India turmeric up 4 pct on lower sowing; jeera edges down

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Turmeric futures rose to their highest daily permissible limit of 4 percent on Tuesday due to a decline in area under cultivation and firm demand from local and overseas buyers.

* At 0946 GMT, the September turmeric contract on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) was up 4 percent at 6,226 rupees per 100 kg.

* "Rains have slightly improved in the leading cultivating regions but not as required. Rains are very less in parts of Tamil Nadu and this could hit the yield of the crop," said Punamchand Gupta, a trader from Nizamabad, a key market in Andhara Pradesh.

* Rains in Tamil Nadu have been 23 percent lower than average in the season until Aug. 22, the weather office data showed.

* At Nizamabad, spot turmeric rose 94 rupees to 5,590 rupees per 100 kg.

* Turmeric is planted between June and August and takes about nine months to harvest.

* Farmers slashed the area under turmeric cultivation this season following a sharp fall in prices that started last year.

JEERA

Jeera, or cumin seed, futures edged down on improved rains in top producer Gujarat state and on a decline in the spot demand, but some value buying at lower levels restricted the downside.

* The September jeera contract on the NCDEX was down 0.17 percent at 14,525 rupees per 100 kg. It has fallen more than 3 percent in the previous session.

* "Rains are weighing on sentiment, but some fresh export enquiries are supporting prices," said Samir Mahendra Shah, a trader from Unjha, a key market in Gujarat.

* Gujarat has been receiving good rains in the past few days which would help sowing in the season.

* The rains would improve the soil moisture required for sowing rabi crops.

* Jeera is a winter crop sown from October and farmers depend on rains to moisten the land for sowing.

* At Unjha, a key market in Gujarat, jeera fell 89 rupees to 15,647 rupees per 100 kg.

PEPPER

Pepper futures were up due to limited supplies from farmers and lower inventories, but subdued overseas sales weighed.

* The most-active September contract on the NCDEX was up 0.61 percent at 42,050 rupees per 100 kg.

* "Prices are expected to move up because of thin supplies. New arrivals from the fresh crop would come only in Jan-Feb," said Faiyaz Hudani, a senior analyst at Kotak Commodities.

* Exports have been poor because Indian-origin pepper is offered at a premium of $800-$1,200 per tonne in the global market compared to competitors.

* Overseas buyers have been placing orders with pepper producers such as Indonesia and Brazil due to lower prices in those countries, traders said.

* In April, pepper exports fell 47 percent from a year earlier to 1,200 tonnes. (Reporting by Meenakshi Sharma; Editing by Anand Basu)

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