Turmeric has become hot in the market due to the apprehension of damage to the turmeric crop in Maharashtra due to rains in the last few days. Turmeric has become costlier by nearly 12 per cent in the last 20 days due to apprehension of fall in yield. The futures market prices reached the highest level in the last five months. The activity of speculators in the market is telling that there will be more growth in turmeric. Turmeric prices are seeing a jump for the fourth consecutive week. Turmeric prices have reached the highest level in about five months. In the spot market Nizamabad, the price of turmeric increased to Rs 7460 per quintal, while 20 days ago on April 26, 2023, the price of turmeric was being quoted at Rs 6672 per quintal. The reason for the sudden spurt in turmeric prices is being attributed to the activity of bookies in the market following reports of damage to the crop due to rains in the past. There was a sharp decline in arrivals due to reports of crop damage in Maharashtra, which supported the prices. Turmeric is likely to trade higher on supply concerns. But supplies also improved in Telangana and Maharashtra as farmers are releasing their stocks due to better prices. Export demand has also come down after the increase in prices. Apart from this, unseasonal rains at various places in Andhra Pradesh have damaged the turmeric crop. Due to rain, turmeric stock in Guntur, Krishna and NTR districts was soaked in rain water. However, there has been improvement in the arrival of new crop. So far, about 7-8 lakh gunny bags have arrived in Nizamabad and about 7 lakh gunny bags have arrived in Sangli. If turmeric traders are to be believed, there is no shortage of stock in the market at this time because farmers and small traders are engaged in extracting their goods due to high prices. The stockists are trying to release their stock with every increase in the prices. The Spices Board has estimated the production of turmeric in the country at 1.33 million tonnes this year, which is 18.4 per cent higher than last year. Turmeric exports increased by 10.42 per cent to 151,298.89 tonnes during April-February 2023 as against 137,017.23 tonnes during April-February 2022. About 14,806.30 tonnes of turmeric was exported in February 2023, while 10,358.22 tonnes of turmeric was exported in February 2022, showing an increase of 42.94 per cent. In January 2023, 12,484.25 tonnes were exported, showing a growth of 18.60 per cent.