After witnessing a dip for around a month, jeera (cumin seeds) prices have rebounded and recovered to around Rs 30,000 per quintal (Rs 300 per kg) in agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) mandis in Gujarat, logging a gain of around Rs10,000 over the last one week. At Unjha APMC in Mehsana – the world’s largest wholesale market of cumin seeds – prices had crashed to around Rs 20,000 mid-April from the average Rs 25,000 in the preceding two months. The prices remained at Rs 20,000, as marketing season peaked and arrivals remained stable at average 30,000 bags (each containing 55 kg of jeera). However, over the past week or so, the prices have recovered to the average Rs 30,000. The markets attributed the recovery to smart-selling decisions by farmers. “Farmers refused sell at prices that were lover than the cultivation cost. This reduced supply in the market as traders had remained hesitant to purchase for stocking, thinking a bumper crop will keep prices low. All this while, demand of this spice seed remained stable, pushing the price up one more time,” Piyush Patel, president of Unjha APMC Vepari Association, the association of traders of Unjha APMC mandi, said. Arrivals in Unjha APMC were around 38,000 bags on Tuesday. “Jeera prices in domestic market have also been cushioned by a sustained overseas demand. Exporters are exporting cumin at average rate of Rs 31,500. they are saying that export volumes are also one-and-a-half times higher than the previous year,” Patel added. He further said that the price volatility may continue. “The market is going to remain tight and predicting a long term trend looks a risky business.” Farmer leaders welcomed the upswing in the price. “Given the higher cultivation costs this year, farmers can’t afford to sell jeera below Rs 25,000. Once the prices slid to Rs 20,000, farmers were forced to hold their harvest back. In the meantime, traders who had purchased jeera at around Rs 30,000, started selling in the open market, assuming prices will slide further due to a bumper harvest. That kept prices low for weeks. While there could be some speculation at play even now, the upswing in prices bodes well for farmers,” Dinesh Patel, Chairman of Unjha APMC said. Gujarat, the largest jeera producer of India, had seen area under jeera cultivation going up to 5.61 lakh hectares (lh) in 2023-24 Kharif season from a mere 2.75 lh the previous year, as prices hit peak of around Rs 65,000 per quintal in June-July 2023. Rajasthan, the state with largest jeera acreage, also saw an increase in its cultivation area of this crop. As per the Third Advance Estimates of Gujarat government, jeera production in the state was 4.01 lakh tonnes or 40.10 lakh quintal.
