Farmers suugested to sell sunflower now

Coimbatore (PTI): Considering cost of storage and weight loss, sunflower growers have been asked to sell their produce immediately, to get better prices.

A survey conducted by Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC) of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, heavy rainfall during flowering season adversely affected sunflower crop in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, resulting in drop in production compared to previous year.

Increase in price of sunflower oil in international market made the import unfeasible and consumption of sunflower oil has increased by over 40 per cent during the last two years.

These factors have put upward pressure on domestic sunflower oil segment and the price analysis confirmed the upward trend in prices, which would be around Rs 28 to Rs 31 per kg during March-May 2008.

The maximum prices would be offered to high quality seeds, which would weigh about 42 grams for volume of 100ML and price would change depending on the volume weight basis.

Though the price may rise marginally, taking into account cost of storage, weight loss and interest charges, it would be better to sell sunflower immediately.

Indian sunflower seed production ranges between 10-15 lakh tonnes and around 70 per cent of the crop is produced in Rabi (November-March) season. Sunflower oil is the largest selling oil in the branded segment, about 45 per cent.