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An Analysis of Guar Crop in India - New Delhi - India - 5-6-2014 PDF
An Analysis of Guar Crop in India - New Delhi - India - 5-6-2014 PDF
Voluntary - Public
Date: 5/6/2014
GAIN Report Number: IN4035
India
Post: New Delhi
An Analysis of Guar Crop in India
Report Categories:
Grain and Feed
Approved By:
Allan Mustard
Prepared By:
Santosh K Singh
Report Highlights:
Guar gum has emerged as India’s largest agricultural export to the United States on strong demand from
the oil/gas extraction industry for hydraulic fracturing of subsurface shale. India is the world’s largest
producer of guar bean (cluster bean), largely cultivated in semi-arid tracts of Rajasthan under rainfed
conditions. A study by CCS National Institute of Agriculture Marketing (NIAM) reveals that the guar
bean area and productivity shows sharp fluctuation based on the rainfall during sowing (June/July). Guar
prices during the previous season also influence guar planting. Guar beans can be stored for long periods
(3-6 years), and thus, stocks maintained by traders/processors play a vital role in price discovery. The bulk
consumption of guar bean/gum has shifted from food use to industrial use in recent years.
General Information:
Background
India is the world’s largest producer of guar bean (cluster bean) with an estimated 80% of guar bean
production, and thus of guar gum. As a result of expansion of the shale oil and gas industry, demand
soared and the value of guar gum exports to the United States rose to nearly a billion dollars in 2011,
further to $3.4 billion in 2012 and then came down to $1.6 billion in 2013. However, guar bean
production, area planted, and yield data are incomplete, and in any current (ongoing) year, production
estimates are nonexistent. The absence of reliable and accurate information is reflected in price swings
that have taken guar prices to a high of INR 320,000 per metric ton (approximately $6,000 per metric ton)
and a low of under INR 50,000 per metric ton in one season.
Recognizing the need for improved market information for this commodity, currently India’s largest
agricultural export to the United States, the Office of Agricultural Affairs, New Delhi, commissioned a
study by the CCS National Institute of Agriculture Marketing, Jaipur, to estimate India’s historical guar
(cluster bean) and guar gum production, supply, and distribution; and to determine factors that can be used
to estimate more accurately current crop area and yield during the course of the vegetative season.
The CCS National Institute of Agriculture Marketing, Jaipur submitted the report “An Analysis of
Performance of Guar Crop in India” in April 2014. The study is reproduced below.
AN ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE
OF GUAR CROP IN INDIA
(2013-14)
Prepared by
CCS National Institute of Agricultural Marketing
www.ccsniam.gov.in
Prepared for
United States Department of Agriculture
www.usda.gov
AN ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE OF
GUAR CROP IN INDIA
April, 2014
Research Coordinators
Hema Yadav, Deputy Director, NIAM
Shalendra, Research Officer, NIAM
Research Associates
Enamul Haque
Ajit Kumar Prasad
Anu Peter V
Manisha Shah
Pratima Goswami
Rahul
Sandesh V Pednekar
0
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The research study entitled 'An Analysis of Performance of Guar in India' has been conducted for the
Office of Agriculture Affairs, USDA, American Embassy, New Delhi. The research team is grateful to
Mr Allan Mustard, Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs, USDA, American Embassy, New
Delhi for offering the research assignment to NIAM. The discussions with Mr Mustard and Dr
Santosh Kumar Singh, USDA, New Delhi have been useful in finalizing this report. NIAM
acknowledges the technical and financial support received from USDA, American Embassy, New
Delhi.
We would like to express our thanks to officials of Department of Agriculture, Government of
Rajasthan, Rajasthan State Agricultural Marketing Board, Indian Meteorological Department,
Regional Centre, Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute for providing relevant information on the
subject.
We would also like to thank NCDEX, Jaipur, Guar Global, Jaipur, Supreme Gum, Jaipur and
various other stakeholders mainly from Ganganager, Jaipur, Sikar, Jodhpur, Bikner, etc for
providing insights of the Industry. We are also thankful to the producers of guar mainly from Jaipur
and Sikar for sharing useful information on marketing and production of guar.
The expert suggestions of Dr D Kumar, Retired Principal Scientist from CAZRI, Jodhpur and Dr Ved
Prakash, Principal Scientist, RARI, Durgapura have been of immense help in understanding
cultivation practices and various research and development undertaken by scientists. The same is
duly acknowledged.
Our sincere thanks are also due to Dr M S Jairath, Director (R&C) for his guidance and support in
completing this research report.
We would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the valuable suggestions made by fellow
faculty members in improving the quality of this report.
The authors are also sincerely thankful to the Director General for providing the inspiration and
support to take up the study on such a vital topic.
i
Table of Contents
Summary.......................................................................................................... i-iv
Introduction……………………………………………………….………… 1-6
Annexure………………………………………………………………..…… 67-79
References…………………………………………………………………… 80-81
ii
List of Tables
Table Page
Table Name
No. No.
1 Area, production and yield of Guar in recent past 8
2 Area, production and yield of Guar in Rajasthan 11
3 Leading Guar producing districts in Rajasthan (TE 2011-12) 12
4 Leading Guar producing states in India 13
5 Optimum sowing time for Guar in different seasons 20
6 Plant population with respect to location and rainfall 21
7 Effect of seed rate on yield and quality of Guar seed cv HG 365 21
8 Effect of Iron and Zinc spray on seed yield of Guar 23
9 Region wise high input (HITs) and low input technologies (LITs) for Guar 25
10 Region-wise area, productivity and proposed enhanced productivity of Guar in 26
Rajasthan through LITs
11 Improved varieties of Guar suitable for different cropping regions of 29
Rajasthan
12 Characteristics of different varieties of Guar in terms of maturity, plant height, 31
pods per plant and seeds per pod
13 Regression results for the Guar supply response 35
14 Regression results for the Guar yield supply response 38
15 The rainfall requirement with respect to growth state of guar crop 41
16 The optimum temperature requirement for achieving maximum productivity 41
of guar
17 Major APMC trading centres for Guar seed in India 42
18 Consumption of Guar bean in equivalent-term 46
19 Constituents of Guar grain 48
20 Realization of different product from processing of Guar bean 50
21 Industry-wise applications guar derivatives 51
22 Application-wise global consumption of Guar derivatives 53
23 Volatility in Guar seed prices 56
24 Volume and value of trade on commodity exchange 57
25 High-Low difference in Guar bean prices in India (INR/qt) 57
26 Impact on spot price of Guar due to variation in factors (in short run) 58
27 Export of Guar derivatives from India 59
28 Major exporting countries of mucilages and thickeners 60
29 Major importing countries of mucilages and thickeners 61
30 Share of USA in total export of Guar and its derivatives from India 62
31 Carry over stock of Guar bean over years (million tones) 63
32 Issues and suggestions to strengthen Guar industry in India 65
iii
List of Figures
Figure Page
Figure Name
No. No
Fig-1 Growth of Guar during last decade 3
Fig-2 India's share in world Guar production 7
Fig-3 Share of different states in Guar bean production in India 8
Fig-4 Area and production of Guar in India 10
Fig-5 Area and production of Guar in Rajasthan 12
Fig-6 Area and production of Guar in Haryana 14
Fig-7 Share of different states in production of Guar 15
Fig-8 Share of different states in area under Guar 15
Fig-9 Crop cycle of Guar 17
Fig-10 Life cycle of Guar 18
Fig-11 Effect of different components on grain yield of Guar FLDs during 2002-07 40
Fig-12 Supply chain of Guar 44
Fig-13 Distribution of Guar seed produced 45
Fig-14 Past and present Guar usage pattern of industries 46
Fig-15 Steps in processing of Guar seed 49
Fig-16 Movement of price determining factors at Sri Ganganagar market 58
Fig-17 Growth of exports to USA vis-a-vis world over years 62
Summary
iv
India is the largest producer of Guar and contributes 80 percent of total Guar production in the world.
Guar crop is cultivated mainly during Kharif season. Total production of Guar bean in India is
estimated to have crossed 2.7 million metric tons during the agricultural year 2013-14.
Guar crop has experienced a remarkable journey from a traditional crop grown on marginal lands
mainly for food, animal feed and fodder to a crop with various industrial usages ranging from food,
cosmetics, printing, pharma textile, etc. The unique binding, thickening and emulsifying property of
guar gum powder obtained from guar seed has made it a much sought after product in international
market. The United State of America is the largest importer of Guar and its derivatives from India.
What had been a minor crop with limited business interest and virtually no need for analysis became
in two years India’s largest agricultural export to the United States.
The area, production and yield of the crop are inconsistent due to its overdependence on weather and
production confined to limited geographical area largely arid regions Guar bean yields vary by as
much as 300 percent year on rainfall and weather conditions, making production forecasting
extremely difficult compared to other field crops. The Guar crop does not respond to fertilization or
to irrigation, and excess rainfall can adversely affect yields. Hence there is a need for analysis of
factors influencing yields to enable more accurate estimation of production during the season and
just after harvest.
Guar has also witnessed price volatility and uncertainty owing to limited area of production,
increasing demand, speculation, lack of reliable market information system etc. In order to
understand better the Indian Guar industry this study has been undertaken for the U S Department of
Agriculture with the objective to establish a production, supply and distribution (PS&D) baseline for
Guar bean and gum in India, to determine input factors that can be used to estimate production in a
given crop year before the crop is harvested, and to enumerate the major market actors in the Guar
bean and gum market in India.
The analysis of historical data and of relative share of different states in total production and area
shows that Rajasthan is the leading producer but suffers from high fluctuation in production. On the
other hand Haryana has significant contribution in terms of production based on high productivity.
This has been achieved by using high yielding short duration varieties by farmers and assured
irrigation.
The significantly higher prices of Guar in recent time have helped expand the crop to non-traditional
regions and seasons. The crop is now being cultivated in dry tracts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other parts in kharif as well as in summer season. The
crop has also been able to compete with other kharif crops like groundnuts, pearl millet, sorghum,
cotton, etc. The crop is now grown on black, deep, clay type of soils along with sandy and red soils.
The requirement of region and season based Guar technology is emerging to enhance production
with limited inputs so as to widen the economic returns. The need is also emerging for bridging the
gaps between yields obtained on the experimental farm yields and at farmer’s field. In view of this
the study delves on the cultivation practices, sowing requirements, fertilization, seed treatment,
disease management, row spacing ,impact of weather parameters, impact of input technology and
v
selection of varieties. They study also highlights the experiments in progress in introducing summer
crop of guar.
The demand of processed Guar in world market is expected to increase with the expansion of shale
oil gas fracking to new countries like China and Russia and scaling up in prominent existing
countries like USA along with other uses in food and textile industries owing to increased food
safety and health concerns. This makes it relevant to study the supply response of Guar crop
particularly when the cultivation of crop is confined to a limited geographical area. The supply
response of a crop may be estimated in terms of area, yield and output response. The study focuses
on area and yield response. In economic analysis of the dynamics of farm supply response, price is
usually considered the most critical factors which influence farmer’s production decisions. However,
acreage under a crop is also influenced by various factors other than prices.
An attempt has been made to work out the response of prices and other factors on farmer’s decisions
in allocating area under Guar crop. The simple Nerlovian lagged adjustment model has been
considered appropriate to study the supply response of Guar. The estimated coefficient for
independent variables included in the model have the signs as predicted theoretically except for
relative productivity. The results show that prices and production lagged by one time period and
rainfall during the sowing time have a positive influence on acreage under Guar crop while risk
associated with the prices and relative productivity of Guar in comparison to other competing crops
has shown negative impact on the area under crop.
The coefficient of prices of Guar in the previous season is positive and significant at 1 percent level,
showing that the prices prevailing in one period will lead to an increase in the area under Guar crop
in the succeeding season. This shows that the farmers are responsive to the market signal which
sometime may not be the case in developing economies characterized by large number of small and
marginal farmers. In addition to lagged prices, the area under Guar crop cultivated mainly under
rain-fed conditions in the states is affected by the rainfall received during sowing time.
