Jeera prices go past Rs 40,000 per quintal in Unjha market

The lowest was Rs 27,500 with modal price (price at which majority of crop is sold on a given day) being Rs 32,500 on a day when arrivals were around 32000 bags each containing 55 kilogrammes or 0.55 quintal jeera (total 17,600 quintals).

On Thursday, the price was in the range of Rs 38,200 to Rs 27,750 and arrivals around 22,000 bags (12.100 quintals), Unjha APMC data shows.

The average price of this spice seed crop was Rs 18,000 in the marketing season 2021-22. However, prices have been rallying since December last year. The prices went up to Rs 25,000 on December 2 before increasing further to Rs 30,000 by December 23.

The upswing continued even after that and shot up to Rs 35,500 on January 5. Thus, the prices have appreciated by more than Rs 5,000 in three months of this calendar year and have more than doubled in four months to scale never-seen-before heights.

“The unseasonal rains in March damaged jeera crop in the two main jeera belts—Saurashtra region of Gujarat as well as in Rajasthan, leading to a significant drop in yield losses. Because of the lower yields, the total size of India’s jeera crop, which was estimated to be 70 lakh bags (3.85 lakh quintals) early in the season is expected to be only around 50 lakh bags (or 2.75 lakh quintals). On other hand, the demand has been stable, keeping the prices on the upward curve,” Dinesh Patel, chairman of Unjha APMC told The Indian Express.

Jeera is generally sown in October-November and harvested in February-March with March to May being the peak jeera marketing season. But many farmers in Rajasthan had to sow jeera for the second time in December after seeds sown in November didn’t germinate due to rather warm weather. Therefore, the harvest was delayed in that state, say jeera traders.

“Jeera arrivals normally peak in April. But this year, arrivals are not picking up and have remained in the range of 30,000 to 40,000 bags per day. This is almost half compared to arrivals during the corresponding period,” Dinesh Patel, secretary of Unjha APMC said, adding, “At rates double than last year, any jeera farmer would rush his crop to the market. But the fact that arrivals have remained sluggish points to low yields and overall low production.”

Traders estimate more than a third of the crop has already been marketed by farmers this season.
“Around 35 to 40 per cent of the crop has already arrived in the market and has been sold. All small and marginal farmers have sold their produce. Now, farmers with larger landholdings and who have income support from other activities, are bringing their jeera to the market in a staggered manner. This is also sustaining jeera prices at high levels and pushing them even higher,” said a leading jeera trader of Unjha.

Meanwhile, futures trading of jeera also indicates the continuation of the surge in prices in near future. Spot price on National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDex) jeera price was quoted Rs37,645 for delivery in the third week of May.