NEW DELHI (Commoditiescontrol) - Encouraged by higher realisation last year, acreage under mentha is likely to increase by 25% in the ongoing sowing season.
The price of mentha oil, a derivative of mentha, shot up in the second half of 2017 by over 100% on rising demand, especially from consuming industries.
After hitting an intra-day high of Rs 1,991.90 (benchmark contract on MCX) on December 4 last year, mentha oil has been, however, trending down on selling pressure. In last one and half months, futures prices have weakened around 35 percent.
India meets around 80 percent of the world natural menthol demand with its use in pharmaceutical, food safety, culinary, cosmetics, insecticides, scent and aromatherapy.
More than 80 percent of the country’s natural mentha oil is produced in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal and parts of Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.
Sowing Prospects
Sowing of mentha, largely concentrated in Uttar Pradesh for long, began early February and will continue for 4-6 weeks. The crop will be harvested from April.
A sharp rise in mentha oil prices to a near six-year high in December seems to have encouraged farmers in Bihar to try their luck with the short-duration mint crop this summer.
"The acreage under mentha (mint) in the country is likely to rise at least 25 percent this year from about 300,000 hectares last year, with much of the increase coming from farmers in Bihar," President of Mint Growers Association Tekram Sharma said.
Over the last few years, acreage under the crop has been on a gradual rise in Bihar, but this time the extent of increase is significant, state government officials said.
"Area under mentha has seen 10-fold rise in the last five years due to increased awareness and higher returns on the spice oil," Ranveer Singh, an official with Bihar's farm ministry said.
"The acreage is likely to see a similar jump in the ongoing season as well," he added. However, there was no official data on the acreage.
In many areas in Bihar, mint is cultivated during the two-month gap after the harvest of rabi wheat crop and before the sowing of kharif paddy.
"Earlier, they used to leave the fields fallow, but now they have learnt to cultivate mentha (mint)," Singh said.
"Area under the spice oil is likely to rise mostly in Begusarai, Ara, Buxar, Sasaram, Champaran, Khagaria, and Sitamarhi," Sharma said.
In Uttar Pradesh, however, there is little scope of an increase in acreage as most of the land in major growing regions of Chandausi, Sambhal, and Barabanki are already dominated by mentha irrespective of price trend.
According to market participants, acreage is seen rising marginally in places near Lucknow, Badayun, Rampur, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Faizabad, Bahraich, and Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.
In Barabanki, the district which contributes nearly 80% to Uttar Pradesh's mentha oil production, acreage has risen a marginal 1,000 hectares to 75,000 hectares so far this year.
"In Uttar Pradesh, more farmers have started growing mentha instead of wheat and potato due to higher returns...also mentha crop, unlike wheat and potato, is not prone to attack by animals because of its strong odour," said Jai Karan Singh, Barabanki district horticulture officer at the Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Department.
According to market experts, conducive weather and a 25 percent rise in acreage can result in production of 40,000-41,000 tonnes of mentha oil in 2018 compared with around 30,000-33,000 tonnes produced last year.
Weather is also favourable for the cultivation of mint, farm experts said. Mint requires moisture for its cultivation and Uttar Pradesh has received adequate rainfall till now.
According to the data from India Meteorological Department, Uttar Pradesh received 4.1 mm of rainfall in the week ended Wednesday, 15 percent above the normal of 3.6 mm.
Price Outlook
The likely rise in acreage has already been factored in partially in the mentha oil futures contracts, which have seen prices falling from nearly Rs 2,000 per kg in December to Rs 1,300 now.
A further downside is also likely, with prices expected to slip below the four-digit mark briefly, traders said.
"Prices may decline to Rs 1,000-1,100 per kg by April as acreage may rise by 25-30 percent this year," said Rajeev Agarwal of Sambhal Mentha Association.
In Sambhal, prices of mentha oil are likely to fall to nearly Rs 1,200 from the current Rs 1,470, local trader Arvind Rastogi said.
Mentha Oil Exports
The country annually exports around 20,000 -25,000 tonnes of mentha oil and allied products to the US, China, Europe and South America.
According to Spices Board India, under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the country’s exports of mint products stood at 11,280 tonnes in the first 6 months (April-September) of 2017-18, up 4 percent as against 10,850 tonnes during the same period in 2016-17.
|
Mint products Exports
|
Volume ( In Tonnes)
|
Value (In Rs Lakhs)
|
|
2013-14
|
24,500
|
343,042.20
|
|
2014-15
|
25,750
|
268,925.00
|
|
2015-16
|
23,250
|
258,130.47
|
|
2016-17
|
22,300
|
252,750.00
|
Meanwhile, export enquiries continued to remain sluggish, trade sources said.
All major exporters like Sharp Menthol, Jindal Drugs Ltd, KV have now slowed buying in the domestic market as supply of synthetic menthol from BASF’s Germany unit has improved. Global players are now focusing more on synthetic mentha oil production due to sharp rise in natural mentha oil prices in India in the second half of 2017.
(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau; +91-22-40015523)
|
0 Comments 
Post Comment 
