Prices of new turmeric dropped heavily on Thursday. “There is no upcountry demand for the new crop , and so, prices have decreased. Prices fell by over Rs 3,500 a quintal for the new crop, on Thursday. This is mainly due to the wetness of the crop, and also, buyers do not want to hold the stock for several days , as the weight of the crop will decrease heavily within a week ,” said Mr R.V. Ravishankar, President, Erode Turmeric Merchants Association.
“Buyers are expecting more arrivals of polished new turmeric in the next few days, and are keeping away from purchasing the stock. Only a few bulk buyers purchased the crop, to keep the product in their drying yard, polish the same and make the crop ready for sale. This process will take at least ten days,” he added.
Only Number 8 variety arrived at the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association Sales yard, and also at the Regulated Marketing Committee, in large numbers. Very small quantity of the Mysore variety arrived for sale at the two markets. At the Regulated Marketing Committee, the new crop decreased heavily, fetching only Rs 9,000 a quintal.
He said that new crop prices are likely to decrease further. “Old crop prices also fell by Rs 500 a quintal, due to poor demand. Only a limited stock of the old crop is available with farmers,” he said.
At the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association sales yard, the finger variety of the new crop fetched Rs 10,611-13,689 a quintal, the root variety fetched Rs 10,200-13,188 a quintal.
The finger variety of the old crop was sold at Rs 9,466-13,600 a quintal, the root variety at Rs 9,209-13,889 a quintal. Out of 1,935 bags that arrived, the new crop's share was 1,618. A total of 1,549 bags were sold.
At the Erode Cooperative Marketing Society, the finger variety fetched Rs 11,306-14,253 a quintal, the root variety fetched Rs 8,911-14,333 a quintal. All the 259 bags that arrived, were sold.
At the Regulated Marketing Committee, the finger variety of the old crop was sold at Rs 13,980-14,517 a quintal, the root variety at Rs 13,676-14,269 a quintal.
New turmeric (Number 8 variety) finger variety fetched Rs 7,501-9,021 a quintal, the root variety fetched Rs 6,896-7,009 a quintal. Out of 1,182 bags that arrived, only 381, including 120 bags of old crop, were sold.