Turmeric falls on quality issues

Prices of hybrid finger turmeric fell further on Wednesday as the quality of arrivals was not up to mark.

RKV Ravishankar, President, Erode Turmeric Merchants Association, said, “Arrivals increased to 5,000 bags on Wednesday, but only medium quality turmeric arrived for sale. Traders, after examining the samples, bought 2,890 bags. But they quoted lower prices for the hybrid finger turmeric and purchased only 80 per cent of the total arrival of hybrid turmeric due to quality problems.”

He also said that since water from the Kalingarayan canal is now being released for irrigation, ryots have started their agricultural work and are in need of money. Hence, they are bringing larger quantities of turmeric for sale.

Ravishankar said that arrivals will keep increasing in the coming days. And if quality turmeric is on sale, traders will quote higher prices. But if only medium and lower grade turmeric is available, prices will continue to remain depressed.

The price of hybrid finger turmeric decreased by ₹200 a quintal while other varieties remained stable.

At the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association sales yard, the finger turmeric sold at ₹4,221-6,506 a quintal and the root variety at ₹4,019-6,339.

Salem Hybrid: The Finger turmeric fetched ₹5,699-7,700 and the root variety fetched ₹5,567-6,509. Of the 1,101 bags that arrived, 181 bags were sold.

At the Regulated Market Committee, the finger turmeric was sold for ₹5,660-6,571 and the root variety at ₹5,599-6,596. Of the 951 bags on offer, 867 were picked up.

At the Erode Cooperative Marketing Society, the finger turmeric sold at ₹5,729-6,617 and the root variety at ₹5,611-6,589. Of the 1,168 bags put up on sale, 1,101 found takers.

At the Gobichettipalayam Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Society, the finger turmeric sold at ₹5,103-6,550 and the root variety at ₹5,100-6,346. Of the 191 bags that arrived, 171 were traded.