The estimate of supply response of a crop depends on acreage and productivity. The acreage under a
crop is allocated based on expected prices while productivity is determined by availability of inputs
and climatic conditions. The farmers may make substantial revisions in the decision in terms of
inputs to enhance yield after allocating land. Hence, it is reasonable to assume that both area and
yield are influenced by the expected output price.
Farmers may respond by adopting better technology of production with no change in area or by using
more or better quality of inputs. Such responses will change the output without changing the area,
something that is hidden in the acreage function. The intensive nature of cultivation will not be
revealed by the input application alone, but will also be reflected in the quality of inputs and the
timing and the method of application. The yield response of Guar is assumed to be affected by prices
and other factors like rain and the production risk association with the crop.
The regression analysis has revealed rainfall as an important factor influencing the productivity of
the crop cultivated under rain-fed conditions. The relationship of productivity with various factors
other than rainfall like temperature, humidity, intensity of rainfall, etc could not be worked out due to
paucity of information and relevant literature required to establish the relationship. However, an
vi
attempt has been made on the basis of review of literature and interaction with the experts to find out
the association of different factors on productivity.
Marketing and distribution of Guar: Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets
have an important role to play in the supply chain. The APMC market (also called mandis) provides
a platform for aggregation and operation for various players operating at the wholesale level like
traders, stockists, etc. These markets have peak arrivals of Guar seed in the month of November and
December. Majority of the processed product is being exported and only a small quantity is being
consumed in the local markets.
Stocks maintained mainly by traders and processors play a vital role in marketing and price
discovery of Guar as it can be stored for long period without any significant loss to quality and
quantity even under normal conditions. Farmers mainly large and medium have shown some
instances of retaining the commodity at farm level in expectation of price hike as farmers are having
information on the development of market.
Consumption and demand of Guar seed: Considering the importance of Guar as an export crop, an
attempt has been made to work out the quantity of Guar bean (in terms of equivalent of quantity
exported) exported and consumed domestically. An estimate has also been made of the Guar bean
equivalent being exported to USA to assess the size of US Market, and its importance for Guar and
Guar processing industry. The analysis is based on the assumption that the Indian Guar processing
industry is realizing 29.25 percent of Guar gum from the Guar bean. The quantity left unaccounted
after export to US and rest of the world is considered to be consumed in domestic market.
The insights into the industry reveal that there has been a migration of demand from food grade to
industry grade. The emergence of demand of Guar from the US petroleum industry and also the oil
fields of Middle East has changed the scenario. Prior to 2005 the major demand from the industry
was for food grade Guar gum. The consumption of Guar gum by food industry was around 50% of
the total Guar gum consumed. The consumption of Guar gum by oil drilling industry was limited to
around 30 percent. But at present the scenario has change and the major consumer of Guar gum is
from oil drilling industry while the demand from food industry has reduced to around 20 percent.
The Guar crop is mainly cultivated in Rajasthan under rain-fed condition and is thus influenced to a
great extent by the monsoon received in the Guar growing areas during sowing time. Given that guar
beans can be stored for 3-6 years, the stocks maintained at different level in the supply chain play a
vital role in total availably of the crop for processing and export. An attempt has been made to
develop data on carry over stock maintained over year to ensure regular supply of the crop by
compiling information from different sources. The marketing of guar at different level is constraint
by lack of transparency and market information. In spite of the fact that Guar has assumed
importance of stratospheric level, there is no systematic collection and dissemination of market
information to the stakeholders.
vii
survey and collection of information. Such discrete efforts need to be consolidated to from a reliable
mechanism of market information and advisor services.
Value addition and processing of Guar seed are the most important components of the market. There
is lack of technology, proper research and development efforts, skilled manpower, etc. Processing
industry is fragmented and most of the units are operating on small scale. There is a need for
consolidation to achieve economies of scale and a stable market for Guar. Guar gum has emerged as
India's top farm export overtaking traditional heavyweights rice and cotton and looks set to power
into the league of top 10 shipments from the country, due to increasing demand from the US oil and
gas industry. A systematic approach to Guar industry by providing training, market information,
maintaining stock positions, research and development in processing, adopting better technology in
processing and value addition will make India retain its share in international market and remain
profitable for farmers.
viii
1. INTRODUCTION
Clusterbean, (Cyamposis tetragomoloba (L.) Taub) commonly known as Guar, is a drought and high
temperature tolerant deep rooted summer annual legume of high social and economic significance.
The qualities of the crop like high adaptation towards erratic rainfall, multiple industrial uses and its
Importance in cropping system for factors such as soil enrichment properties, low input requirement,
etc have made the guar one of the most significant crops for farmers in arid areas in India.
Guar is a native to the Indian subcontinent. The crop is mainly grown in the dry habitats of
Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab and to limited extent in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The crop is also grown in other parts of the world, like, Australia, Brazil and South Africa.
India is the largest producer of Guar and contributes 80 percent of total Guar production in the world.
In India, Guar crop is cultivated mainly during Kharif season, with an annual production of around 2
million metric tons. Guar crop has experienced a remarkable journey from a traditional crop grown
on marginal lands mainly for food, animal feed and fodder to a crop with various industrial usages.
Guar gum is an important ingredient in producing food emulsifier, food additive, food thickener and
other Guar gum products. The unique binding, thickening and emulsifying quality of guar gum
powder obtained from guar seed has made it a much sought after product in international market.
Guar is the source of a natural hydrocolloid, which is cold water soluble and form thick solution at
low concentrations. The guar seed consists of three parts: the seed coat (14-17%), the endosperm
(35-42%), and the germ (43-47%). It is from the endosperm that guar gum is derived, which is the
prime marketable product of the plant. This spherical-shaped endosperm contains significant
amounts of galactomannan gum (19 to 43% of the whole seed), which forms a viscous gel in cold
water. Like other legumes, guar is an excellent soil-building crop with respect to availability of
nitrogen. Root nodules contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria and crop residues, when ploughed under,
improves yields of succeeding crops.
The expansion of uses of guar to new areas like extraction of natural and shale gas has transformed
guar in recent years into an important export crop. India is the largest producer of Guar gum and its
derivatives. Guar gum is largely an export oriented commodity with about 75-80 percent of total
output being exported from the country India was the leading exporter of mucilages and thickeners in
the world with a share of more than 73 percent in value terms during 2011. Guar now accounts for
around 18 percent of India’s total agricultural exports (DGCIS & APEDA, 2012-13).
United States has played a significant role in transforming guar crop and guar processing industry in
the country. States has been the largest importing country of guar gum and mucilages and thickeners
in recent years. Share of USA in total export of Guar gum from India during 2012-13 was reported to
be nearly 60 percent. The same quantity in value terms was more than 81 percent. USA was
1
observed to be the leading importer of mucilages and thickeners with a share of more than 73 percent
in value terms during 2011 (APEDA).
In recent years the crop has acquired great significance due to its use in the oil drilling industry for
hydraulic fracturing of oil shale, mainly by United States for its concern for the environment and
water contamination. United State is the largest producer of shale gas with a huge reservoir of around
665 trillion cubic feet (Energy Information Administration estimates). In recent years, the production
of shale gas has increased many folds in the United States. It increased to 10296572 cubic feet from
around 3958313 cubic feet in 2009, an increase of around 2.6 times over a period of 3 years. The
growth of shale gas industry in US at such a high pace, presence of other major players like Canada
and expansion of shale gas extraction to new territories like China and Russia will push the demand
of Guar to new heights which is used as a thickening agent in the fracking process. The use of fast
hydrated gum as a key ingredient in the process of fracking has helped consolidate the demand of
crop in the international market. Increasing demand of Guar on account of growth in shale gas
industry along with other factors has made guar a golden crop
The increased demand has resulted in a strong escalation of the prices of guar beans and products.
Nevertheless, the prices of guar has shown uncertainty and volatility as the crop is mainly cultivated
under rainfed conditions and its production is confined largely to limited geographical area. In
addition to increased prices, the multi utility nature of the crop has generated a lot of interest for the
crop among different stakeholder. The trajectory of growth of guar industry has been upward as can
be seen from Figure-1. There has been a rapid growth in area, production and value over a decade
from 2002 to 2012. The guar industry is poised to continue to grow and develop in future owing to
higher focus on research in universities and technical institutes of the world.
2
Figure 1. Growth of Guar during last decade
The size of shale gas industry is a major factor in defining demand and prices of Guar in India. The
same has been revealed by the increase in prices of the crop in recent years. In the year 2011, imports
by various US companies to create stocks anticipating poor supply sparked the speculation and thus
price reached to a record high in Indian market. The speculative environment created by the
inventories maintained by shale gas industry caused escalation in prices of guar. The prices of guar
during the 2013-14 were relatively low probably due to weak demand based on high carryover stock
maintained by the US based firms.
The area, production and yield of the crop are inconsistent due to its overdependence on weather and
production confined to limited geographical area largely arid regions. Official government
production data from the four major producing states (Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat) are
available only with a lag of one year. In addition, Guar bean yields vary by as much as 300 percent
year on rainfall and weather conditions, making production forecasting extremely difficult compared
to other field crops. The Guar crop does not respond to fertilization or to irrigation, and excess
rainfall can adversely affect yields. Hence there is a need for analysis of factors influencing yields to
enable more accurate estimation of production during the season and just after harvest.
3
With Guar products emerging as India’s single largest agricultural export in CY 2012, there is a
greater need for improved market information for this commodity and an improved ability to estimate
production in the current year. The absence of reliable and accurate production and market
information is reflected in price swings.
Higher prices for Guar have resulted in production expanding in the traditional states of Rajasthan,
Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat as well as into new areas such as Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
While the United States is the major buyer, demand
for Guar gum from other gas and oil producing
countries, notably Russia, Venezuela, and Mexico,
The overall objective is to is growing, adding to price volatility.
establish a production,
supply and distribution
In order to understand better the Indian Guar
(PS&D) baseline for Guar
bean and gum in India, to industry this study has been undertaken for the U S
determine input factors that Department of Agriculture to:
can be used to estimate
To estimate India’s historical Guar (cluster bean)
production in a given crop
year before the crop is and Guar gum production, supply, and
harvested, and to enumerate distribution
the major market actors in
the Guar bean and gum To identify factors important factors during
market in India. different stage of cultivation of guar crop to
facilitate more accurate estimation of current
year yield
To assess consumption of guar bean and products in various usage/sectors
To identify major buyers and processors of Guar beans in India
4
1.3 Approach and Methodology
To meet the objective of establishing a production, supply and distribution baseline for Guar and
Guar gum the approach of the study is as follows:
1.3.1 Collection of information on production, supply and distribution balances for Guar in
India from 2000 to 2012.
Collection of state-level area and production data for the period 2000 to 2012, covering
all states in which Guar is produced commercially.
Utilization of data from the Government of India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade
(DGFT) and APEDA on foreign trade to establish exports of Guar gum, and apply a
conversion factor to these exports to establish a Guar bean equivalent export figure.
Estimation of annual carryover stocks for the period 2000 to 2012.
1.3.2 Determination of factors for estimating current crop yield potential of Guar beans
during the growing season.
Interview the Guar research institute in Rajasthan and members of the Indian Guar Gum
Manufacturers Association to obtain information about the agronomy of Guar production.
Identification of list of factors (e.g., precipitation, ambient temperature, soil type) that
influence Guar yields, and associate with that list parameters that can be used to estimate
current crop year yield potential.
5
DGFT and APEDA data on Guar gum exports 2000-2012.
Interviews with processors of Guar gum to determine an appropriate conversion factor
from Guar beans to Guar gum that represents an industry average.
