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GUJARAT

Geographical position and climate

The total geographical area of Gujarat is 196 lakh hectares, occupies 6% of the total geographical
area of India. The state extends from 20°01’- 24°07’ N latitude and 68°04'-74°04' E longitude.
Gujarat located in the east side of the nation, have 1600 km range of longest coastline. In Gujarat
mainly climate varied from dry, semi dry and in south region (Valsad, Dang, Surat districts) semi
dry to low humid. The minimum annual average rainfall 300 mm is noted in Kutch and the
maximum is noted in the Dang district up to 2000 mm. Minimum weekly temperature (12 °C) in
January month whereas, maximum average temperature around 40°C in May is recorded. Under
total geographical area of the state, only 9.5% of forest area is found in Gujarat.

Soils

The state is endowed with a wide range of macro and microclimates, physiography, landforms,
geology and vegetation that have an influence on the genesis of soil. The soils of Gujarat are
divided mainly in eight Agro-Eco-Subregions on the basis of soil type, status and climate which
helpful for management of important crops. Black soils are developed from granite and gneiss
parent material. Shallow black soils are light grey in colour, sandy clay loam in texture and poor
in fertility. Medium black soils are found in some areas of Sabarkantha, Panchmahals and
Saurashtra region. The soils are silt loam to clay in texture and neutral to alkaline in reaction. In
soils of Gujarat, available N status is low to medium, variable in P and sufficient in K. In
secondary element sulphur and in micronutrients zinc and iron found sufficient in most of the
area of Gujarat. Mostly north-middle Gujarat light and calcareous soil of Saurashtra area have

mostly low nutrient contain. Different crops are grown on soils of the variable fertility.

Crops and cropping systems

The major crops grown in different part of Gujarat are bajra, wheat, jowar, maize, cotton,
groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, fodder and horticulture crops. As per the cropping pattern in
Gujarat, total cereals, pulses, oilseeds, horticulture crops and fodder crops group accounts for
about 32.2, 6.7, 23.4, 10.6, and 8.4% of GCA, respectively. Among the cereals, wheat (11.9%),
bajra (6.6%), rice (6.1%) and maize (4.3%) are the major crops. Among the oilseed, groundnut
(14.4%), caster (3.7%), rapeseeds and mustard (1.7%), sesamum (1.9 %) are the major crops
grown. The area under horticulture crops in the state is 14.0 lakh ha constituting about 9.8%.
Gujarat is the India’s largest producer of cotton, castor, cumin and isabgul. The state is the
second largest producer of sesame and groundnut in the country. The productivity of groundnut,
bajra and banana is the second highest in India.

Fertilizer consumption

Total consumption of N, P 2O 5 and K 2O was 11,43,487, 3,40,063 and 1,20,903 tonnes,
respectively, and consumption of ZnSO 4 was 1560 and 1230 tonnes in Kharif and Rabi season,
respectively in 2016-17.