Erode farmers worried about steep fall in turmeric prices

ERODE: Turmeric prices have decreased alarmingly in both the regulatory market controlled by the state government in Erode and in private procurement centres in the city, sending shockwaves across Western Tamil Nadu's farming sector. The price crash has hit farmers hard, especially since the drop in production they have suffered due to the drought situation.A quintal of turmeric was priced at Rs7200 in March and went up to Rs8300 in April. But on Tuesday, the price hit a low of Rs6699 at the regulatory market on. The price at private procurement centres has come down to Rs6475 per quintal.
"The downward trend is likely to continue. Flooding of the market with cheap varieties from Nizamabad and low orders from North Indian states have created the situation,'' says R K V Ravisankar, president of Erode Turmeric Merchants Association.
Known as the city of yellow spices, Erode is noted for turmeric cultivation and sales along with Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh. When turmeric sale started on Jan 2 this year, finger variety was sold at Rs 6,527 a quintal in the private market and Rs 6610 a quintal in Regulated Market Committee. The prices continued to increase so this sudden crash was unexpected," says T Subbu, district secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sanghom.
"At the start of this year, the upcountry demand was good. But it slowed down in the beginning of May. We had expected better pricing because of low production levels due to drought,'' said C Logusamy, a farmer.
Daily arrival had come down from 14,000 bags a day last year to just 3000 to 4000 bags, say market sources. Only 50 per cent of the stock has been sold. It has also been alleged that traders purchase high quality turmeric for storage till prices improve.
This year, turmeric was not cultivated in the lower Bhavani Project, Kalingarayan ayacuts and other areas due to water shortage. So farmers still believe the price will touch Rs 10,000 a quintal by year end and Rs 15000 a quintal in 2014, due to very low production.