The study with the focus on determining factors for estimating yield potential of Guar beans during
the growing season has used regression analysis to identify the key factors. In addition, opinion of
experts was also obtained to identify the factors which could not be assessed through regression
analysis. These factors will provide a basis for estimating Guar bean production in the growing
season based on changes in the parameters (eg. fluctuations in weather conditions). The data source
and methodology is as follows:
Interview with Scientists working at All India Coordinated Research Project on Guar, Durgapura
and CAZRI, Jodhpur
Interview with the members of the Indian Guar Gum Manufacturers Association
Review of literature of Scientific papers on agronomy of Guar
Data from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on key weather factors (e.g., precipitation,
ambient temperature, ) that may potentially affect Guar yields
Use of econometric tools to understand the key factors to be used to estimate current crop year
yield prospects.
6
2. PROFILE OF GUAR
Guar is a crop of arid and semi-arid areas cultivated in north and northwest parts of India and east
and south-eastern part of Pakistan. In Pakistan, Guar seed is mainly produced in Punjab and Sindh
province with about 80 percent of total Guar acreage under irrigation. On the other hand production
of Guar in India is mainly confined to arid zones of Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat, Haryana and
Punjab. Guar in Rajasthan is mainly cultivated under rain-fed conditions.
Total production of Guar bean in India is estimated to have crossed 2.7 million metric tons during the
agricultural year 2013-14 due to good weather conditions in the major Guar producing areas in India.
With a moderate production of 250,000 metric tons in Pakistan which is another important guar
producing area, the total global production of Guar bean is estimated to have crossed 3 million
metric tons during 2013-14. Presently, India accounts for more than three-fourth (or nearly 80
percent) of the total world Guar bean production (Figure-2). The other major producers of Guar are
Pakistan, USA, South Africa, Malawi, Zaire and Sudan.
7
Figure 3. Share of different states in guar bean production in India
The production of Guar in India has seen wide variation during in recent past ranging from 0.2 to 2.7
million metric tons due to the over dependence of the crop on monsoon precipitation (Table-1). Only
0.2 million metric tons of Guar bean was produced from an area of nearly 1 million hectares during
2002-03 due to severe drought. A harvest of 2.7 million metric tons from an area of 5.6 million
hectares was achieved in 2013-14 due to good monsoon. In spite of the fluctuation in the area and
production of Guar, an increasing trend has been observed during last decade in acreage under the
crop and production of Guar bean in India (Figure-4).
8
Since the prices remained relatively low during 2013-14 at Rs 4500 per quintal, there are predictions
that the area under guar may come down to 3.50 million hectares during the current kharif season, a
decrease of 1.65 million hectares over previous year. Prices being an important factor to influence
the farmers decision regarding allocation of area, there is every possibility of some correction in area
under guar crop due to low prices but this may not be to the tune of 1.65 million hectares as
predicted by some trade observers. As there are factors other than prices to influence the farmers
decision like relative profitability, traditional cropping pattern, resource availability, availability of
irrigation and markets. An estimate taking these factors in addition to prices into consideration
suggests that the area under Guar in the current kharif season should be somewhere in the range of
4.25 million hectares. A low-input crop like guar may stand competitive against rest of the leading
kharif crops even at low prices of Rs 4500. Marginal fluctuations in the relative profitability on
account of fall in price coupled with other compulsions like resource unavailability may not
encourage farmers to shift to other crops. Availability of resources (like irrigation) and assured
markets are also important factors to influence the acreage allocation decision of the farmers. The
area under guar crop may be grouped into three categories. The traditional farmers taking guar under
rainfed conditions are least likely to shift to other crops due to resource constraints. This category
broadly covers an area of 3 million hectares. Traditional farmers taking guar under irrigated
condition (e.g. Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh are moderately likely to shift to other crops) Non-
traditional irrigated resource rich farmers from state like Haryana and Gujarat are most likely to shift
to other crop. But this factor may also have limited impact as the increase in the area under guar
during last season was primarily due to increase in area under guar in Rajasthan state. Traditional
cropping pattern based on the technical knowledge acquired by the farmers may compel them to
continue with same crops. The acreage response analysis based on last year prices suggests that the
area under guar in the current kharif season should be somewhere in the range of 4.25 million
hectares.
The progress of Guar bean in India has been presented in Figure-4. It is apparent from the figure that
production is increasing at a faster rate than the area under cultivation of Guar due to increase in the
productivity. It is expected that the area under cultivation of Guar in India will come down during
current year i.e. 2014-15 to around 4.25 million hectares but it is expected to improve in coming
years on account of better prices based on increasing demand for factors like use of guar gum in
shale gas industry, low-input requirement and relative profitability of crop even at lower prices.
9
Figure 4. Area and production of Guar in India
10
Table 2. Area, production and yield of Guar in Rajasthan
Area Production
Yield
Year Percent of Total Percent of Total
(000 ha) (000 tons) (kg/ha)
Area in India Area in India
2000-01 3056 87.38 481 73.01 157
2001-02 2413 83.12 763 70.01 316
2002-03 557 57.03 28 14.07 50
2003-04 2278 79.82 1163 76.85 511
2004-05 1944 67.80 368 40.74 189
2005-06 2445 82.73 566 53.45 231
2006-07 2808 83.98 658 56.27 234
2007-08 2842 81.86 1244 69.56 438
2008-09 3316 85.85 1261 65.14 380
2009-10 2581 86.16 201 33.80 78
2010-11 3001 88.73 1546 78.66 515
2011-12 3000 87.10 1847 83.29 616
2012-13 4526 NA 2023 NA 447
2013-14* 4924 NA 2201 NA 512
Source: Department of Agriculture (DoA), Government of Rajasthan
*Second Advanced Estimate
The details of the leading Guar producing districts in Rajasthan state is given in Table-3. The table
reveals that Bikaner is the leading district both in terms of area (29.1 percent) and production (28.5).
The districts of Hanumangarh (16.1 percent), Sriganganagar (10.6 percent) and Churu (9.1 percent)
are the other three major producers. These four districts together contribute nearly three-fourth of the
total Guar production in the state.
11
Table 3. Leading Guar producing districts in Rajasthan (TE 2011-12)
Districts Area (%) Production (%)
Bikaner 29.1 28.5
Hanumangarh 9.6 16.1
Sri Ganganagar 5.2 10.6
Churu 10.6 9.1
Jaisalmer 13.9 7.5
Barmer 13.8 6.0
Jodhpur 4.6 5.0
Sikar 2.5 4.0
Jhunjhunu 2.0 2.9
Nagaur 2.8 2.5
Jaipur 1.2 2.0
Jalore 1.4 1.5
Alwar 0.6 1.2
Pali 1.0 1.1
Bhilwara 0.2 0.2
Source: Agricultural Statistics (2011-12), Rajasthan
Area and production of Guarbean in Rajasthan for the period 1991-2011 is shown in Figure-5. The
lowest production of Guarbean in Rajasthan was recorded at 28,000 tons during 2002-03 (which was
a drought year) while the production has increased in recent years. The figure reveals the high degree
of fluctuation over year is observed in the production of Guarbean in Rajasthan. This may be due to
overdependence of crop on rainfall.
Source:
Department of Agriculture, Rajasthan
12
2.3 Guarbean Production in other States
In addition to Rajasthan, Guar is also cultivated in Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. In
terms of area, Haryana and Gujarat are comparable but Haryana has made significant growth in
production in recent years due to higher productivity. The latest available official statistics reveal
that the production of Guarbean in Haryana has ranged from 91,000 tons in the year 2002-03 to
602,000 tons in 2008-09 (Table-4). The productivity has ranged from 435 kg/ha during 20003-04 to
1627 kg/ha in 2008-09. Productivity in 2011-12 was estimated at 1350 kg/ha against the national
average productivity of Guarbean of 644 kg/ha only. The high yielding and short duration varieties
developed by Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar viz.; HG 365, and HG 563 and its extensive
use by farmers has supported higher productivity in the state. Increasing area under cultivation of
Guar in Haryana will help in augmenting the overall production of Guar from India. In Gujarat, a
production of 33,000 metric tons was achieved from an area of 37,000 hectares during 2011-12.
Production
(000 MT
(000 MT
(kg/ha)
(kg/ha)
Year
Yield
Yield
The growth in area, production and yield of Guar seed in Haryana during 1991-2011 is presented in
Figure-6. The figure reveals an increasing trend in area and production over years though declining
trends are observed during recent years. This may be due to the fact that guar may not find itself
competitive at lower prices in area like Haryana and Gujarat with availability of resources mainly
irrigation and availability of more remunerative options like cotton in these areas. High fluctuation in
prices with no minimum price guarantee as the crop is not covered under MSP system may go
13
against the crop mainly in area where crops covered under MSP system are available like groundnut
and cotton in Haryana and Gujarat.
Haryana Sour
ce: Department of Agriculture, Haryana
The share of different states in total Guar production and area is depicted in Figures-7 and 8,
respectively.
14
Figure 8. Share of different states in area under
Guar
15
The crop considered generally for marginalised land has developed a lot of curiosity among farmers
mainly from the non-conventional states after sudden rise in the prices owing to its demand in
international market mainly USA. The analysis of the relative share of different states in total
production and area shows that Rajasthan is the leading producer but suffers from high fluctuation in
production. On the other hand Haryana has significant contribution in terms of production based on
high productivity. This has been achieved by using high yielding short duration varieties by farmers
and assured irrigation. The Rajasthan has shown the lead in production but with high fluctuation in
its share. On the other hand the share of different states has been observed to be almost uniform over
years. It is also revealed from the chapter that production of Guar in Rajasthan is relying heavily on
monsoon while in other state the production is not that much affected by rainfall due to assured
irrigation.
16
3. GUAR CULTIVATION PRACTICES
Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) is a drought tolerant, multi-purpose legume crop cultivated mainly
in the kharif season in arid environment. A crop that can be raised in poor soil and require lower
agronomic inputs is currently cultivated predominantly in arid regions of northern-western parts of
India. It thrives well on light texture, sandy to sandy loam soils receiving 300-500 mm annual
rainfall. The significantly higher prices of Guar in recent time have helped expand the crop to non-
traditional regions and seasons. The crop is now being cultivated in dry tracts of Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other parts in kharif as well as in
summer season. The crop has also been able to compete with other kharif crops like groundnuts,
pearl millet, sorghum, cotton, etc. The crop is now grown on black, deep, clay type of soils along
with sandy and red soils. There is a need for developing region and season based Guar crop
production techniques with optimum use of inputs to increase economic returns. The need is also
emerging for bridging the gaps between yields obtained on the experimental farm yields and at
farmer’s field. In view of this, an attempt has been made in the following sections to better
understand the various issues related to the crop and its cultivation.
3.1 Morphology
Guar is an important leguminous annual crop also called as “clusterbean” for its pattern of pod
arrangements in clusters. It grows upright, reaching a height of 2 to 3 meters. It has a main single
stem with either basal branching or fine branching along the stem. It is a robust, bushy, semi-upright
type of plant. Guar has well developed tap root system. Stems and branches are angular, grooved,
forked hairs, sometimes glaucous. Guar has branched and un-branched growth habit. It has pointed
saw-toothed, alternate, trifoliate leaves with small purple and white flowers borne along the axis of
spikelet. It bears hairy pods in clusters of 4 – 12 cm length each pod with 7 to 8 seeds. Seed is hard,
flinty, flattened, ovoid and about 5 mm long.
Seeds are white, grey or black in colour.
Germination is epigeal type. There are both
short and tall statured cultivars.
17
3.2 Crop Cycle
Guar is a three-four months crop. From sowing to harvesting it takes about 90 to 110 days. Figure-9
exhibits the major stages of Guar crop cycle. Cycle starts with sowing by first to second week of
July. Germination takes place in 4 to 6 days of sowing. Guar is an indeterminate plant showing
continuous flowering and poding even upto 80 to 85 days of sowing, if soil moisture is available.
