Unfavourable climate may dent jeera output by 12%

Lower acreage also cited as reason for falling production levels

Jeera (Cumin) output in India may fall by 12 per cent to 387,000 tonnes during 2016-17 due to lower acreage and adverse weather conditions. The country had produced 438,000 tonne of the spice in 2015-16.

Gujarat, the highest jeera-producing state in the country, has reported a fall in area under the crop by six per cent to 278,700 hectares in 2016-17, from 295,200 hectares in 2015-16, according to state agriculture department data. As per the second advance estimate of the Gujarat government, the state is estimating 212,000 tonnes of jeera production for the year 2016-17. Last year it was around 238,000