Fennel prices touch 10-yr high

Demand, delayed cultivation push rates to Rs 1200-1400

Fennel seed (variyali) prices have hit an all-time high of Rs 1200-1400 per 20 kg in the past ten years at the Unjha agriculture produce market committee market in north Gujarat.

The market is also called the "Spices Bowl of World", as some of the best spices are available in this market. Unjha is said to be the biggest market in India for cumin, fenugreek, mustard, and fennel seeds.

Ramesh Ambalal Patel, a spices trader at Unjha, said, "There is a growing demand for the commodity and also since cultivation began late owing to winter, prices have shot up."

Traders and exporters are not ruling out the possibility of empty godowns by the time they enter the next fiscal year, without much carryforward stocks.

The Unjha mandi has been nearly exhausted of last year's reserved stock, which opened the year at Rs 1,200-1,400 per 20-kg bag.

For the same quality of fennel seeds last year, prices were between Rs 700 and 900, added a trader.

"This is for the first time since 1996 that the prices have gone as high as Rs 1,300. The yield is going to be one-and-a-half times more than last year and most of the stock is likely to be consumed this year," said Chandrakant S Patel, a leading trader of fennel seeds.

This year 8-9 lakh bags (each containing 55 kg) are estimated to be traded at Unjha. Last year's carryfoward has been about 40,000 bags only, according to an official of the Market Yard Vyapari Association, Unjha.

The prices are, however, likely to go down in March when about 5,000 bags will arrive daily here, the official said.

During the peak season in April, the market will witness arrival of about 12,000 bags on daily basis which will pull down prices to Rs 700-800, the official said.

"Till now about 500-1000 bags arrive everyday and this has increased to 2,000 from Tuesday," Chandrakant Patel said.

"About 8-9 lakh bags are expected this year. Beginning this fortnight, about 4,000 bags will start arriving in Unjha. The area under cultivation is 1.5 times more than the previous year and though there was a little damage to crops in Visnagar, the overall market will not be affected." Ramesh Patel claimed.

Abu Road area is the major producer of fennelseeds. The area under cultivation in Banaskantha district is about 12,600 hectares, which produces the highest quantity in Gujarat. Kheda, Sabarkantha and Surendranagar districts are also expected to produce a good yield.

In 2005 about 5-6 lakh bags of fennelseed were produced and the carry foward was about 2.5 lakh bags, according to sources. About 8 lakh bags are consumed in India every year and about 1.5 lakh are exported, traders maintain.

"There is a good market in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar and Hyderabad," according to Ramesh Patel.

"This year the high prices will forbid many traders from stocking. Also, there is hardly any carryforward stock. This year fennelseeds are likely to be exported to Europe, America and Gulf countries besides Pakistan and Turkey although it is difficult to say how much will be exported as of now," said K P Naik of KP Overseas, which exports fennel seeds.

"Although it is not right to compare, this is for the first time that prices of fennel seeds have overtaken that of cumin seeds," another trader in Unjha said.

As the Unjha market yard awaits the peak season March-April, a further rise in temperature can play a spoilsport in their harvest, traders feel.