However, in general flowering stage starts after 40 to 60 days of sowing (DoS). The pod formation
takes place after 50 to 70 days from the date of sowing. Pod matures in 80 to 90 DoS. The harvesting
of the crop begins when 90 percent pods are matured roughly 90 to 110 DoS (depending on the
variety, soil and climatic conditions).
3.3 Climate
Guar is a photosensitive crop and requires specific climatic condition to grow. For proper
germination soil temperature ideally should be around 20 to 250C, long day period for vegetative
growth and short day period for flowering and pod formation. Being a drought tolerant crop it
performs well under arid and semi-arid condition.
In arid condition Guar grows as rain fed crop which requires 300 to 400 mm rainfall in 3 to 4 spells.
It grows under wide range of rainfall from 300 to 550 mm, but heavy rainfall invites many diseases.
Guar crop performs better in warm climate and grows well in sub-tropics during summer. It can
tolerate high temperature even upto 400C.
18
3.4 Soil
Guar can grow in different type of soils but light textured sandy soils are more suitable for the crop.
It performs well on medium-fertile, medium textured; un-logged conditions with neutral pH and
well-drained subsoil. Soils with pH 7.0 are considered best for Guar production than acid soils. Guar
is a moderately salt tolerant crop. Increase in soil salinity affects the nodulation and reduces pod
formation and also yield. Being a legume crop it has ability to fix extra nitrogen in the soil so that it
can perform well even in poor fertile soil and nutrient depleted soil. Guar has the ability to fix
nitrogen to the tune of 30-40 kg/ha.
19
3.6.3. Spacing
Spacing is required to ensure proper utilisation of inputs like nutrients, moisture and light resulting in
better production performance of the plant. The sowing strategy involves inter and intra row spacing.
The spacing depend on the optimum plant stand/ population required for different regions having
varied rainfall intensities.
Trials on sowing methodologies conducted under the aegis of National Network Research Projects
on Arid Legumes reveal that the recommended spacing should be 10-15 cm plant to plant distance in
a row and 35-60 cm row to row distance on the basis of rainfall, soil type and inputs availability. For
instance, for low rainfall (200-350 mm) zones like Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, Jodhpur, etc., optimum
plant population is 110,000 plant/ha, the same can be obtained with sowing strategy of 60 x 10 cm
(inter and intra row spacing). Similarly, for the regions particularly semi-arid, having moderate rains
(450-500 mm), the optimum sowing strategy has been found to be 45 x 10 cm, which may give
required plant population of 150,000 plant/ha. For those regions having still higher rainfalls (550-600
mm) planting pattern of 30x 10 cm has been observed optimum and maximum grain yield can be
harvested with 200,000 plants/ ha. All these strategies are for branching type behaviour of varieties.
However, for the varieties having un-branched growth pattern with main shoot only (RGC-1066,
RGC-1031), the optimum plant spacing having been observed to be 25 x 10 cm. Under late sown
conditions, close planting from more seeds and closer interspacing have proved optimum. The plant
population with respect to location and rainfall is shown in Table-6.
20
Table 6. Plant population with respect to location and rainfall
Inter and Intra Row Distances Rainfall Plant Population
Locations
(cm) (mm) (000/ha)
Jodhpur, Bikaner 200-
60 x 10 110 plants
(Arid) 350
450-
45 x 10 Durgapura (Semi-arid) 150 plants
500
550-
30 x 10 Agra (Semi-arid) 200 plants
600
Source: D Kumar, Guar International Conference 2013, Jaipur
Note: under normal sown conditions, invariably a plant population of 125000-150000 plants per hectare is optimum at
45 cm spacing for branched type varieties. In late sown condition, inter row spacing of 30 cm was observed better than
45 cm.
Table 7. Effect of seed rate on yield and quality of Guar seed cv HG 365
Seed Rate Seed Yield Gum Yield
Gum (%) Protein (%)
(kg/ha) (tons/ha) (tons/ha)
10 1.430 0.446 31.24 39.13
15 1.641 0.509 31.02 28.86
20 1.567 0.470 29.99 27.89
25 1.528 0.456 29.85 27.35
CD at 5% 0.015 -- 0.71 0.36
Source: Yadav et al (2003)
21
3.7 Inoculation of seeds
Guar is a legume crop and its roots bear nodules with special kind of bacteria that converts
atmospheric free nitrogen to fertilizer available form. This symbiotic relation between bacteria and
root nodules helps to reduce the cost of nitrogen fertilizer for crop. Therefore, to maintain the
population of bacteria in the soil with respect to growth of plant seeds of Guar are to be inoculated
with these bacteria before sowing. This is done by preparing a 10 percent sugar or gur solution in
boiling water. This sugar solution is allowed to cool. After cooling, 3-4 packets of Guar bacterial
culture (Bradyrhizobium sp.) are mixed to make a thin paste. This paste is coated over to the seed.
Seed is dried under shade for 30-40 minutes before sowing.
3.9 Fertilization
22
indicate that Guar responds very well to ZnSO4 upto 25-30 kg/ha. Hence it is recommended to
supply basal dose of 25 kg ZnSO4/ha. Zn has been found to increase earliness and gum content. It
also provides resistance towards BLB disease to some extent.
Studies on the effect of micro-nutrients conducted at Hissar, Bawal, Durgapura and Gwalior revealed
that at all the locations one spray of 0.5 percent ZnSO4 either at 25 or 45 DoS gave significantly
higher seed yield than control, but statistically equivalent to soil application of ZnSO4@ 25 kg/ha
except at Hissar where 0.5 percent ZnSO4 spray proved better than soil application (Table-8). FeSO4
had no effect on the seed yield of Guar at Hissar and Bawal but significant response was observed at
Durgapura and Gwalior, where one spray of 0.5 percent of FeSO4 at 45 DoS gave significantly
higher seed yield than control (Kumar, 2009).
23
environments, prosperous farmers and export oriented and business oriented big houses HITs are
recommended. The practices adopted in HIT and LIT for production of Guar is exhibited in Table-9.
LITs
LIT is a way to optimize the management and use of internal production inputs (i.e., on-farm
resources) and to minimize the use of production inputs (i.e., off-farm resources), such as purchased
fertilizers and pesticides, wherever and whenever feasible and practicable, to lower production costs.
For the districts of Churu, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Badmer, Bhuj, etc where soils are poor, rainfall is too
meagre (200-300 mm), farmers are not ready to afford more money due to fear of crop failures, for
such areas and farmers, inputs use have to be specific with priority for pure seed, seed treatment
against Root Rot and sowing methods. It will ensure that crop will not fail. In LIT regions where area
is large but productivity is low for instance in Bikaner, Jodhpur and Sikar, Guar is grown in 1.188,
0.662 and 0.144 million hectare with poor productivity of 180, 159 and 351 kg/ ha respectively.
Productivity needs to be increased to the level of 500, 400 and 600 kg/ha in Bikaners, Jodhpur and
Sikar, respectively (Table-10). It can be achieved in LIT regions with intensive efforts.
24
Table 9. Region wise high input (HITs) and low input technologies (LITs) for Guar
Sr Regions/ Technology Varietal Fertility
Planting Priority Cropping sequences/rotations Inter/mixed cropping
No Districts LITs/HITs Priority Priority
Rajasthan
1. Churu LITs RGC-936 Line sowing Nil Monocropping, Guar+Bajra (3:1),if delayed rains
Jaisalmer RGM-112 60×10cm, hand Guar-Guar,Guar-Guar-Bajra,Guar- upto 1st week of August Guar +
Bikaner HG-365 weeding, Interculture Bajra Moth Bean+Bajra+Til+Cowpea
Badmer HG-563 upto30-40 dos (25% seed of each crop)
2 Ganganagar HITs RGC-1066 Line sowing Full Sole Cropping, Guar-Mustard, Limited mix or Intercropping
Hanumangarh RGC-1031 40×10cm,Deep fertility Guar-Wheat crop, substitutions
interculture upto 30- package Groundnut,, Cotton,, Bajra
40 days, full prod.
package
3 Nagpur, HITs/LITs RGC- Line sowing Urea Guar-Mustard, Guar-Guar, Guar- Guar:Bajra
Jodhpur Sikar 1002, 45×10cm, Deep spray@1- Bajra, Guar-Guar-Bajra/Sorghum (3:1)
Jhaunjnu RGC- interculture upto 40 2% at 50- Guar-B.tournifortii
1003, days 60 DAS
RGC-
1017,
RGC-936
4 Pali, Jalore HITs RGC- Line sowing Fertility Guar-Wheat Guar+Bajra/Sorghum
Jaipur, 1038, HG- 40×10cm, Deep package Guar-Mustard (3:10)
Bheelwara 884, HG- interculture upto 40
Alwar 1031 days, production
RGC-986 package
Haryana
Sirsa HITs HG-365 Line Sowing,35×40cm Full Substitution,Cotton,bajra,til, Guar+Bajra
Hisar HG-563 Deep interculture upto Fertility Groundnuts. Crop sequence: Guar (3:1)
Bhiwani HG-884 40 days, production package (HG-884,HG-2-20)- Wheat, Guar+Sorghum(3:1)
Rewari package Guar(HG-365, HG-563)-mustard
for saline water Guar-Wheat
Gujarat
6 Kutch LITs HG-365 Line Spray of Guar-Bajra, Guar(GG-1)- Guar+Bajra (3:1)
Banasknath RGC-936 Sowing,60×10cm, urea@1- Mustard(irrigated) Guar+Sorghum(2:1)
GG-2 deep interculture upto 2% at 50- North Gujarat:Guar-potato, Mixed cropping for North
GG-1 40 days 60 DAS Agri-silviculture system Guar with Gujarat: Bajra+Moth Bean
P.cineraria Cowpea+Guar
(0.40,3.0,5.0&3.75kg/ha
respectively)
Source: D. Kumar and K. S. Solanki (2012)
HITs
HIT is an intensive agriculture which uses fertilize, pesticides and modern machinery to guarantee a
large crop output. HITs are applicable for resource rich prosperous farmers mainly from districts like
Jaipur, Jalore, Alwar, Pali, etc having semi-arid region with high rainfall (400-500 mm) and
Ganganagar, Hanumangarh with low rainfall (300-350 mm) but availability of irrigation facilities.
Table 10. Region-wise area, productivity and proposed enhanced productivity of Guar in
Rajasthan through LITs
Area
Productivity Proposed Productivity
Regions Districts (million (kg/ha) (kg/ha)
ha)
Sikar Sikar and Jhunjhuni 0.144 351 600
Bikaner Bikaner, Churu and 1.188 180 500
Jaisalmer
Jodhpur Jodhpur, Barmer and 0.662 159 400
Nagaur
Source: Kumar and Solanki (2012)
Control: Sowing of pathogen free seeds or cultivars resistant to pathogen. There are no resistant
varieties available. Zineb (0.2%) and copper oxychloride are two fungicides proved most effective as
two sprays at an interval of 15 days in controlling diseases. A combination of Zineb with
streptocycline is recommend for simultaneously controlling bacterial leaf blight and alternaria leaf
spot, diseases.
Control: Application of benlate, sulphur compounds etc. inhibit the germination of conidia of
Erysiphe. Seed treatment with streptocycline (0.025%) and spraying a combination of streptocycline
and dinocap (both 0.01%) is very effective for controlling powdery mildew.
3. Dry root rot (Acrophomina phaseolina, R. solani, Fusarium cacrulenum roslsfii, Cecosmo
spora vasinfecta)
The disease is most severe under dry and warm growing conditions. It is caused by Macrophomina
phaseolina. The disease may occur at any stage of the crop from pre-emergence to maturity and can
appear as seedling blight or dry root rot. Seedling blight occurs primarily on the cotyledons in the
form of damping off or as elongated black cankers on growing seedlings. Infected seedlings can be
easily uprooted. In grown up plants, the disease appears as bronzing of leaves on one or more
branching followed by drooping of the upper tender parts of the shoots. Affected plants continue to
grow without having clusters or pods, but may break easily in strong winds. Nodule formation in
these plants also reduces drastically. Highly affected plants rarely produce any grain or produce
infected seeds.
