Prices to remain stable during Harvest

Farmers have been advised to take their own sowing decision, as the prices of sunflower during harvest would remain stable and hover around Rs.3,300 to Rs 3,500 per quintal in February next.
Sunflower is raised in two seasons -- Karthigai pattam (Oct - Nov) and Chittirai Pattam (April-May) in Tamil Nadu and major hybrid grown was Sunbred variety, which fetched high price due to high oil content.
Current price of sunflower seeds is around Rs 3,200 per quintal in Vellakoil Regulated market and to facilitate farmers in taking the sowing decision, Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre (AMI & BPC) in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University analyzed the prices data of sunflower seed prevailing there for the last 13 years.

The analysis revealed that the price will hover around Rs. 3,300-3,500 per quintal during harvest of February, 2015, a release said.
Sunflower oil is becoming the fourth most vegetable oil used for cooking in the world.Ukraine is the world's largest producer of sunflower oil and India is the major importers.
The total sunflower cultivation area in India in 2013-14 was reduced to 2.50 lakh hectare compared with last five years average of 7.43 lakh hectare.

According to first Advance Estimates, sunflower seed production in Kharif (2014-15) is said to be 1.29 lakh tonnes.
The demand for sunflower oil in India has increased in recent years due to growing health consciousness and high income level and sunflower oil consumption in South India is around 70 per cent and production is only five per cent.

Karur, Tiruchirapalli, Dindigul, Tuticorin, Dharmapuri, Namakkal and Tiruppur districts are the major producers of sunflower seeds in Tamil Nadu accounting for 79 per cent of area and 80 per cent of total sunflower production in the state.
The productivity of sunflower in Tamil Nadu is 1.81 tonnes per hectare, which is higher than the national average of 0.64 tonnes per hectare.