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Garlic growers are facing a tough time as prices have tumbled to ₹2,000 a quintal in the spot market — the lowest in more than three years.
According tofarming community sources, garlic prices started declining after massive arrivals from the growing regions of Saurashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. “Last year, we had sold garlic for ₹75 a kg around same time, while this year the prices have declined to ₹13.50. This is not remunerative as the cost of cultivation is around ₹10,000-12,000 per bigha (excluding transport), against the return of about ₹16,000 per bigha . We had no clue that production will be huge and there will be such a drop in prices,” said Madhabhai Pambhar of Itala village in Lodhika taluk of Gujarat’s Rajkot district.
The National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) data show that2017-18 saw the highest exports of the bulb since 2014-15, when India exported 12,550.56 tonnes at ₹26,752 per tonne.
Shipments upSo far in 2017-18, exports have touched 22,110.37 tonnes fetching, ₹47,542 per tonne.
“Last year, parts of Saurahstra haced a drought-like situation. Farmers had anticipated poor sowing in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too. But the production in these States was higher and increased the availability. Further, demonetisation affected the garlic growers, who avoided selling their produce and stored the crop. These farmers started bringing the crop to the market around Diwali leading to the drop in prices,” said Ramesh Bhorania, a farmer and agriculture expert in Rajkot.
Sowing progressCurrently, garlic sowing is on in Saurashtra and Madhya Pradesh and fresh arrivals are expected around May next year.
However, Gujarat’s farmers said that even though the crop has not yielded adequate returns, they will continue with garlic.
In the spot market, garlic prices fell about 82 per cent from ₹1,550 per 20 kg in November 2016 to ₹270 now.
According to NHRDF data, garlic sowing during 2015-16 stood at 81,170 hectares in Madhya Pradesh, 69,100 hectares in Rajasthan and 40,600 hectares in Gujarat.
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