Control: Rotation with less susceptible crops like moth bean or pearl millet or keeping the land
fallow reduce the population of pathogen. Mulching of the soil with pearl millet stover, low plant
density and farm yard manure singly or in combination of effectively conserved the soil moisture and
reduce the population densities of the pathogen. Incorporation of Zinc or Copper (5kg/ha) or Sulphur
(10kg/ha) coupled with FYM also bring down the dry root rot incidence. Bavistin seed treatment @ 2
g per kg seed and spray with the same @ 0.1 percent is suggestive measures to control the disease.
4. Bacterial Leaf Blight [Xathomonas axonopodis pv (Cyamopsidis)]
It may cause yield losses from 32 – 68 percent. The congenial situations causing spread of this
disease are scattered rains, high temperature (20-30 0C) and humidity. High nitrogen doses (20-40
kg/ha) may also result in higher disease index. Plants at early growth (20-30 days) may be more
susceptible, leading to their drying due to stem rotting. Presence of high specific activities of
oxidative enzymes, viz polyphenol oxidase and per-oxidase enzyme have their possible role in
disease resistance mechanism.
As seen in Table-11, climate of Rajasthan is having a mix of arid, semi-arid, humid and sub-humid
tropics. In arid (Western and North-west districts) and semi-arid (Central and Eastern districts)
tropics of Rajasthan, almost all varieties of Guar are being cultivated. As specified earlier, the
selection of varieties depends mainly upon onset of monsoon and that is why there is no specificity
in seed variety selection in these regions. In case of humid and semi-humid (Southern and South-
Eastern districts) tropics of Rajasthan, mainly RGC 936 is cultivated. Seed variety RGC-936 is well
suited to all the regions of state as well as country. The maturity period for RGC -936 is 70-90 days
only.
Certain promising genotypes and varieties of guar, consisting 6 (RGC-986, RGC-936, RGC-1066,
RGC-936-1-5-1, HG-884 and HG-563) during rainfed conditions of kharif 2011; and 10 (RGC-986,
RGC-936, RGC-1066, RGC-936-1-5-1, RGC-1031, RGC-1003, RGM-112, HG-884, HG-365, HG-
563) were evaluated during irrigated conditions of summer
2012. The outcome of the experiment reveals By shifting guar cultivation in favourable
results for guar cultivated during summer summer season, where 4-5 season over
irrigations are available, grain
kharif season in terms of maturity period, plant yield can be increased by 2.5 – height,
number of pods per plant and number of seeds 3.0 times over traditional per pod
(Table-12). The cultivation of guar in summer cultivation in rainy season. season may
help in increasing guar yield by 2.5 – 3.0 Summer crop will enhance gum times,
percent gum content almost by 1.7, guar gum yield and improve its quality. yield by 320
Hence, it is new concept of
kg/ha and viscosity of guar gum by 339 cP farming system encouraging over rainy
season. It has been due to climatic conditions taking two crops every year in (high
temperature, low humidity, and sunny sky) and arid and semi-arid regions. controlled
availability of soil moisture proved useful in reducing
diseases and insect pests’ infection in summer season leading to better source-sink relationship.
Enhanced grain yield potential in summer season could also be due to better podding potential, and
more number of grains, besides, reduction in extra biomass. The new system provides avenues for
guar cultivations in non-traditional season, economic use of available irrigation water, and increasing
cropping intensity in arid and semi-arid regions.
Table 12. Characteristics of different varieties of Guar in terms of maturity, plant height, pods
per plant and seeds per pod
Days to Maturity Plant Height (cm) No. of pods/ plant No. of seeds/ pod
Genotypes Kharif Summer Kharif Summer Kharif Summer Kharif Summer
2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012
RGC-986 76.88 94.33 70.19 49.60 52.09 60.17 6.94 8.00
RGC-1066 81.4 83.67 92.71 72.17 50.96 57.92 6.00 7.99
HGS-563 72.88 83.67 67.69 45.77 60.94 68.00 6.71 7.88
RGC-936- 72.13 88.00 71.73 48.04 51.60 60.00 7.13 8.50
1-5-1
HG-884 77.06 84.33 76.65 43.67 60.27 68.00 7.08 8.93
RGC-936 75.81 85.33 74.90 46.08 52.25 58.01 7.35 8.25
Mean 76.11 87.05 75.6 45.88 54.69 62.01 6.87 8.26
SEM(±) 2.24 1.07 3.90 2.05 1.66 4.13 0.08 0.23
LSD(p= 8.16 3.38 14.19 6.45 6.05 13.00 0.29 0.73
0.05)
LSD(p= 12.80 4.81 22.26 9.18 9.49 18.49 0.46 1.04
0.01)
4. DETERMINANTS INFLUENCING GUAR SUPPLY
AN ANALYSIS OF RAJASTHAN
Guar has emerged as an important export crop in recent year for its multiple uses in various
industries. Guar gum is one of the important items of export, and accounts for 18 per cent of India’s
total agricultural exports in 2012-13 (DGCIS).
The demand of processed Guar in world market is expected to increase with the expansion of shale
oil gas fracking to new countries like China and Russia and scaling up in prominent existing
countries like USA along with other uses in food and textile industries owing to increased food
safety and health concerns. According to energy consultants Wood Mackenzie, thousands of shale
wells are expected to be drilled in the USA, additionally around 400 shale gas wells are expected to
come from outside USA mainly confined to China and Russia during 2014. The fracking may also
commence in UK in 2014 after a suspension of 18 months ban imposed by the Government
(Bakhsh and Swint, 2013).
The food safety and health issues in cosmetics, food and textiles industries and use of appropriate
material in fracking to safeguard contamination of ground water is going to further consolidate
demand of processed Guar in world market. The increased demand is going to have an escalating
effect on prices as has been seen in recent years. The responsiveness of farmers to economic
incentives determines agriculture’s contribution to the economy specially where the sector is largest
employer of labour. Supply response is fundamental to an understanding of this price mechanism
(Nerlove and Bachman, 1960).
This makes it relevant to study the supply response of Guar crop particularly when the cultivation of
crop is confined to a limited geographical area. The supply response of a crop may be estimated in
terms of area, yield and output response. The study focuses on area and yield response. In economic
analysis of the dynamics of farm supply response, price is usually considered the most critical factors
which influence farmer’s production decisions (Khan et. al., 1988). However, acreage under a crop is
also influenced by various factors other than prices.
Other factors influencing supply response include weather, risk, and relative productivity. The crop
being rain-fed may be affected by the variability in intensity and pattern of monsoon during the
sowing season. Since the crop is not covered under prices support policy and experienced high price
fluctuations in recent years, the risk associated with the prices of crops may also play an important
factor in defining acreage under the crop. Relative productivity of Guar is important as a profit
oriented farmer will opt for most profitable crop.
Considering this, an attempt under the chapter has been made to work out the response of prices and
other factors on farmer’s decisions in allocating area under Guar crop. The simple Nerlovian lagged
adjustment model (Nerlove, 1956) has been considered appropriate to study the supply response of
Guar. Of all the econometric models used to estimate agriculture supply response, the Nerlovian
Model is considered to be one of the most influential and successful (Braulke, 1982).
At* is the acreage farmers would plant in period t if there are no difficulties of adjustment. As A t* is
unobservable, equation (1) cannot be estimated. Therefore, assuming that acreage actually planted in
period t equals acreage actually planted in period t-1 plus a term that is proportional to the difference
between the acreage farmers would like to plant now and the acreage actually planted in the
proceeding period, hypothesis (2) is made. Technological/ institutional factors prevent the interned
acreage from being realized during the period and the parameter β is called the acreage adjustment
coefficient. Expressing At* in terms of directly observation variables, the equation for estimation
become
At = ao + boPt-1 + co At-1 + vt ………. (3)
Where,
ao= aβ
bo= bβ
co = 1-β and
vt = β ut
The reduced form of the equation would remain basically the same even if additional independent
variables are incorporated into the estimating equation. The response relationship in this study was
estimated with the help of following equation.
Where,
ACREAGEt = Current year acreage or planned acreage of Guar
PRICEt-1 = Last year price
ACREAGEt- = last year acreage
1
RPTYt-1 = Relative per hectare productivity (INR/ha) of Guar to weighted average
productivity of other competing crops like Bajra, Maize, Groundnut and
Moong
RISK = Risk associated with the price assurance of the crop at harvesting time
measured in terms of standard deviation in previous years
RAINt = Rain received in the month of June and July during current year i.e. sowing
time
Ut = error term
The analysis for Rajasthan state also focuses on estimating the aggregate response function which
may slightly vary from the actual picture prevailing in the Guar producing area. District level
analysis generating more accurate estimates could not be worked out due to lack of consistent time
series information on all the relevant variables considered in the model. Nevertheless, it is assumed
that the results of the model would represent near real picture for following reasons:
(i) The Guar production in the state is confined to three divisions only namely Bikaner,
Ganganagar and Jodhpur consisting of seven districts. These three divisions accounted for
nearly 90 percent of total area under Guar during 2011-12.
(ii) The prices for a commodity of international importance traded on forward and futures market
are assumed to be integrated in different markets of the states. Even in case of absence of true
integration, it is believed that the inter-relationship of prices in different markets will follow
the same proportion over years.
The model considered for supply response also suffers from some limitations, as discussed below:
(i) The state level rainfall during the sowing season has been considered as a proxy variable not
only for actual rainfall received by the Guar producing area during sowing time but also for
various other weather factors like rainfall distribution through time and space, temperature,
humidity, sunshine, wind, quality of soil, etc. (Soontaranurak, 2011).
(ii) Standard deviation in prices prevailing in previous seasons is taken as a proxy variable to
represent the risk associated with the prices of the crop.
The coefficient of lagged acreage of Guar is also observed to be positive though statistically non-
significant indicating increase in acreage in one period will be followed by increase in area in the
following period. This may be true for various reasons like the tendency of farmers to re-use the seed
for four to five seasons generated from their own field after use of certified seed procured from some
specialized agency.
Acreage under a crop also depends on the productivity (value per hectare) of competing crops like
bajra, maize, moong and groundnut. The coefficient of relative productivity per hectare of Guar is
found to be negatively associated with the acreage under the crop. Though, the results are
statistically non-significant but reveals direction opposite to the theoretical believe. This may be an
indication of the fact that marginal price-differential may not be sufficient to induce the farmers to
change their traditional dictated and time tested crop rotation practice (Bhagat, 1989). There may be
other strong factors influencing the farmers’ decision to substitute crop like crop rotation systems
followed by the farmers, relative risk involved in growing crops and compatibility of their skills to
take a particular crop. There may be other constraints like irrigation and infrastructure, lack of
complementary agricultural policies, etc. (Bingxin, et al, 2010).
Agricultural production processes are generally a complex combination of decisions made under
conditions of risk and uncertainty. Agricultural production in developing countries particularly is
characterized by various kind of uncertainty (Colman and Young, 1989) including the difference
between the price prevailing at sowing time and at harvesting time. This uncertainty may influence
farmer in dedicating acreage for a particular crop. This factor has been incorporated in the model
though a proxy variable defined by the standard deviation of prices prevailing in previous seasons.
The coefficient of the variable is negative and highly significant suggesting that the acreage under
the crop will come down as the uncertainty increases even if the lagged prices are ruling high.
These variables together explain around 70 percent variation in the area brought under cultivation of
Guar crop in Rajasthan. This seems to be a reasonable fit considering the nature of Guar crop and
limitation of the model in terms of assumption and proxy variables considered.
