Spice Crop Acreage in Gujarat Significantly Lags Behind Last Year

31-Dec-2025 08:14 PM

Rajkot. In Gujarat, a leading producer of spices such as cumin, coriander, fennel, psyllium, and garlic, the pace of sowing is significantly slower compared to last year.

This is due to weak market prices and sluggish export performance, which have led to a lack of interest among farmers in cultivating these crops.

The ideal time for sowing spice crops has almost passed, so a significant increase in acreage in the coming days seems unlikely. However, the weather conditions in the state remain largely satisfactory.

According to the state agriculture department's report, as of December 29th, during the current Rabi season, the area under cumin cultivation in Gujarat has fallen from 4,64,570 hectares to 3,98,596 hectares compared to the same period last year. 

Similarly, the area under coriander cultivation has decreased from 1,25,033 hectares to 1,17,626 hectares, fennel from 54,370 hectares to 49,471 hectares, and psyllium from 24,559 hectares to 23,237 hectares.

Thus, compared to last year, Gujarat has seen a decline of approximately 66,000 hectares in cumin cultivation area, 7,400 hectares in coriander, 5,000 hectares in fennel, and 1,300 hectares in psyllium during the current Rabi season.

It is noteworthy that the total area under cumin cultivation in Gujarat was higher during the entire 2024-25 Rabi season. For the 2025-26 Rabi season, the normal average area for cumin in the state has been set at 4,37,892 hectares, for coriander at 1,60,187 hectares, for fennel at 80,474 hectares, and for psyllium at 23,980 hectares.

As for garlic, the area under cultivation has exceeded 12,000 hectares, which is roughly the same as last year and about 71 percent of the five-year average area of ​​17,471 hectares. The condition of spice crops is reported to be normal.