Falling acreage due to poor rainfall during June-July coupled with the increased demand for turmeric of Tamil Nadu origin has tended to push the price of the yellow spice northwards.

The current trend supports the farmgate price of quality turmeric at around ₹10,500-11,500 a quintal during March-April 2016, say Farm Varsity experts after analysing the price movement of the produce in Erode market.

Advising farmers to store and sell the produce at a later date to get better income, the Back Office of Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre (AMI & BPC) of Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University said that the arrivals are currently from Bhavani, Sathyamangalam and some parts of Karnataka (Ulsur, Ramapuram).

And the quality produce is fetching the seller ₹10,500/quintal. Salem local variety appears to be more preferred, the analysts said.

The total area under turmeric during 2014-15 has been estimated at 0.18 million hectares. Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal were the major turmeric producing states contributing to 85 per cent of total turmeric production of the country.

The area under turmeric in TN during 2014-15 has stood at 0.03 million hectares with Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Coimbatore and Thiruvannamalai contributing to a major chunk of the produce.