After rising sharply during the start of the week, turmeric futures dropped on account of profit-booking at higher levels.
On the NCDEX, the yellow spice for November delivery lost 0.1 per cent to Rs 5,418 a quintal and the December and January contracts declined by 2.6 and 3.6 per cent to Rs 5,214 and Rs 5,514 respectively.
Higher arrivals and projections for a bumper crop kept prices under check. Turmeric production for 2011-12 has been projected at a record 90 lakh bags (of 70 kg each) compared with 69 lakh bags in 2010-11.
Arrivals in the Erode and Nizamabad mandis stood at 8,000 bags and 1,000 bags respectively on Wednesday.
According to the Spices Board, exports of turmeric in April increased by 1 per cent to 7,300 tonnes (7,230 tonnes).
In the spot market at Nizamabad (Andhra Pradesh), turmeric was ruling low as stockists have good carryover stocks with them. The spice was quoting Rs 5,071.7 a quintal.