By Nayan Dave
An over 40% shortfall within the cumin crop in Rajasthan and Gujarat, coupled with an exceptionally excessive export demand, has inflated costs of the commodity to Rs 4,500 per 20 kg. Traders and exporters within the Asia’s largest seeds spices hub Unjha mentioned that on Thursday cumin spot costs hovered within the vary of Rs 3,900 to Rs 4,500 per 20 kg relying on the standard of cumin.
After cleansing, sorting and packaging, cumin is being offered within the retail market at costs starting from Rs 275 per kg to over Rs 300 per kg (Rs 5,500 to Rs 6,000 per 20 kg), says Arvind Patel, a cumin dealer in Unjha.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), May Jeera futures touched a excessive of Rs 21,765 per quintal on Thursday. Spot Jeera costs in Unjha mandi on NCDEX Jodhpur stood at Rs 21,701.70 per quintal (Rs 4,340 per 20 kg). At Jodhpur mandi, it was at Rs 22,500 per quintal. Patel, who can be vice-chairman of Unjha Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), went on to say that if the upcoming monsoon season was weak, costs of cumin will additional zoom past Rs 6,000 within the second half of the present calendar yr.
“Prices of cumin remained in the range of Rs 2,400 to Rs 2,700 per 20 kg in the previous season. Cumin production in Rajasthan and Gujarat remained nearly 90 lakh bags (55 kg per bag). This year we are expecting cumin production of hardly around 55 lakh bags in the country,” says Patel.
Sowing of cumin occurs throughout October to December and harvest begins from February until April finish. Jodhpur and Nagaur districts in Rajasthan are the key pockets of cumin farming. In Gujarat, cumin is being sown in Banaskantha, Kutch and Saurashtra areas. Farmers and merchants from each the states finally come to Unjha to promote their crop. Of the overall arrival of cumin at Unjha, practically 60% comes from Rajasthan and remaining 40% from totally different elements of Gujarat.
For the 2021-22 season, cumin sowing in Gujarat was restricted to little over 3 lakh hectares in comparison with earlier yr’s 4.70 lakh hectares. Same is the case with neighbouring Rajasthan, which registered a 20% discount in acreage. As cumin crop is extremely delicate to climate and illness, farmers in Rajasthan and Gujarat switched to different crops in demand, together with cotton, mustard seed, groundnut, soyabean and coriander seed, this season, Dinesh Patel, chairman of Unjha APMC, mentioned. He added: “Apart from this, extended monsoon and unseasonal rain in March this year also affected cumin harvest adversely. Also, heatwaves in cumin growing areas played spoilsport for farmers. Luckily, there is encouraging demand for exports, which is giving good rates to farmers for their cumin crop.”
Cumin is in nice demand in West Asia, Southeast Asia, America and European markets, says Bhanubhai Joshi, a cumin exporter. The spice commodity is exported to almost 40 international locations throughout the globe from Unjha. Maximum exports are being executed within the Gulf international locations adopted by the US, Europe, China and Latin American international locations. India enjoys an over 75% share within the worldwide marketplace for cumin. Apart from India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey produce and export cumin. However, the standard of Indian cumin is much extra superior than every other nation on the earth.
Seeds spice skilled Jayvadan Gandhi says that in recent times cumin exporters confronted problems with rejection on the idea of upper pesticide content material, particularly from Chinese patrons. Even European and the US importers are additionally insisting on organically grown spices, says Gandhi. Considering the present image, merchants in Unjha imagine that there can be zero carry ahead inventory for subsequent season.
This yr, the market witnessed practically 15 lakh baggage of earlier yr’s carry ahead inventory. Nearly 75% of the crop has already arrived at Unjha market yard, Patel mentioned, including that also 25% of the crop is both in warehouses or with farmers. Some of the farmers expect an extra rise within the costs of cumin and therefore, they’re at present holding it, he added.
The go to was sponsored by the NCDEX
Source: www.financialexpress.com”