With turmeric prices headed downhill, the farmers have been told to sell off their stocks as soon as they can and reduce the cultivation area for this kharif season.
According to the latest report released by the Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell attached to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), there is no chance for the commodity to hit a higher price band at least in the next three months.
Currently, the commodity?s rice declined to R7,000-7,300 per quintal from R15,000 recorded in the same month last year.
The downtrend in the price is due to a 25% increase in turmeric cultivation area that increased the production by around 45% to 70 lakh bags at 75 kg a bag in the current season against 48 lakh bags in the last season.The exports also declined by 14% during the same period. The availability of inferior quality turmeric due to the rains during last December also hit the sentiments of the buyers.Despite a higher production, the exports tumbled to 48,250 tonne in 2010-11 from 50,750 tonne shipped in the previous year, according to figures available with the State-owned Spices Board.
The carryover stock that stood at seven-lakh bags during the commencement of the last season has increased to 11 lakh bags this season.
While the output in Andhra Pradesh, the largest turmeric producing state in the country, increased by 40% to 49 lakh bags, the total area for turmeric cultivation in Tamil Nadu increased to 0.43 lakh hectares for the season.Generally, turmeric sowing takes place during June-August and harvest starts in January and runs through March.The data on turmeric sown area in June and the festive demand will decide the future price trend of the commodity, the report said. An increase of R500-1,000 per quintal is expected during the festival season.
Turmeric prices have witnessed a steep increase in the last two years. From R4,000 per quintal in January 2009, it increased to R5,200 in April 2009 and more than doubled to R12,500 in April 2010. It touched R15,000 in June 2010.