SUNFLOWER PRICES EXPECTED TO INCREASE

LUDHIANA,

Due to short duration, sunflower is widely adapted in Punjab particularly in the potato belt. Its sowing season is going to start shortly and the seeds of different hybrids of short and long duration provided by private seed companies are preferred by the farmers for cultivation. This was stated by Dr. J.S.Sidhu, Incharge Agricultural Market Intelligence Centre (AMIC) of the PAU Department of Economics and Sociology. He elaborated that area under this crop increased from about 10 thousand hectares in 2000-01 to 21.9 thousands hectares during 2009-10 in the state. During 2009-10, the total production of sunflower in the State was 38.6 thousands tons with an average yield of 17.63 quintals per hectare, he said. Discussing about the market scenario of sunflower, Dr. Sidhu said that marketing season for this crop is limited to the months of May to July and most of the crop is marketed through regulated markets. Traders fix the price based on oil content estimated by evaluation of the weight, dryness and skin thickness of seed, he said. The major buyers are the refined oil industry/solvent extraction plants of the state with limited inter-state trade of sunflower.

The price of sunflower is affected by the demand and supply of its oil, international prices of edible oils, the government import policy in respect of edible oils and the production of leading exporting countries, informed Dr. Sidhu. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) fixed by the Government for 2010-11 is Rs 2350 per quintal. However, due to lack of effective procurement policy with respect to oilseeds in the state, this price is only indicative, said Dr. Sidhu. In order to forecast the prices of sunflower in the coming marketing season, the AMIC analyzed the past trend in the prices of sunflower in the state and national markets. The findings indicated that area and production of sunflower in Punjab during current season is expected to remain same as during last year. Due to general inflation of food items in the country including edible oils and increase in international prices of oil due to the set back to its production in Malaysia and Indonesia, the sunflower prices are expected to increase during the coming marketing season as compared to last year level of Rs 1900 to 1950 per quintal, expressed Dr. Sidhu. However, sufficient imports of palm oil and other edible oils at zero tariffs under import policy of the country may help in stabilizing the domestic prices of oilseeds, observed he. Based on the results of the analysis as well as current and past market sentiments, expectations of trading community and other available information, the sunflower prices in the coming marketing season during May to July are expected to prevail in the range of Rs 2250 to 2350 per quintal. Farmers may use information while taking their sowing decisions, said Dr. Sidhu.


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