Unjha, a town in Mehsana district of north Gujarat, is the main cumin market because it sits close to the growing areas and its APMC draws a very large share of the crop. Where the farmers bring their cumin, the buyers, processors and price discovery follow.
Over decades, the town has built a cluster of traders, commission agents, cleaning and sortex plants and warehouses around that market. That cluster keeps the trade there.
Location near the crop
Cumin is a winter crop grown mainly in Gujarat and Rajasthan. North Gujarat districts and the cumin areas of Rajasthan are within reach of Unjha by road. Farmers and village traders bring their harvest to the market yard, usually from around February to April.
Unjha also trades fennel, psyllium, ajwain and other seed spices. That breadth brings buyers who want several products from one place, and it lets processors keep their plants busy for more of the year.
How the market works
Unjha APMC is a state-regulated wholesale market. Farmers sell through licensed commission agents, usually by open auction. Processors and traders bid, pay market fees, and take the lots away for cleaning and grading.
Because arrivals are large and bidding is open, the daily auction prices at Unjha act as the reference price for cumin across India. Traders also watch cumin futures on NCDEX as a signal. Our guide on how Unjha, Rajkot and Gondal markets work for buyers explains what this means if you buy from overseas.
The processing cluster
Raw cumin from the auction is not export ready. It needs cleaning, de-stoning, grading and often colour sorting. Unjha and nearby towns have many plants that do this work, plus storage and packing.
- Processors can buy raw seed at auction and clean it within days.
- Packing materials, labour and transport are close at hand.
- Exporters can source several grades from one area.
- Ports such as Mundra and Pipavav are within road distance.
What this means for you
Being the main market does not make every Unjha supplier a good one. The town has large processors, small processors and many traders who own no plant. Some sell on the Unjha name alone.
- Check whether the supplier cleans and sorts in their own unit.
- Ask for the crop year and lot of the sample.
- Follow Unjha arrivals and prices if you plan to book a season.
- Test for residues and ethylene oxide, whatever the grade name.
Our guide on telling a trader from a processor lists the checks.
How we help
We work on the ground in the Unjha seed spice trade, visit processors' plants and follow auction arrivals through the season. If you want cumin from a processor rather than a middleman, start with a free sourcing review.