The yield response of Guar is assumed to be affected by prices and other factors like rain and the
production risk association with the crop. The response relationship of productivity of Guar with
other factors is estimated with the help of following equation.
The results of the relationship of productivity of Guar with last year prices, rainfall and production
risk for the period from 1982-2012 is presented in Table-14. The estimated coefficient for
independent variables namely lagged prices of Guar, rainfall during sowing time and the production
risk have the direction as predicted theoretically except for production risk.
The table shows that lagged prices are having a positive influence on the productivity but the results
are not statistically significant. The over dependence of the crop on nature in terms of rainfall and
other factors may have reduced the impact of prices only to define acreage and not productivity. The
coefficient of rainfall of Guar during sowing period is positive and significant at one percent level,
showing that productivity of Guar being cultivated in the state under rain-fed conditions is affected
by the rainfall mainly during the sowing period. The coefficient of independent variable production
risk measured in terms of variation in the yield during previous years has been found positive and
statistically significant at one percent level. The variation in yield in previous seasons is found to be
encouraging farmers to take better care of the crop to ensure better productivity.
Table 14. Regression results for the Guar yield supply response
Dependent Variable: Yield of Guar Crop
Independent Variables Coefficients t Stat Significance
Intercept -111.61 -1.25 1%
Lagged Price 0.05 1.28 NS
Rainfall 0.74 2.56 1%
Production Risk 1.07 2.80 1%
Adjusted R2 = 0.3769 Observations = 30 -- --
The equation has explained only 38 percent variation in the yield, which is attributed to following
reasons:
(i) Input related aspects could not be covered in the model
(ii) Policy aspects and infrastructure could not be included due to unavailability of information
(iii) Guar has over dependence on nature. Taking rain a proxy for all the weather related aspects
make it a weak link of the model.
The analysis reveals that the acreage allocation under the Guar crop in Rajasthan is responsive to
economic incentives expected as reflected by the positive coefficients of the last year prices.
Economic orientation of the farmers is also reflected by consideration of risk factor associated with
the crop in terms of fluctuation in prices. Though the prices of Guar have ruled high in recent years
but the farmers have reduced the acreage under the crop as a reaction to high fluctuation in prices. It
has also been observed that farmers are only willing to divert area from their traditional crop to Guar
only if significant relative monitory gains are expected. Marginal price-differential may not be
sufficient to induce the farmers to change their time tested traditional dictated crop rotations.
Another vital factor defining acreage under Guar crop is rainfall. Since the Guar crop is practiced
under rain-fed conditions in Rajasthan state, adequate and timely rainfall is required for farmers to
allocate area under Guar crop.
The rainfall has also emerged as expected a vital factor influencing the productivity of the crop
cultivated under rain-fed conditions. A detailed model capturing all the weather related parameter
could not be worked out due to paucity of information and relevant literature to establish relationship
of productivity with various other factors. Nevertheless, the model attempted including prices,
rainfall and risk associated with crop production has revealed that the most significant factor defining
productivity of Guar crop in Rajasthan is rainfall. Expected prices have shown an influence on
acreage but not on productivity. Under rain-fed conditions farmers rely on bringing more area under
the crop then enhancing productivity to increase supply in response to the prices.
Technical Factors
(i) Certified seed – The availability of good quality certified seed can play a vital role in
enhancing the productivity of a crop mainly in case of guar which is a low input crop. In the
absence of availability of good quality seed the farmers are forced to rely on their own seed
which may severely affect the productivity due to mixture lines leading to different maturity
and different plant height.
(ii) Sowing Method – Method of sowing affects the seed germination, plant population per unit
area and crop yield. The most common practice i.e. broadcasting should always be avoided
because it gives higher weed population and results in poor resource management. Optimum
plant population with respect to the rainfall received in the area can help improving the yield
of the crop. The same may be maintained through Inter and Intra Row Distances strategies.
(iii) Weed management – Weed management is very important in cultivation of guar as the
initial growth of the crop is very slow posing serious exposure to weeds. It is therefore very
important to clear the field from weed mainly within 20 days; another weeding is required at
35-40 days. Weeds in guar may causes reduction in yield in the range of 30-50 percent and
loses may go upto 70-90 percent depending on the intensity of weed infestation. Weed
control alone may help in increasing the seed yield in guar by more than 60 percent (Kumar,
2009).
(iv) Supplementary Irrigation – Though the crop being cultivated mainly under rainfed
conditions due to its drought tolerant nature but the moisture is required by the crop at some
critical stages like germination and flowering. In the absence of rainfall, a supplementary
irrigation during the flowering state may help in enhancing the yield of the crop.
(v) The production inputs like sowing methods, improved variety; weeding along with fertilizer
application were studied at multi-location farmer’s field to evaluate the influence of these
factors on productivity under rainfed conditions. Results have been presented in Figure-11.
Sowing method has emerged as the most critical component. The showing method resulting
in optimum plant population obtained from line sowing at adequate spacing of 60, 45 or 35
cm may increase grain yield up to 35 percent. Fertilizer application (20 kg N + 30-40 kg
P2O5/ha) in the form of basal dose only drilled before sowing may help in increasing the grain
yield by about 31.24 percent. The role of pure seed of suitable variety for the region
depending on rainfall and soil type has been found to be 27 percent in increasing grain yield.
Weeding at critical stages (upto 30-35 days of sowing) may increase grain yield by 26
percent
Figure 11. Effect of different components on grain yield of Guar FLDs during 2002-07 (Total
Field Level Demonstration, FLDs conducted 463)
Climatic Factors
(i) Rainfall – Guar is being mainly cultivated under rainfed conditions. The crop tolerant to
drought condition requires adequate moisture at some critical stages. The relationship
between distribution of rainfall and critical stages of the growth of crop is presented in Table-
15. The crop needs dry weather during the maturity time and rains during the last fortnight of
maturity can be detrimental to the production. The spread of rainfall through the crop cycle in
a more or less consistent manner is an important determinant influencing the guar production.
Table 15. The rainfall requirement with respect to growth state of guar crop
Stage of growth Days Rainfall (mm)
Sowing/ germination 0-6 days 30-40 mm
Branching 20 days 75-95 mm
Flowering 50-60 days 75-95 mm
Pod formation 70-75 days 75-95 mm
Seed Maturity 75-90 No rainfall
(ii) Temperature – The crop flourishes better under hot conditions and is sensitive to cold. The
range of maximum and minimum temperature during day and night is presented in Table-16.
The optimum temperature for obtaining maximum yield is 15 to 35 oC. The crop starts
deteriorating at temperature above 40 oC
Table 16. The optimum temperature requirement for achieving maximum productivity of
guar
Temperature Minimum Maximum
o
Night temperature Above 15 C --
o
Day temperature Above 15 C Less than 35 oC
(iii) Humidity – Humidity has a major role to play in the overall growth of the crop. The crop
prefers longer days with humidity in the range of 60-70 percent. During germination slightly
more humid conditions are required (70-80%). During maturity crop requires warmer days
with less humidity and no rainfall is required.
Social Factors
The crop is being cultivated under rainfed conditions as low-input crop. The farmers use minimal
off-farm inputs and provide limited interculture care. The crops need to be approached with a
commercial perspective and the farmers need to be trained to adopt irrigation, better inputs and
better cultivation practices, Guar producers intend to reap benefit in the short run by taking
advantage of the price rise. The long run benefits can be accrued by focusing on yield enhancement.
Use of High Input technology (HIT) needs to be fostered in the area of good rainfall and Low Input
Technology (LIT) in rainfed cropping areas. A judicious balance between HIT and LIT will be
helpful in getting better returns from cultivation.
5. MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF
GUAR
5.1 Guar Supply Chain
Guar seed is used for animal feed, extracting Guar split, powder and Guar gum. There are number of
Guar processing units in Jodhpur, Bikaner, Ganganagar, Alwar and Jaipur districts of Rajasthan
state, Bhiwani and Sirsa districts of Haryana state and Deesa and Ahmadabad districts of Gujarat
state. These units can be grouped into Guar split manufacturers and Guar gum processors. Though
the involvement of processing and high demand in international market have made the marketing and
distribution of guar crop very complex, Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets
have an important role to play in the supply chain. The APMC market (also called Mandis) provides
a platform for aggregation and operation for various players operating at the wholesale level like
traders, stockists, etc. The trade in these markets are facilitated by commission agents and the traders
have to pay prescribed market fee on the value of transaction. Mandi fee for Guar in Rajasthan is
charged at the rate of 1.60 percent of value, while in Haryana it is 1.0 percent, in Gujarat it is 0.50
percent and in Punjab there is no market fee charged on Guar trade. These markets have peak arrivals
of Guar seed in the month of November and December. The major markets for guar in different
states are given in Table-17.
Table 17. Major APMC trading centres for Guar seed in India
State Mandi
Rajasthan Jodhpur, Bikaner, Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Churu, Sikar, Jaipur, Jaisalmer,
Barmer, Nagaur, Nokha, Renwal
Haryana Adampur, Fatehabad, Hisar, Sirsa, Bhiwani, Ellanabad
Gujarat Kachch, Banaskanta, Sabarkanta, Mehsana, Patan, Ahemdabad
Punjab Bhatinda
Source: agmarknet.nic.in
The commission agents charge a prescribed brokerage of two percent from the buyers to facilitate the
trade in APMC markets. The trade in these markets takes place on the basis of physical examination
based on the traders defined industry grades, although AGMARK grades are available. The long
storage life of the commodity facilitates the traders in releasing the commodity purchased from the
market in staggered way as per the demand. The price in the market (trader to miller) is influenced
by the stock positions. Most of the traders store Guar bean in their own storage warehouses instead
of accredited warehouses. Warehousing facilities for storage of Guar bean is inadequate. The quality
of the commodity is not maintained properly at the warehouses and strict regulations for the
warehouses should be introduced under new initiatives like Warehousing Development and
Regulatory Act 2007. Such arrangements will also facilitate farmers in availing the benefits of
pledge financing, which at present is not reaching farmers and other stakeholders.
The supply chain of guar and its various derivatives is presented in Figure-12. As can be seen, split
manufacturers procure Guarbean either from village traders or from farmers in the market (Mandi)
through commission agents. Another chain which exists in the market is direct sale by farmers to
traders/ stockist through commission agent. Subsequently, the traders sell it to split manufacturers or
Guar gum processors. Processors after processing Guar seed into split either export directly or
through exporters. Processors also sell Guar split to the local gum processors. Similarly, gum
processors source Guarbean either from village traders, farmers through commission agents, stockist/
traders or procure split from split manufacturers. After processing of Guarbean/ split into different
industry specific Guar gum products, the final product is exported and/or made available to the
domestic market.
Majority of the processed product is being exported and only a small quantity is being consumed in
the local market. At processors level, the splits are packed in plastic bags of 50 kg size while Guar
powder is packed in paper bags of size 25 kg of powder. These packets are arranged in containers
consisting of 800 packets for smooth bulk movement. These processed products are being stored at
the trader/ processor level by their own arrangements. The assessment of current stocks and
carryover stock in this situation is quite difficult and hence leads to speculation. Although market
forces determine the price in long run but the Guar industry has witnessed high price fluctuations in
the recent years.
Figure 12. Supply chain of guar
Producer-farmers are important not only for the production but also for their behaviour defining the
quantity of marketable surplus. The crop which traditionally has been popular among resource poor
small holders has been retaining a portion of their produce mainly for seeds. However, in recent
years the high prices of the crop have made it competitive and popular among large farmers also, and
they have a tendency to stock in anticipation of good prices. Farmers are generally retaining around 8
percent of their production for seeds and price advantage. There are around two percent post-harvest
losses also due to poor handling of the crop. The estimates presented in Figure-13 are based on
information collected through interaction with a small sample of producers and other stakeholders
and thus are indicative only.
