RARS gears up to popularise Guar Gum

• The plant can be an intermediary crop between kharif and rabi seasons
• There is an immense potential for export of the crop
• It earns additional income for farmers

Guntur: Regional Agriculture Research Station (RARS) at Lam village, which is shortly going to be upgraded into a new Agriculture University for Andhra Pradesh, is promoting 'Guar Gum ' as an intermittent crop because of its many positive features and international demand.

It is a 90- day plus crop, which is highly drought tolerant, will help farmers earn additional income. Instead of keeping their fields idle in between kharif and rabi seasons, the farmers can go in for the Gum Guar. It can be raised between July and October.

The plant does not require much water and can withstand drought conditions. The plant grows healthy in black soils. It survives in red soils too. In Andhra Pradesh it is known as 'Jiguru Goruchikkudu.' One acre of Guar Gum plantation will produce about five quintals. The cost of production of plantation in one acre is Rs10,000 and price tax per quintal is Rs 4,000. Thus Rs 10,000 profit can be earned. Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana are the major growers of the plant and exporters of the gum powder.

Internationally the plant is in great demand as Guar gum, the powdered endosperm from the seed kernel of the guar plant, has become a big player in the oil and natural gas industry. In India petroleum companies use its unique viscosity properties for stabilising the water and sand mixture being used in the extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing. It is also known as "fracking." Fracking is a process of pumping a sand-water mixture deep into a well and into sub-surface shale rock layers. The sand-water mixture opens up fissures in the shale that release trapped natural gasses into the well bore.

It's nitrogen-fixing properties are useful in maintaining soil health and reducing the need for nitrogen fertilisers with the crops that follow. Scientists believe that guar could be effectively rotated with non-legume crops like cotton or sorghum or other grasses. It can also be used as a protein-rich crop for livestock as is being used currently in other states in India. Apart from human consumption, its other utility can be tapped commercially and internationally.

Dr GSubba Rao, principal scientist of Agronomy. told The Hans India that internationally Gum Guar can fetch huge foreign exchange after Basumati Rice, if commercially promoted and the necessary processing centres were established. In 2011 United States spent $1 billion on importing Guar Gum from India.