Turmeric trade has been affected following the Supreme Court’s directive to Karnataka to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu.
Usually, turmeric from Chamrajnagar arrives every day in Erode for sale. But following the water controversy, there is no transportation from there to Erode.
Also, vehicle movement from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka has been hit, leading to some Karnataka farmers selling turmeric directly to north Indian traders.This has resulted in arrivals dropping to 3,000 bags a day.
“For the last one month, the price of finger and root varieties have been decreasing. This is because of slack purchase by exporters and bulk buyers due to lack of demand from North India.Usually during this time, turmeric exporters and traders will receive reasonable upcountry orders. But this year, no trader has obtained orders,” said R.K.V. Ravishankar, President of the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association.
At the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association Sales yard, the finger variety was sold at Rs 3,899-5,664 a quintal; the root variety Rs 3,779-5,169 .
Salem Crop: The finger variety was sold at Rs 5,439-5,929; the root variety Rs 5,059-5,659 .
At the Regulated Marketing Committee, the finger variety was sold at Rs 4,680-6,006; the root variety at Rs 4,495-5,411. Of the 810 bags that arrived, 650 were sold. At the Erode Cooperative Marketing Society, the finger variety fetched Rs 4,800-6,030 , the root variety at Rs 4,679-5,610. Of the 576 bags on offer, 573 found takers.
At the Gobichettipalayam Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Society, the finger variety was sold at Rs 4,317-5,889, root variety at Rs 3,917-5,359. All the 80 bags put up for sale found takers.