At the wholesale level, majority of the produce i.e. 86 percent of the bean is procured by the
processors for preparation of guar gum and splits. Of this, about 80 percent is utilized for guar gum
preparation and 6 percent for split preparation. A small portion of beans (4 percent) is processed into
split directly at wholesale level by some traders to take advantage of price in international market for
guar split.
Farmers Level Seed and Stock (8%) Losses (2%) Surplus (90%)
90
%
4%
The insights into the industry revealed that there has been a migration of demand from food grade to
industry grade. The emergence of demand of Guar from the US petroleum industry and also the oil
fields of Middle East has changed the
scenario. Prior to 2005 Fig 14. Past and Present Guar Usage the major
demand from the industry Pattern of Industries was for food
grade Guar gum. In Europe, Guar
gum has EU food additive code
E412. Xanthan gum and Guar gum
Present 20 70 10
are the most frequently used gums in
gluten-free recipes and Past 50 30 20 gluten-free
products demand for the 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 food grade
Guar gum was around 50 percent of
Food Grade Industry Grade Pharma, textile etc.
the total Guar gum consumed.
The consumption of Guar gum by oil drilling industry was limited to around 30 percent. But at
present the scenario has changed and the major consumption of Guar gum is from oil drilling
industry while the demand from food industry has reduced to around 20 percent (Figure-14).
Farmers are aware of the prices prevailing in the market and refer to exchange prices while making a
marketing decision. Nevertheless, the consistent and reliable market information will help
participants to make better decision. The systematic collection of market information is required to
be followed by assured, reliable and consistent dissemination of market information to farmers and
industry. The extension and advisory service also needs to be geared up to enable farmers, traders
and processors to be able to make analysed decision for present and future.
Value addition and processing of Guar seed are the most important components of the market. There
is lack of technology, proper research and development efforts, skilled manpower, etc. Processing
industry is fragmented and most of the units are operating on small scale. There is a need for
consolidation to achieve economies of scale and a stable market for Guar.
6. PROCESSING AND USAGE
OF GUAR
The Guar seed consists of three parts namely the seed coat (14-17 percent), the endosperm (35-42
percent), and the germ (43-47 percent). The different constituents of the Guar seed are presented in
Table-19. Guar gum the prime marketable processed product of the plant comes from the endosperm.
The other by-product of the processing like Churi and Korma are used for Cattle feed. Various steps
involved in the processing of guar seed is presented in Figure-15.
The processors dominated marketing of Guar seed operates on the trade defined standards. However;
specifications for Guar seed have also been defined by Directorate of Marketing and Inspection
through AGMARK standard.
Fig 15. Steps in Processing of Guar Seed
Human Consumption
Immature pods are dried, salted and preserved for future use
Immature pods are dried and fried like potato chips
Green pods are cooked like French beans
Mature seeds are used as an emergency pulse in time of drought
Cattle Feed
Plants are cut and used as green forage.
Beans are used as high protein feed.
Medicinal Purposes
Plants are mashed, then mixed with oil and used as a poultice on cattle boils.
Leaves are eaten to cure night blindness.
Seeds are used as a chemotherapeutic agent against smallpox.
Boiled Guar seeds are used as poultices for the plague, enlarged livers, and head swellings and
on swellings due to broken bones.
Seeds are used as laxative.
Industrial Use
The guar gum is being consumed in a variety of industries ranging from oil drilling to textile, paper,
explosive, food processing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc. The Industry-wise applications of Guar
gum are presented in Table-21.
The major consumer of Guar gum is oil drilling and mining with the global consumption of 60-65
percent followed by food processing industry accounting for 25-30 percent consumption. (Table-22)
A by-product of the Guar processing is Guar meal (mixture of husks and germ) which is a potential
source of protein. It is used for cattle as well as poultry feeding. Toasting of Guar meal improves its
nutritive value. It can be used up to 10 percent in poultry diet and can replace up to 100 percent
protein supplements such as ground nut oil cakes in ruminants. Various derivatives of Guar gum are
available that will stiffen gels even up to a water content of 99 percent. Commercially important
derivatives of Guar gum are:
Hydroxy and Carboxy Alkylated Guar gum
Oxidized Guar gum
Acetates of Guar gum
Cationic derivatives of Guar gum
Sulphated Guar gum
Guar gum formate
Guar gum acryl amide
Borate cross linked Guar gum
Reticulated Guar gum
Carboxy methyl hydroxy propyl Guar gum
Depolymerized Guar gum
Guar gum has emerged as India's top farm export overtaking traditional heavyweights rice and cotton
and looks set to power into the league of top 10 shipments from the country, due to increasing
demand from the US oil and gas industry. The Guar gum exports have shot up nearly 139 percent on
a year-on-year basis between April and January 2013, with shipments of about $4.9 billion. In the
previous year, it rose 374 percent in January alone compared to the same month of 2011.
7. PRICE AND TRADE OF GUAR
7.1 Price Movement of Guar
Guar bean has shelf life of more than 3 years without losing out on any of its properties or qualities.
It requires the minimum maintenance and handling
environment. Therefore, traders or Factors Influencing Guar Price stockist store
guar for as long as 6-7 years. However, 1. Rainfall during sowing and critical prices of
Guar bean as well as its derivatives stages of growth very much
depend on the monsoon condition and its likely
2. Area sown under the crop in major
production.
states like Rajasthan, Haryana,
The prices are observed to be highly Punjab, Gujarat, etc. volatile
during monsoon months due to market speculation.
3. Pattern of arrivals on a regular basis
There is a good correlation between rainfall and
production in Rajasthan as the Guar in markets like Jodhpur, Bikaner, crop is rain-
fed. The effect of rainfall on production Sriganganagar, Adampur, Bhiwani, is seen less
in case of Haryana where Guar is an Siwani, etc. irrigated
crop. The other factors like pattern of arrival,
4. Demand from millers or processors
demand from millers and export also cause
volatile price movement. and export demand
5. Carryover stock.
7.2 Fluctuation in Spot prices
The spot price of Guar seed for the last 7 years i.e., from 2007 to 2013 reflects high volatility of
prices. The Spot price at Jaipur market and Sri Ganganagar are analyzed. The price fluctuates highly
during monsoon period i.e. July to October. Guar seed traded at Kishangarh Renwal market between
INR 4000/qt. during Oct, 2012 to INR 15000/qt. in the month of December, 2012. In 2013 the
highest price at Jaipur was recorded in the month of January at INR 14400/qt. and lowest recorded
was INR 4200/qt. in August. Highest fluctuation in prices of Guar bean has been observed in the
year 2012. During the year 2012, prices at Sri Ganganagar market ranged from INR 7752/qt. to INR
28556.2/qt. Annual volatility (measured as Coefficient of Variation) in Mandi prices of Guar seed at
different markets has been worked out and presented in Table-23.
Table 23. Volatility in Guar bean Prices (C.V. in %)
Rajasthan Haryana
Year
Ganganagar Jaipur Hanumangarh Adampur Fatehabad Hissar
2007 5.5 6.0 5.9 6.0 6.7 6.9
2008 7.2 8.5 7.8 8.0 7.1 9.6
2009 20.9 19.3 22.0 21.1 21.5 20.2
2010 7.8 8.4 8.0 6.7 8.3 14.7
2011 29.4 50.6 36.1 28.1 29.5 25.4
2012 46.1 38.5 33.8 47.7 56.3 56.7
2013 29.2 39.5 28.3 24.5 23.5 56.6
Source: Agmarknet
Results of the analysis reflect that there was high volatility in prices of Guar bean at Hissar (56.7%
and 56.6% in 2012 and 2013, respectively), Fatehabad (56.3% in 2012), Jaipur (50.6% in 2011),
Adampur (47.7% in 2012), Sri Ganganagar (46.1% in 2012) and Hanumangarh (36.1% in 20011)
markets, as indicated by the higher magnitude of CV in the respective markets.
The price of Guar seed ranged from INR 4000/- per quintal to INR 11000/- quintal at Jaipur market
in 2013. While for the same period the price range at Sri Ganganagar was from INR 7752/- per
quintal to INR 28556/- per quintal. In the year 2013 the ranges of price at Jaipur and Sri Ganganagar
market were INR 4361/- per quintal to INR 11482/- per quintal and INR 5004/- per quintal to INR
11743/- per quintal respectively.
The high price fluctuation in Guar is mainly on account of higher fluctuation in area and production
of Guar seed depending on the spread and level of monsoon rainfall in the producing centers and the
export demand of Guar gum from the importing countries.
Total value of Guarbean and Guar gum traded on NCDEX has continuously increased in the initial
years and reached to the peak during 2006-08. In 2006 Guar bean and Guar Gum together
contributed to 45 percent of total agricultural commodity traded at NCDEX and 37 percent of overall
commodity trade of the exchange. The trend was continuing till 2008 as 39 percent of agricultural
commodity trade was from Guar only. From the year 2009 the share of Guar in agricultural
commodity trade and overall commodity trade of NCDEX started declining. In the year 2010 the
share of Guar in total agricultural commodity trade of NCDEX was only 13 percent. Up to
November 2013, the share of Guar in total commodity trade of NCDEX is only around 9 percent.
The total quantity traded on commodity exchanges was 88 times of total quantity of Guar seed
produced in the year 2004-05, 179 times in the year 2005-06, 146 times in the year 2006-07 and 53
times in the year 2007-08.
Table 25. High –Low difference in Guar bean prices in India (INR/tons)
Year High Low Average Difference (H-L)
2004 18817 10028 13999 8789
2005 20404 13583 15671 6821
2006 23364 15606 18242 7758
2007 19637 17441 18486 2196
Source: Agmarknet
The high-low price difference after introduction of commodity futures in Guar seed indicates that the
spot price volatility of Guar seed has decreased (Table-25).
From the Figure-16, it is clear that the rainfall and area under cultivation is moving in same direction
while with increase in area under cultivation price is decreasing.
Table 26. Impact on spot price of Guar due to variation in factors (in short run)
Between Rainfall Area Production
Price 51 (0.72) 25 (-0.50) 14 (0.37)
Source: Author’s Calculation
Here in case of correlation between price and rainfall, result obtained shows a positive relation. Here
for relationship between price and rainfall is 51, which shows linear relationship between rainfall
and price. The relationship between price and area has a negative correlation coefficient and the
value of is 25. The correlation coefficient for relationship between price and production has a
positive but very week association as reflected by a correlation coefficient of 14.
There has been 76.29 percent growth in the value of Guar refined split traded in IFY 2012-13
compared to IFY 2011-12. India continues to be a major exporter of refined split. The value of
treated Guar gum has also recorded a growth of 22.59 percent. The United States of America has
been a major market for India whose status in Indian guar processing industry has further
consolidated in recent years mainly in value terms with a share of more than 80 percent during 2012-
13. In addition to US, India is also exporting to countries like China, Germany, France, Mexico,
Argentina, Japan, Indonesia, etc.
Guar gum is classified under Mucilages and Thickeners group (HS code 13032) in harmonized
system of classification in international trade. Mucilages and Thickeners include derivatives of
Locust bean, Locust bean seeds and Guar Seeds. India is the largest exporter of Guar gum and
mucilages with 73 percent (Table-28) share of world mucilages and thickeners trade, followed by
USA (5.5 percent), Spain (4.4 percent), Pakistan (4.3 percent), Italy (2.3 percent) and Germany (1
percent). Countries like USA, Spain, Italy, Germany, etc. imports Guar refined split from India and
process it into industry specific Guar gum products and re-export it.
