After tomato, now turmeric turns red

After tomato, now turmeric turns red

After jeera (cumin seeds), tomatoes and tur dal, it’s now the turn of turmeric prices to skyrocket. In the last three months, the price of the staple Indian spice has doubled.

Unseasonal rains in the harvesting months of April-May, which have adversely impacted the output, and delayed sowing due to the late onset of monsoon have led to a sharp rise in prices, traders said.

The spot prices of turmeric on commodity bourse NCDEX on Friday was quoted at Rs 12,904/quintal, while the futures prices for December 20, 2023 delivery rose to Rs 16,082/tonne.

“Farmers’ harvests were impacted due to unseasonal rains and delay in sowing would also impact production in the current year,” Ankit Agarwal, Director, Amar Agarwal Food, a Erode, Tamil Nadu based trader in turmeric, told FE.

He said rains in April-May resulted in high moisture in the crop, which allowed no time to dry. This has affected nearly 7-8 lakh bags (50 kg each) or 35,000-40,000 tonnes of the crop in Maharashtra.

A turmeric trader from Nizamabad, Telangana said because of low realisation from the turmeric in the last few seasons, there has been some shift to other crops by turmeric farmers that can cause a fall in output this year.

Traders as well as farmers are also holding onto some stock in anticipation of higher future prices, sources said.

Traders estimate around 10–15% less output this year compared to previous year. The Spice Board of India has estimated turmeric production in 2022-23 crop year (July-June) at 1.16 million tonne (MT), recording a decline of 5% from 1.22 MT in 2021-2022.

The Board has projected a decline of 10-20% in the sowing area of turmeric in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the current year.

Officials said that higher exports and rising domestic consumption have also affected domestic supplies.

The volume of turmeric export in FY23 rose to 0.17 MT, an increase of 11% from the previous fiscal.

Turmeric is sown in owing starts with the onset of monsoon and extends till August, while harvesting is carried out in March and April. The major states producing turmeric include Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric in the world. India has share of around 80% in turmeric output followed by China (8%), Myanmar (4%), Nigeria (3%) and Bangladesh (3%).