The cultivation of groundnut in the State has been decreasing in the State for the last few years despite growing demand for oilseed crops.
According to a top official in the Agriculture Department, farmers used to cultivate groundnut in 10.13 lakh hectares in the State during 2016-17 and its previous years. The cultivation had come down to 7.35 lakh hectares in 2017-18, and has been shrinking since then. The cultivation touched 6.6 lakh hectares by 2019-20. The groundnut cultivation picked up b 2021-22 and touched 8.25 lakh hectares, but the “majority of farmers are not keen” to go back to groundnut.
The sowing operations show a grim picture of groundnut cultivation for this year. “The target for this year is 7.30 lakh hectares of groundnut cultivation in the State. But the sowing is taken up in only 75% of the area targeted till date,” the source says.