Table 28. Major Exporting countries of Mucilages and Thickeners (in value term for year
2011)
Sr No. Country Share (%)
1 India 73.07
2 USA 5.52
3 Spain 4.50
4 Pakistan 4.38
5 Italy 2.40
6 Germany 1.68
7 France 1.32
8 China 1.14
9 Denmark 1.02
10 Switzerland 0.96
11 Morocco 0.90
12 Netherlands 0.90
13 United Kingdom 0.60
14 Belgium 0.36
15 Turkey 0.30
16 Philippines 0.18
17 Russian Federation 0.12
18 Sweden 0.12
19 Japan 0.12
20 Portugal 0.12
21 Poland 0.06
22 Australia 0.06
23 Austria 0.06
24 United Arab Emirates 0.06
25 Trinidad and Tobago 0.06
Leading importing country of Guar gum or mucilages and thickeners group is USA with about 62
percent of total world mucilages and thickeners import followed by Germany (6 percent), Canada (4
percent), China(2.8 percent), Italy (2.5 percent), etc (Table - 29).
Table 29. Major importing countries of Mucilages and Thickeners (in value term for year
2011)
S. No. Country Share (%)
1 USA 62.88
2 Germany 6.33
3 Canada 4.08
4 China 2.88
5 Italy 2.51
6 Japan 2.45
7 Denmark 1.88
8 France 1.76
9 Russian Federation 1.69
10 United Kingdom 1.38
11 Mexico 1.32
12 Netherlands 1.19
13 Australia 1.13
14 Belgium 1.00
15 Brazil 0.94
16 South Africa 0.88
17 Argentina 0.75
18 Indonesia 0.69
19 Thailand 0.69
20 Spain 0.69
21 Switzerland 0.63
22 Poland 0.63
23 Austria 0.63
24 Rep. of Korea 0.56
25 Malaysia 0.44
In addition to USA, China is also emerging as an important importer of refined Guar split. These are
the countries acquiring strength in the processing of Guar split to the value added Guar gum and
other industry specific products. China and USA now started exporting value added products to other
countries. During 2006-07, China emerged as largest importer of Guar refined split, according to
trade sources China imposes import duty to the tune of 15 percent on import of Guar gum and import
of Guar refined split is free. Thus, China is encouraging import of intermediate product, process it
into different industry specific Guar gum products and re-export it.
Table 30. Share of USA in Total Export of Guar and its Derivatives from India
(Figures in ‘000’ tons)
Export to Export to Total Share of US in total export
Year
USA World Export (%)
2002- 49 112 161 30.4
03
2003- 45 121 166 27.1
04
2004- 54 131 185 29.2
05
2005- 75 187 262 28.6
06
2006- 67 189 256 26.2
07
2007- 82 211 293 28.0
08
2008- 97 259 356 27.2
09
2009- 72 218 290 24.8
10
2010- 215 227 442 48.6
11
2011- 434 273 707 61.4
12
2012- 245 164 409 59.9
13
Source: APEDA & DGCIS, Ministry of Commerce
Table 31. Carry over stock of Guar bean over years (million tones)
Opening Total Carryover
Year Production Used
Balance Availability Stock
2004-05 0.75 0.50 1.25 0.61 0.64
2005-06 0.64 0.60 1.24 0.79 0.45
2006-07 0.45 0.70 1.15 0.74 0.41
2007-08 0.41 0.80 1.21 0.50 0.71
2008-09 0.71 0.80 1.51 0.85 0.66
2009-10 0.66 0.40 1.06 0.70 0.36
2010-11 0.36 1.33 1.68 1.14 0.55
2011-12 0.55 2.22 2.76 2.02 0.74
2012-13 0.13 2.46 2.59 2.12 0.47
2013-14 * 0.55 2.72 3.27 2.37 0.90
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, NCDEX and Author estimates based on Industry information;
Production: Govt. Estimates and information from market and industry sources; Export: Based on Guar Gum exports
and Guar Seed required to produce the same and Local Consumption - Information from industry and market sources
8. ISSUES IN GUAR INDUSTRY
AND TRADE IN INDIA
The various issues related to Guar industry and trade have been summarized as under:
Research and Development: The issues pointed out by the stakeholders related to research and
development on guar production included lack of availability of high-yielding varieties with high
viscosity gum, poor access of farmers to production technology and quality seeds, low seed
replacement ratio, etc. It was suggested that SAUs/ research centres should develop varieties taking
care of the requirements of the industry. The easy availability of production technology and HYV
seeds were the main requirements of farmers.
Marketing of Guar and its Products: The issues observed during discussions with stakeholders
related to marketing of guar seed and products included lack of containers and transportation
facilities for processed products from processing point to the port of export, lack of storage facilities,
poor linkage of buyers to and development of value-added products of gum for use in different
industries. It is suggested that a part of revenue from export taxes need to be diverted to create a
national level research and development institute for the purpose.
Promotion of Guar Industry and Export: The issues identified relating to promotion of guar
industry were lack of certification laboratories in the processing centres, policies promoting export of
intermediate product, competition from countries strong in processing of value-added products of
gum, etc. The requirement of the stakeholders included establishment of certification laboratories at
the processing locations, framing policies discouraging export of intermediate product, and concerted
efforts for developing/importing processing technology for value-added products.
Table 32. Issues and suggestions to strengthen guar industry in India
Guar Industry Associations/ Representation: Though guar industry associations exist in the
country, there is lack of farmers groups/ associations and lack of coordination among different
associations. Hence, it is suggested that there should be a national level federation of guar industry
and farmers associations with close coordination for a better information flow as a backward linkage
and product flow as forward linkage
ANNEXURE
Area, Production and Productivity in leading Guar growing states in India
Area in 000 ha
Production in 000 MT
Productivity in kg/ha
Rajasthan Haryana Gujarat India
Year Area Production Yield Area Production Yield Area Production Yield Area Production Yield
2000-01 3056 481 157 148 102 689 273 61.0 223 3497 659 188
2001-02 2413 763 316 196 127 648 263 112.0 424 2903 1090 375
2002-03 556 28 50 205 91 444 213 65.0 306 975 199 208
2003-04 2278 1163 511 269 117 435 266 204.0 766 2854 1513 530
2004-05 1944 368 189 217 254 1171 214 157.0 733 2867 903 315
2005-06 2445 566 243 270 289 1070 188 108.0 575 2956 1059 358
2006-07 2808 658 234 295 334 1132 205 83.0 404 3344 1169 350
2007-08 2842 1244 269 341 395 1200 196 130.0 662 3472 1789 515
2008-09 3316 1261 380 370 602 1627 150 53.0 350 3863 1936 501
2009-10 2581 201 78 252 329 1305 132.7 44.7 337 2996 595 198
2010-11 3001 1546 515 256 333 1300 124.6 73.0 586 3382 1965 581
2011-12 3000 1847 547 215 290 1350 37 33.0 889 3444 2218 157
Source: 1. Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India 2. Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan 3.Ministry of Agriculture, Government of
Gujarat 4. Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan
101
District wise Area and Production of Rajasthan (Area in ha and Production in MT)
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Region/
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
District
Ajmer 1431 687 6156 457 703 28 2294 2133 5320 358 2099 241 6285 411 1381 7400
3 8 0 9 2
Dausa 2199 471 1000 785 298 307 1599 1368 1114 789 1066 8003 9985 805 1121 1035
4 2 8 1 9 0 5 4 3 4 0 5 6
Jaipur 1039 831 8500 719 606 130 6696 5602 5500 407 5542 2741 5138 411 5514 4306
41 4 5 98 17 6 6 7 6 62 1 4 9 04 3 0
Alwar 4567 408 4516 212 156 452 2346 2295 1502 513 2101 1292 2790 288 3466 3991
2 32 1 40 28 3 5 8 34 8 5 0 42 2 6
Bharatpur 1073 974 1276 118 540 424 5438 5277 4129 358 3141 2864 3591 352 6816 5994
9 7 6 30 0 5 8
Dholpur 4507 367 3690 300 114 201 1597 130 889 124 727 945 608 790 937 937
0 4 1 4
Karauli 6499 246 4696 371 290 371 3286 2903 2739 232 1766 1855 1946 216 2591 3136
0 0 3 2 9
S.Madhopu 1586 301 8353 342 719 1 5395 2698 2313 116 2235 1125 2058 946 3398 1606
r 1 6 7 5
Baran 0 0 0 0 0 0 63 96 24 37 13 9 0 0 0 0
Bundi 1074 102 2085 139 630 122 1352 1351 110 110 180 265 178 153 932 1192
1 7 7
Jhalawar 0 0 0 0 0 307 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kota 2623 151 528 529 0 0 199 189 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
7
Tonk 3120 105 1505 633 653 0 1212 1213 4255 332 5298 4625 4025 403 6554 6532
102
2 5 3 8 3 7 0 4 7
Barmer 3753 476 3169 224 173 131 3122 1467 2959 160 3526 2467 4218 563 3546 7340
28 38 94 61 98 17 77 16 18 87 8 17 42 64 3
Jodhpur 2367 148 1664 701 241 118 1534 8302 1536 105 1605 1038 1838 623 1499 2159
73 47 54 89 5 7 29 9 98 79 39 7 10 0 75 0
Nagaur 2771 455 1433 380 826 145 1415 7066 1706 315 1516 6374 1558 420 1290 6989
21 58 87 66 94 0 38 3 56 71 55 7 20 26 94 2
Hanumanga 2475 881 2338 824 788 371 2440 2782 1660 243 2037 1479 2873 762 3196 2779
rh 25 06 10 95 45 7 03 00 37 02 42 27 82 56 17 72
SriGangana 1471 524 1456 499 379 113 1595 5236 6523 214 5929 4060 1203 969 1801 1454
gar 81 21 94 98 84 28 14 3 4 14 4 5 01 59 41 25
District wise Area and Production of Rajasthan (Area in ha and Production in MT)
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Production
Region/
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
Area
District
Bhilwara 47299 492 11664 1158 5644 44 10985 5988 6956 3225 16312 2030 21379 1280 36921 18820
1
Chittorga 18734 4550 7833 3921 4902 696 5858 5756 3306 2158 4315 3601 4227 4195 5009 5009
rh 3
Rajsama 8068 236 2207 3972 2723 283 3364 2298 2288 936 5833 3407 5482 7171 8498 7309
nd
Banswar 2036 350 1888 1015 1718 473 2000 1316 455 84 1164 444 1268 98 779 548
a
Dungarp 2582 251 2671 0 2392 505 2212 3539 3432 1220 2981 845 1799 45 1875 3000
ur
Udaipur 8358 1612 7100 4692 7816 258 9610 5654 10980 7447 13085 8233 14951 4880 13768 15943
5
103
Jhunjhun 74344 6364 64597 6492 2397 416 53019 53103 54237 3561 65427 1823 61228 1152 68196 15327
u 2 4 6 5 5
Sikar 11353 1298 92352 4661 5627 882 71924 36346 85533 2693 79999 2489 78448 3284 79603 41583
0 8 9 7 5 5 2
Jalore 84102 700 87786 4128 1434 79 61073 54979 72741 3662 64147 2304 50163 3383 69506 38186
5 4 4 7
Pali 52884 119 25251 1953 1483 20 25746 18819 29212 9012 49129 1635 50699 3589 67450 45761
0 8 6 4
Sirohi 18643 876 23508 2350 4824 23 5723 2797 12841 643 11927 9708 1630 879 5713 5713
8
Bikaner 17700 1777 18828 2110 7273 316 19427 45904 13987 3996 47838 7707 51178 1076 60586 25145
6 0 4 5 7 6 1 4 4 9 61 9 7
Churu 57906 3420 38405 6490 8173 198 32727 11299 36415 1892 37373 3428 38728 2051 34722 66980
7 5 7 2 1 4 5 5 3 1 4 0 4 9
Jaisalmer 31759 7509 31356 3231 5047 0 35641 63070 20583 2511 24773 2345 34047 1453 32975 19686
1 7 0 6 1 8 5 2 4 2 2
30562 4812 24125 7633 5564 278 22783 11631 19443 3683 24446 5658 28079 6584 28422 12437
Total 64 17 98 48 29 52 47 70 48 51 48 09 13 25 69 33
Source: Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan
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105
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8.0
* Includes organic extraneous matter such as stems, straw, chaff.