The prices of hill grown tapioca are expected to decline drastically to Rs.4,800 to Rs.5,200 during June to August, from the present Rs.7,200 to Rs.7,800 per ton and farmers are recommended to sell their produces immediately.
As imports from Vietnam and Thailand are expected to be higher in coming months, the chances for prices to increase are very limited, an analysis carried out by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) said.
Tapioca is mainly grown in rain fed conditions in Tamil Nadu, with sowing taking place during November-December and March-April, so that the tubers can be harvested during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period.
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During June-August, the hill grown tapioca comes for harvest and fetches relatively better price because of very good color and premium quality to the final consumable products such as sago and starch when compared to tapioca cultivated in plains, which comes for harvest after August and continue to hit market till February.
Due to favorable rainfall during the last North-East Monsoon season (Oct-Nov, 2014), majority of farmers in Karumandurai, Salem district and Kolli hills of Namakkal districts had taken up tapioca cultivation in 420 hectares and 4,300 hectares respectively.
Also, the sago and starch was traded at Rs. 4,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively per 90 kg bag during April and declined to Rs.3,850 and Rs. 2,350 respectively due to poor response from North Indian traders as they started importing both food and industrial grade starch from Vietnam and Thailand.
Major port of import destinations for starch are Nhava Sheva, Chennai and Tuticorin.
India is the 10th largest producer of tapioca in the world, producing 8.14 million tonnes during 2013-14, of which Tamil Nadu alone contributed 4.98 million tonnes accounting for 61.17 per cent.
Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Salem are the major tapioca cultivating districts with a share of half of total production of Tamil Nadu.
