Acharya N.G.

Ranga Agricultural University

Crop Outlook Reports of Andhra Pradesh
TURMERIC - January to December 2022
Turmeric is an ancient spice derived from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa which is a
member of ginger family (Zingiberaceae) also known as ‘Golden Spice of India’ and is native
to Asia and India. The tuberous rhizomes or underground stems of turmeric have been used
from antiquity as condiments, a dye and as an aromatic stimulant in several medicines. It is
widely used as a spice in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking. It is an important
commercial spice crop grown in India and known as “Indian saffron”. India produced 13.3
lakh tonnes of turmeric in an area of 3.5 lakh ha with a productivity of 3656 kg/ha during
2020-21 (4th Advance estimates, agricoop.nic.in). India is the largest producer, consumer and
exporter of turmeric in the world. Indian Turmeric is considered to be the best quality due to
its high curcumin content and thus it is increasingly used in medicinal and cosmetic
applications. Major Turmeric producing countries include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Taiwan and China. Major Turmeric exporting countries are India, Thailand, Taiwan, and
several other Southeast Asian, Central and Latin American countries.
Table 1: Turmeric export and Import
Export Import
Years Quantity Value (Rs. Years Quantity (000' Value (Rs.
(000' tonnes) Lakhs) tonnes) Lakhs)
2015-16 88.5 92165 2015-16 15.33 14634.6
2016-17 116.5 124190.7 2016-17 14.15 16498.2
2017-18 107.3 103567.6 2017-18 17.12 18433.6
2018-19 133.6 141616 2018-19 30.58 29947.4
2019-20 137.6 128690 2019-20 28.58 24579.3
2020-21* 183.8 167660 2020-21 25.71 22916.9
2021-22* 153.2 178433 2021-22 24.48 24576.9
Source: Spice Board, Cochin indianspices.com and indiastat.com,
*Estimate NA-Not available
India is the largest manufacturer, consumer and exporter of turmeric, contributing
more than 80 per cent of the global production. Turmeric ranks third in the total exports of
spices from India after chilli and cumin (jeera). Table 1 shows that the exports of
turmeric have been increasing over the years and in 2021-22 the exports were 1.53 lakh
tonnes with a value of Rs 1784.33 crores. On the other hand, the import of Turmeric was 0.24
lakh tonnes with a value of Rs. 245.76 crores.
Figure 1: Major importing countries of Turmeric from India during 2021-22 (in lakh
tonnes)
Others
Syria Malaysia 8%
3% 2%
Saudi Arabia
4%
UK
3% UAE
47%
Oman
9%
USA
0%

Nepal
24%

Source: indiastat.com
From Figure 1 it is depicted that in 2021-22, the major importing countries of Indian
Turmeric are UAE (47 %) followed by Nepal (24 %), Oman (9 %) and Saudi Arabia (4 %).
Figure 2: Growth parameters of Turmeric in India

Area (000' ha) Production (000' tonnes) Productivity (tonnes/Hectare)

1600 6.0
Area- 000' ha; Production- 000' tonnes

Productivity - tonnes/hectare

1400
5.0
1200
4.0
1000
800 3.0
600
2.0
400
1.0
200
0 0.0

Source: indiatstat.com, indianspices.com, E - Estimate

India has acreage of 3.49 lakh hectares under turmeric with the production of 13.34
lakh tonnes in 2021-22. Turmeric occupies about 7.77 per cent of the total area under spices
and condiments in India and contributes 12.33 per cent share to total spices and condiments
production. Andhra Pradesh produced 0.75 lakh tonnes of turmeric in an area of 0.26 lakh
hectares in the year 2021-22 contributing 5.59 % to total country’s production (Spice Board
of India). Figure 2 shows the decadal comparison of area, production and productivity of
turmeric in India.
Table 2: Major Turmeric producing states in India (Area-000’ ha, Production-
000’tonnes)
2000-01 2010-11 2015-2016 2021-22
States/UTs
A P A P A P A P
Telangana 0 0 0 0 42.54 184.29 50.06 330.26
Orissa 25.30 60.60 26.80 202.90 2.48 30.00 31.17 68.85
Andhra
73.90 375.80 69.20 466.90 17.02 121.12 25.59 74.69
Pradesh
Tamil Nadu 33.00 158.60 51.40 278.00 34.73 132.40 24.22 104.40
Karnataka 9.30 41.00 18.00 90.40 12.82 76.78 21.31 130.97
West Bengal 13.90 22.50 15.80 38.30 16.71 42.41 18.79 51.01
India 187.40 719.60 222.90 1237.40 185.90 943.30 349.43 1334.31
Source: agricoop.nic.in, Spice Board of India, indianspices.com. E- Estimates.
Figures in parentheses indicate per cent share to the total.
The major producing states of Turmeric in India are Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa (Table 2). The highest acreage contribution of Turmeric in
India is from Telangana with 14.33 per cent followed by Orissa (8.92 %), Andhra Pradesh
(7.32 %), Tamil Nadu (6.93%), Karnataka (6.10 %) and West Bengal (5.38 %). The major
trading hubs of Turmeric in India are mainly Nizamabad (Telangana), Duggirala (Andhra
Pradesh), Sangli (Maharashtra) and Salem, Erode, Dharmapuri and Coimbatore (Tamil
Nadu).
Table 3: Area, production and yield of Turmeric before and after bifurcation in Andhra
Pradesh
Before Bifurcation After Bifurcation
Particulars 2010-11 2015-16 2018-19 2021-22
AP India AP India AP India AP India
Area (in 000’ ha) 69 2,22 17 186 28 261 26 349
Production (in
467 1,237 121 943 69 957 75 1334
'000 tonnes)
Yield (in
6,751 5,600 7,117 5,100 2464 3666 2918 3818
Kg/Hectare)
Source: agricoop.nic.in, indiastat.com and Spice Board of India- indianspices.com
Table 3 shows the area, production and yield of turmeric in Andhra Pradesh state. As
the major turmeric producing area is under Telangana, after bifurcation the area under
turmeric in Andhra Pradesh has decreased. But an increasing area under turmeric was
observed in recent years in Andhra Pradesh. Telangana is the major producing state of
Turmeric in India with 14.33 per cent of total area with 24.75 per cent production and 6600
kg/ha productivity during 2021-22. Andhra Pradesh was left with an area of 26 thousand
hectares with 75 thousand tonnes of production during 2021-22. The productivity in Andhra
Pradesh in recent years was low due to crop damage caused by cyclones.

