Newer varieties of seeds are under development at the Agriculture University and the agriculture department is busy educating the farmers in the Kotah, Bundi and Jhalawar region, the main coriander producing area in the state, on how the yields could be raised.

Ramganjmandi in Jhalwar district, bordering Madhya Pradesh (MP), is the country's biggest coriander mandi with lakhs of bags (of coriander) being actively traded there. The other known coriander mandi in the country is at Guna in MP.

Over 225 big traders stay at Ramganjmandi to do business worth crores of rupees a year and the latest reports say that the trading volumes have been on the rise. Due to over-production last year, the traders continue to sit on huge stocks. Reports say that some of the traders have also incurred substantial losses as the carrying cost is huge.

This year too may not be helpful to them as the production again is likely to be very good. The peak arrivals of coriander at Ramganjmandi take place between February and June 15 and reports say that about six lakh bags have already been traded.

For the reddish variety of coriander, the current prices vary between Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal having reached a level of Rs 2,100 per quintal at one stage. In the months of December and January last, the prices ranged between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,100 per quintal.

Traders expect the prices to fall by about Rs 200 to Rs 250 per quintal if the rains are good. No specific `teji' is expected from June and August. Farmers have been able to unload their stocks this year getting a good return. It is only the traders who are the worst sufferers.

The country also exports coriander to Dubai and Singapore and at one stage the exports were even in the range of two to three lakh bags. But this year the exports are only a little - there are reports that some coriander has even been imported.

The imported variety is reddish which is not considered very good.The green variety of coriander is fetching a good price in the range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per quintal. In the retail sales only the green variety is used.

In Karnataka and some nearby provinces, the `dhania' is even coloured by using chemical and made green. The practice is widespread, says Lalit Patni, a leading coriander trader based at Ramganjmandi. His family is in this business for over 80 years now.

Patni is not bullish in regard to the price volatility this year around due to the old stocks with the traders and good crop arrivals.

The coriander covers an area from 1.50 lakh hectares to 2.32 lakh hectares in the belt of Kotah, Bundi and Jhalawar. The climatic conditions are good in the region and the farmers are getting a good return.

During 1998-99, the production was good though the area covered was only 1.98 lakh hectares. The total production was about 1.80 lakh tonnes.

In the latest rabi season, the crop had covered 1.80 lakh hectares and the crop has again been good.

Large quantities of coriander powder is exported from India, mostly from Tamil Nadu where a large number of processing plants are in existence.