| Line | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turmeric | Jan: harvest | Feb: new crop arriving | Mar: peak arrivals | Apr: new crop arriving | ||||||||
| Coriander | Feb: new crop arriving | Mar: peak arrivals | Apr: peak arrivals | May: peak arrivals | Jun: new crop arriving | Jul: new crop arriving | Aug: new crop arriving | |||||
| Ginger | Jan: new crop arriving | Feb: peak arrivals | Mar: peak arrivals | Dec: harvest | ||||||||
| Red Chilli | Jan: harvest | Feb: new crop arriving | Mar: peak arrivals | Apr: peak arrivals | May: new crop arriving | Dec: harvest | ||||||
| Black Pepper | Jan: new crop arriving | Feb: peak arrivals | Mar: peak arrivals | Apr: new crop arriving | Dec: harvest | |||||||
| Green Cardamom | Jan: new crop arriving | Feb: new crop arriving | Aug: harvest | Sep: new crop arriving | Oct: peak arrivals | Nov: peak arrivals | Dec: peak arrivals | |||||
| Clove | Jan: new crop arriving | Feb: peak arrivals | Mar: new crop arriving | Dec: harvest |
Erode and Salem (TN) · Nizamabad (TG) · Sangli (MH) · Duggirala (AP)
Sown June to August, lifted January to March and boiled, dried and polished before it reaches the market. Andhra arrivals open in January; Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra bring the peak in March. Curcumin is highest in the fresh crop, so an early-season contract on a 5% band is easier to hold than a late-season one.
Kota, Baran and Jhalawar (RJ) · Gondal (GJ) · Madhya Pradesh
A rabi crop, sown between mid-October and mid-November and cut through February to April. Arrivals run unusually long — February into August — because Rajasthan holds stock and releases it against demand. Colour fades in storage, so buyers who specify a bright green powder should contract against the March to May window.
Cochin and Idukki (KL) · Assam, Meghalaya and the North-East
Planted April to May and lifted after eight to ten months, so harvest falls December to February. Dry ginger adds a further curing and drying stage before it trades, which is why dry-ginger arrivals sit a few weeks behind the green crop. Yield on drying is 15–25%, and that ratio moves the price as much as the crop size does.
Guntur (AP) · Byadgi and Haveri (KA) · Warangal (TG)
Kharif sown June to August and picked December to March, with Guntur arrivals building from February. Chilli is the one line where the calendar matters least for availability and most for price: the Guntur cold stores hold a large part of the crop and release it through the year, so material is available in any month but colour value and price move with how long it has been in store.
Idukki and Wayanad (KL) · Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru (KA)
Kerala harvests December to February and Karnataka runs a few weeks later, into March. Berries are threshed, blanched and sun-dried before grading, so garbled grades reach the market from January. Bulk density — the number that separates MG1 from Tellicherry Extra Bold — is set by how well the crop dried, which makes the early, drier part of the season the better one to buy the top grades in.
Idukki and Vandanmedu (KL) · Bodinayakanur (TN)
Picked in four to six rounds from August through February rather than in one harvest, and sold almost entirely through the Puttady and Bodinayakanur e-auctions. Capsule size and the parrot-green colour are best in the October to December rounds. Auctions run all year from held stock, but colour dulls in storage, so 8 mm bold green against a firm specification is materially easier to source in the last quarter.
Kanyakumari and the Nilgiris (TN) · Idukki and Kottayam (KL) · Dakshina Kannada (KA)
The only line here picked by hand, bud by bud. The unopened flower bud is taken before it blooms and sun-dried for several days, so the crop reaches the market a few weeks behind the pick, and the volume in any one week depends on how many hands are in the trees. Volatile oil is highest in the new crop and falls slowly in storage, which makes January to March the window to buy a high-oil specification against.