Table 4: Cost-return structure of Turmeric in Krishna Zone 2021-22 (Rs./ha)

S NO Particulars Turmeric
1 Labour costs (Rs/ha) 146399(36.30)
2 Material costs(Rs/ha) 140790(34.91)
3 Variable costs(Rs/ha) 292215(72.46)
4 Fixed costs(Rs/ha) 74399(18.45)
5 Total cost(Rs/ha) 403275(100)
6 Yield (Qtl/ha) 48
7 Price (Rs./qtl) 6100
8 Gross returns (Rs/ha) 293807
9 Net returns (Rs/ha) -109469
10 Gross Margin (Rs/ha) 1591
11 Return on rupee BCR 0.73
12 Return on VC 1.01
13 Cost of Production (Rs./qtl) 8373
Source: Survey Data, Figures in the parentheses indicate the per cent of the item to the
total cost, BCR-Benefit Cost Ratio, VC – Variable Costs
The cost-return structure of turmeric in Krishna Zone (Guntur, Prakasam and Krishna
districts) of Andhra Pradesh for the year 2021-22 is presented in Table 4. Cost of Production
in turmeric was Rs. 8373/quintal. Gross margin implies the returns over variable costs which
is pertained to owner farmers and net returns implies returns over the total costs which is
pertained to tenant owners. Gross margin and Net returns were Rs. 1591 per ha and Rs. –
109469 per ha respectively. Return on rupee investment was 0.73 which is concerned to
tenant farmers and return on variable costs was 1.01 which is related to owner farmers.
Turmeric Price Outlook:
Seasonal indices measure the monthly per cent deviation from the average arrivals
and prices from 2015 to 2021. Modal prices of turmeric bulb and fingers from Duggirala
AMC was taken for calculating seasonal indices.

Table 5: Seasonal indices of Turmeric arrivals and prices of Duggirala market of

Andhra Pradesh (2022)
Months Arrivals Price
January 84.01 116.69
February 196.76 112.50
March 261.63 111.48
April 180.75 107.13
May 71.96 98.10
June 31.66 97.74
July 11.92 96.62
August 66.24 90.25
September 82.26 93.01
October 86.82 87.31
November 91.82 92.33
December 34.16 96.83
Source: Data obtained from Duggirala AMCs
The results in Table 5 shows the seasonal indices of turmeric cumulative arrivals and
average prices in Duggirala market. The results shows that the arrivals are highest in the
month of March and prices are highest in the month of February. The average monthly prices
of turmeric were Rs. 5355, 5027, 5316 and 5575 for the months of September, October,
November and December 2021 respectively in Duggirala market. The average monthly prices
of turmeric in Andhra Pradesh obtained from major markets is presented in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Average Monthly Prices of Turmeric in Andhra Pradesh.

Turmeric

8000
7000
6000
Price (Rs./q)

5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

Jan- Feb- Mar Apr- May Jun- Jul- Aug- Sep- Oct- Nov- Dec-
22 22 -22 22 -22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22
Turmeric 6718 6477 6418 6168 5648 5627 5563 5196 5355 5027 5316 5575

Source: Data obtained from Andhra Pradesh AMCs

As per the information shared by Agricultural Market Intelligence Centre, ANGRAU,
demand from major importing countries like Bangladesh, USA and Malaysia has declined
however interest from UAE is still intact and pace of export is reportedly good. Overall
exports still reported up by 5.26% from the same period last year due to health awareness and
demand from China and Bangladesh for newly harvested crops during the start of the current
season. In Andhra Pradesh as on 28th December 2022, 0.18 lakh hectares of turmeric was
sown compared to 0.19 lakh hectares last year (apagrisnet.gov.in).

Under these circumstances, the AMIC, ANGRAU is here with providing the latest
information with regard to forecast price range of Rs. 4700 to Rs. 5200 per quintal for bulbs
and Rs. 4900 to 5500 per quintal for fingers of turmeric in this Rabi Marketing/harvesting
season 2022-23.

***