"We fail to understand why the Centre takes so much time in making the announcement of the support prices," say a group of farmers. There is no doubt that politics is the main factor in price determination, but the Government should take an overall view. The Centre's approach is just not understandable.

Further the increase announced is not to the desired level. If the rise in the cost of cultivation is taken into account, the increase (in the support price) is not favourable to the farmers.

Giving an instance the farmers say that in soyabean yellow and black, the increase per tonne announced is Rs 20 which is considered very low. The same is true in case of bajra and maize which are the major crops in Rajasthan.Soyabean has covered about 6.25 lakh hectares of the area in Rajasthan this year, against five lakh hectares last year. The crop is mostly grown in the Kotah belt, which borders Madhya Pradesh. In the other areas too the crop is now catching the fancy of the farmers due to good returns.

In the mandies soyabean is being sold at about Rs 850 per quintal. As the area covered this year is higher, traders feel that the prices may fall after the new crop starts coming to the mandies sometime toward the end of Oct.

Kharif pulses in the state are urad, moth, moong with moth taking the lead. The total area covered by the pulses this year in the state is put at 19 lakh hectares and 80 per cent of the production will be of moth. It is grown in the western region and the water requirement is less.Last year the kharif pulses had covered a lesser area of 14.44 lakh hectares due to the drought conditions. The total production then was 1.34 lakh tonnes with 80 per cent being that of moth.

The oilseeds have covered a total area of 12.60 lakh hectares with soyabean being the major crop. There was a time when the soyabean cultivation in the state was in few selected belts. The other oilseeds (kharif) are groundnut and til.

The oilseeds had covered 10.50 lakh hectares of the area last year in the state and the total production was 9.21 lakh tonnes. Groundnut production was 2.64 lakh tonnes with soyabean being 6.10 lakh tonnes.

"We are conscious of the need to increase the yields," says a senior Government official. Field extension services have been stepped up throughout Rajasthan so that the farmers are educated to use better variety of seeds and timely application of fertilisers. In the Chambal region, vast areas have become water-logged due to the misuse of the irrigation facilities by the farmers.

"The water-logging is posing a big problem to us," says the spokesman. The Indira Gandhi canal command area has also been affected by water-logging in vast areas.

Til production in Rajasthan continues to be poor. Last year the total production was 16,000 tonnes and the areas where it is sown are in the western parts. The same is true in case of castor seed. The total production last year was a mere 40,000 tonnes. The overall kharif crop position in the state, which had become critical some days ago, is not bad now thanks to the rains. "We expect a normal kharif crop this year," says the spokesman. The main difficulty will arise in the coming rabi if it does not rains. Already water table in the wells has gone down appreciably and water levels in the dams have not touched the desired height.