Garlic prices drop 50% on glut, likely to drop further

Garlic prices fell 50 per cent in the Mumbai vegetable markets last week on new crop arrivals. Currently, the big size garlic (generally believed to be of good quality) is quoting in the range of Rs 28-30 a kg and small size garlic is being sold between Rs 15 and Rs 20 a kg.

According to traders, bumper crop across the country resulted in 50 per cent additional output this year, pulling the prices down substantially.

A Vashi-based trader said prices were likely to decline further by 20 per cent when crop from Uttar Pradesh started to arrive by the end of the month.

Garlic prices had hit the Rs 60-65 levels late last month owing to delayed arrivals due to showers in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

"There is no supply crunch as arrivals from MP and Gujarat resumed. Supply will soon zoom upto 30 tempo (6 tonne each) as against the present supply of 10-12 tempo," said Ashok Valunj, director of Vashi-based Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC).

Although there is no official statistics available on domestic garlic output, traders believe total production this year may go upto 40 lakh bags (of 50 kgs each).

Garlic is mainly used as a condiment in various food preparations. It also serves as a carminative and gastric stimulant in many pharmaceutical preparations.

The conventional technique of making garlic powder consists of removing the outer paper skin of the bulb, separation and peeling of cloves, dehydration and powdering. This technique is tedious, time-consuming and costly.

An improved process for the manufacture of garlic powder has been worked out. The garlic bulbs are scrubbed under mild pressure, condition/unit packages.

Alternatively, the product is marketed in the form of flakes.