districts of Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Ganganagar district is irrigated with water from the Ganga canal in the Punjab.
Many kinds of fruits and vegetables are grown in Rajasthan. The agricultural farms in Rajasthan are mainly irrigated with the help of tanks and wells. This sector has given a major boost to the Economy of Rajasthan.
