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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Safflower cultivation sees drastic fall despite benefits -Hiren Kumar Bose

Safflower cultivation sees drastic fall despite benefits -Hiren Kumar Bose

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published Published on Jul 14, 2017   modified Modified on Jul 14, 2017
-VillageSquare.in

Despite its many health advantages, the cultivation of safflower for its oil is declining across India because farmers are not finding a ready market and are discouraged by the low prices it fetches

Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka:
Vijay Jagtap discontinued sowing safflower (kardi) last year on his one-hectare plot in Baramati Pandhare village, 12 km from Baramati town in Maharashtra. “The price we get for kardi is not at all attractive. A mere Rs 2500 per quintal,” says the 51-year-old farmer. “Besides, engaging labor to harvest kardi is more expensive than other crops due to its spines.”

Safflower has the highest percentage of good fat and second-lowest content of bad fat. Rich in linoleic acid, it helps greatly in reducing cholesterol levels. Sadly, the urban middle class, its kitchen narrative influenced by TV cookery shows, newspaper columns penned by nutritionists and the aggressive media campaign by FMCG companies is totally unaware of the real heart-friendly oil, safflower oil.

A study, unveiled in January this year by the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition, which took into account the total polyunsaturated fatty acids (TPFA), total mono-saturated fatty acids (TMFA) and total saturated fatty acids (TSFA) in as many as 13 edible oils found safflower (kardi in Marathi, kusubi in Kannada) oil as the best cooking medium followed by sunflower oil, mustard oil and soya bean oil.

Falling cultivation

While India has emerged as the largest importer of edible oil, its farmers are abandoning the cultivation of safflower, thanks to low market demand and unattractive price offered to the growers.

In the neighboring state of Karnataka, the state that leads in safflower cultivation, a similar story unfolds. Veera Reddy (61), who owns 15 acres of land in Markunda village, off National Highway No. 65 on the way to Bidar, told VillageSquare.in, “I have been growing kusubi for several years now but discontinued it as there are not many takers for its oilseeds. As there are no oil pressers close by, I have had to ferry my crop in a lorry to Bidar, a 30 km drive from my village, to get it pressed. I would rather grow sugarcane, jowar or tur and receive a better price.”

Another farmer, Ram Kumar Prajapati (55), originally from Haryana who migrated to Gujarat’s Kutch about 18 years back and has around 90 acres of farmland in Kanakpur village in Abdasa taluka, explains his reasons for dumping safflower in flawless Gujarati. “I grew kardi on eight acres and made only Rs 8,000 per acre. Now even the ground water level has reduced further and I don’t have any irrigation facilities,” he told VillageSquare.in. “I would rather grow something which fetches more at less expense.”

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VillageSquare.in, 10 July, 2017, https://www.villagesquare.in/2017/07/10/safflower-cultivation-sees-drastic-fall-despite-benefits/


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