COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has predicted that prices of Tapioca will be stable during October to November, and advised farmers to take up sowing.
"At present, Tapioca price is ruling between `700 - `800 per quintal. Tapioca was sold at `1,350 per quintal during March-April 2014. Sago which was sold at `6,700 per 90 kg bag had dropped, and the current rate of Sago per bag is `3,582. The price of Tapioca starch which was sold at `4,000 per 90 kg bag, had come down, and the current rate of starch is `2,260 only," TNAU said in a release.
"The farmers who got a good price last year, could get only half the price this year. This was mainly due to the crash in sago and starch prices due to a bumper harvest and less demand," it reasoned.
To facilitate farmers taking up tapioca cultivation during March - April, back office of Agro Marketing Intelligence and Business Promotion Centre (AMI & BPC) in TNAU has analyzed the wholesale price of tapioca at the Salem market in the last 15 years, to provide market intelligence for tapioca grown in major districts.
"The analysis revealed that the price of raw tapioca would be in the range of `7 to `8 per kg during November-December. Based on this, farmers are recommended to take up cultivation, TNAU added in the release.
Tapioca is cultivated in an area of 0.21 million hectares in India, with a total production of 7.74 million tonnes. This crop is largely cultivated in Tamil Nadu (64 percent), and India exports several forms of tapioca products like raw tapioca tuber, starch, sago and other modified starch like dextrins.