Demand for jeera exports slowing down due to high prices, says Harjiv Swani

Swani said, "The domestic buying can't stop. In India, we normally eat the entire jeera crop ourselves. But India is the world’s largest exporter of jeera. So we have seen that the demand is starting to slow down because customers are not able to digest these high prices. So we are seeing some very little movement in the exports business, but domestic I believe remains quite active."

Swani added that there has been a lower planting of cumin across the country. He expects a production shortfall of about 2,00,000 tonne for the current year.

"We have seen lower planting of cumin across the country. India typically has a crop of about 7,00,000 to about 6,50,000 tonne of cumin. This year, we are looking at a crop of only 4,00,000 to 4,50,000 tonne. So that really creates a shortfall of anywhere about 2,00,000 tonne, which is huge because there is no Indian dish that is made without jeera," Swani added.