Gujarat reaps a bountiful cuminseed harvest

Rows of cuminseed (jeera) fields in Gujarat are standing tall like custodians to Asia's largest Mandi in Unjha, whispering its glory, almost everlastingly. The area under cultivation has risen to 30 per cent approximately as compared to last year.

"Last year the area under cultivation was 1.7 lakh hectares which is around 2.25 hectares this year. If all goes well the market will witness fresh stock of 21-22 lakh sacks, each containing 55-60 kgs, this time around," according to Devendra Patel, a leading trader and market analyst.

Fresh stock is likely to arrive by January-end as we are late by a fortnight, he said adding, "The present climate is very favourable for Jeera which is a Ravi crop and we wish it will continue till February."

Traders and farmers fear that rain, dew or rise in temperature can play spoilsport for the crops. "We expect a good stock and rain can lower the prices by Rs 5 to 10 a kg," according to Dinesh Patel, owner of Trimurti Finstock Pvt Ltd, another major trader in Unjha.

On an average about 2,000 bags of old stock are making their way to the market yard of Unjha and about 5,000-5,500 are being traded on a daily basis currently, according to Devendra Patel.

In peak season, according to traders, 15-20,000 sacks will get sold daily. "The Unjha market has 8 lakh sacks of old stock and by February ending 6 to 6.5 lakh will remain as stock," he said.

The cost of cuminseed is Rs 1150- Rs 1300 per 20 kgs in Unjha market at present. "If by March we can sell at Rs 1,150 to Rs 1,200 per 20 kg then we can make profit of Rs 200-250," he claimed.

The cultivation area includes 42,000 hectares in Surendranagar district, 41,000 hectares in Rajkot, 6400 hectares in Porbandar, 27,500 in Banaskantha, 22,500 in Ahmedabad, 24,000 in Patan, 18,000 in Jamnagar and 15,500 in Junagadh, according to Devendra Patel.

Besides in Rajasthan, the area under cultivation is about 90,000 to 1 lakh hectare and all this makes its way to Unjha market, Devendra Patel said. "Although this is less by 10 percent as compared to previous year," he added.