With good chances of increase in Turmeric prices next year, Tamil Nadu Agricultural university has advised farmers to store the produce so that they get higher income by selling it later.
Turmeric is sold at Rs 9,500 per quintal in the Erode market, which is 47 per cent higher than the price in the previous year during the same month. From September last, price had shown increasing trend.
Due to the recent price rise, 20 per cent of the stored turmeric was already sold in Tamil Nadu, as per an analysis by Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre in TNAU.
Sowing of turmeric would be in June-July and harvesting during January-March and prices will hover around Rs 9,500 to Rs 10,000 per quintal, it said.
In the current year, area under turmeric in Tamil Nadu has increased, whereas Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra witnessed a marginal decline.
In Tamil Nadu, turmeric is cultivated in 0.46 million hectares with 2.31 million tonnes of production in 2014-15.
Anticipated reduced production from major turmeric growing States, decreasing carryover stocks and increased domestic as well as export demand would cause a wide demand supply gap for turmeric in the coming months, TNAU said.
Evidence of five-year cycle in turmeric price and increasing trend in commodity futures for turmeric would also support the peak price in the current and the forthcoming period, it said.
