Both area and production of sesamum exhibit wide fluctuations and marginal increase (area -21.10 percent, output + 34.83 percent) between 1950-51 and 1997-98. Gujarat is the largest producer of sesamum followed by West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. These six states account for about 64 per cent of the area and 78 per cent of the production of sesamum in the country.
Gujarat
Gujarat is the largest producer accounting for 24.62 per cent of the total area and 28.4 per cent of the total production of sesamum in the country. Kheda, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Sabarkanthaand Kachchh districts are the main producers. Both area and production of the crop have shown 133 and 285 per cent increase respectively between 1983-84 and 1997-98.
West Bengal contributes 7.95 per cent of the total area and 20.79 per cent of the total production of sesamum in the country. It records the higher per hectare yield (811 kg). Most of the production of the crop is obtained from Malda, Nadia and Murshidabad districts. During the last 14 years (1983-84 and 1997-98) the area of the crop has witnessed 34.7 per cent growth while the output has increased by 64.8 per cent.
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Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is the fifth largest producer of sesamum in the country (area 4.37% and production 7.16%). Madurai, Dharmapuri, Tiruchchirappalli, South Arcot and Tirunelveli districts are the main producers. The state has witnessed 36 per cent increase in the area and 106 per cent in the output of the crop during 1983-84 and 1997-98.
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh accounts for 8.23 per cent of the total area and 4.2 per cent of the total production of sesamum in India. Here most of the production comes from Adilabad, West and East Godavari and Karimnagar districts of the state. The state has recorded a decrease of 24.7% in area (from 1.74 lakh ha to 1.31 lakh ha), 33.3% in production (from 0.27 lakh tones to 0.18 lakh tones), and 11.6% in yield (from 155 kg/ha to 137 kg/ha) during 1983-84 and 1997-98.
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Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh provides 6.94 per cent of the total area and 5.31 per cent of the total production of sesamum in the country. Here Chhatarpur, Gwalior, Hoshangabad, Shivpuri and Sidhi districts are main producers. While there has been 30.5 per cent decline in the area of the crop between 1983-84 and 1997-98 the production has marked a marginal fall of 19.14 per cent due to 15.9 per cent growth in the productivity during this period. Karnataka
With a total area of 5.23 per cent Karnataka provides 6.7 per cent of the total production of sesamum in the country. Bulk of the state’s production comes from Chitradurga, Mysore, Bidar, Gulbarga and Bellary districts. Here there has been 8.8 per cent decline in the area but the output of the crop has shown marginal decline of 2.5 per cent during 1983- 84 and 1997-98. Maharashtra
Maharashtra provides 8.23 per cent of the total area and 8.08 per cent of the total production of sesamum in thecountry. Dhule, Chandrapur, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Yavatmal and Osmanabad districts are the maiji producers. Here both area (-27.8 per cent) and production (-27.45 per cent) have witnessed declining trend between 1983-84 and 1997-98. Others
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Sesamum is also produced in Nagaur, Pali, Jalore, Chittaurgarh, Bikaner, Jodhpur and Barmer districts of Rajasthan (area 15.41 % and output 8.83%); south-western districts of Uttar Pradesh: Sambalpur, Kalahandi. Dhenkanal, Puri, Ganjam, Cuttack and Koraput districts of Orissa; Gurdaspurand Amritsar districts of Punjab; Gaya, Champaran, and Bhojpur districts of Bihar and Palamau district of Jharkhand.