Anakapalli expects more jaggery arrivals this season

The Anakapalli jaggery market, the second biggest jaggery market in the country, is expecting a jaggery arrivals to increase by around 11 lakh lumps this season, due to both an attractive prices for jaggery and an increase in sugarcane production in the region.

In the 2003-04 jaggery season that ended in August, the Anakapalli market received around 39 lakh lumps (15 kgs of jaggery per lump). In the 2004-05 jaggery season that starts from mid-September, the traders are expecting around 48 to 50 lakh lumps of jaggery.

"Due to sufficient rains, the sugarcane yield has increased by four to five tonnes per acre in this region. With the abnormal hike in jaggery prices in the 2003-04 jaggery season, the farmers are also giving high priority for jaggery making. Therefore, we are expecting arrivals up to 50 lakh lumps this season," I V R Nageswara Rao, president of Anakapalli Jaggery Traders Association, told Business Standard.

"Normally, the sugarcane yield was around 25 tonnes per acre in this region. Owing to good monsoon, the sugar cane yield has increased to around 29-30 tonnes per acre. In the last jaggery season, the farmers fetched an average price of Rs 105 per 10 kg of black jaggery, which is the highest ever price in the Anakapalli market. Due to these reasons, the farmers are showing interest in making jaggery, instead of sending sugarcane to sugar factories," K Buchi Raju, a senior jaggery trader at the Anakapalli market, told Business Standard.

However, the Anakapalli market has been witnessing a downward trend in prices during the last week due to the influx of jaggery arrivals at the market.

In the beginning of the current jaggery season, ie mid-September, traders were paid Rs 165-170 per 10 kg of black jaggery. Later, the prices have been gradually falling and dropped to below Rs 133 per 10 kg of jaggery.