New groundnut crop arrival has already started in many areas of Saurashtra mainly in Visavadar, Una, Gondal, Kalavad and Rajkot belts. Daily arrival of 25 to 30 thousand sacks of new peanuts has started and is expected to reach one million sacks by the first day of Navratri which is starting on 26th September, and three million sacks daily are expected to arrive in markets by Dussehra. Although there is yet a threat of rain, if it rains new crops might be delayed.
Currently, in Saurashtra, the price of new groundnut bold quality is $ 0,59 to 0,71 per kg, and java quality is priced at $ 0,71 to 0,80.
This year in Saurashtra, 35% of the quality is planted which is new and it is similar to Lepakshi Kadari of Andhra Pradesh, it is bitter in taste, but the farmers have planted abundantly as they are getting good returns. Quality has been segregated at most farms by numbers and variety has been given like 39, 41, 45 and 24. The main areas are Junagadh, Rajkot, Amreli districts while G-20 and G-10 varieties have been planted more in Jamnagar and Porbandar districts.
The average yield of groundnuts this year is better compared to last year. Therefore, although groundnut cultivation has decreased, the preliminary estimate of groundnut production in Gujarat is 3.0 to 3.2 million tonnes. If the rain continues, the quality may deteriorate, but there will not be much difference in the production estimate.
Presently only five percent of groundnut units are operational but all the units are expected to be operational at the beginning of Navratri when the daily arrival of raw groundnut will be one million sacks.
Groundnut cultivation in Uttar Pradesh is expected to increase by 50 percent, groundnut crop in Rajasthan will increase by 25 percent, and new crop arrival will start from October.
It is unlikely that the price of groundnut will decrease as demand is expected to increase in the coming days.
The peanuts bold 40-50 prices were recorded at $1,31 per kg FOB.
