Seasonal price average is calculated from the time of harvesting to the time the crop is available until the next harvesting starts depending upon the season and commodity respectively.
The following table defines the seasons used for calculations of seasonal averages:
Commodity |
Season |
Time Period |
Potato |
Rabi |
1st Nov to 10th April |
Off Season |
11th April to 30th Oct |
|
Onion |
Kharif |
1st Aug to 30th Nov |
Late kharif |
1st Dec to 28th Feb |
|
Rabi |
1st March to 31st July |
|
Tomato |
Kharif |
1st Aug to 30th Nov |
Late Kharif |
1st Dec to 31st Jan |
|
Rabi |
1st Feb to 30th Apr |
|
Summer |
1st May to 31st Jul |
As per the guidelines of Operation Greens, low price alert is issued when any one or more of the following conditions are met:
a) When the prices fall below preceding 3 year’s average market price at the time of harvest.
b) When the prices fall more than 50% compared to last year’s market price at the time of harvest.
c) When the prices fall below the benchmark price, if any, fixed by the State/Central Government for a specified period.
Currently the colour codes for Low Price alertsare as below:
Distance from threshold Price |
Color Code |
0% to 10% above threshold (Approaching) |
|
0% to 10% below threshold (Mild) |
|
>10% below threshold (High) |
*Threshold Price is calculated on the basis of the above mentioned 3 criteria.
High price alerts are calculated on the basis of a pre-defined threshold price that is defined on the basis of historical prices and above which, some stress for the consumer may emerge. The thresholds can be set for the whole country or state-wise. Currently the Threshold Price is taken as 125% of the 3-year monthly average price for the current month.
The colourcodes for High Price alertsare as below:
Distance from threshold Price |
Color Code |
0% to 10% below threshold(Approaching) |
|
0% to 10% above threshold(Mild) |
|
>10% above threshold(High) |
Rows highlighted in light yellow background indicate markets that are within the clusters identified under Operation Greens.
Rows in red font colour indicate a low price alert situation. It indicates that prices are either (a) below 3-year seasonal avg. or (b) 50% below last year's seasonal avg.or (c) a threshold price, if any, fixed by the State/Central Government for a specified period.
The MIEWS database currently contains over 4 years of historical data from Agmarknet and Agriwatch for each of the TOP crops. Currently the database contains 28,89,466 rows of price/arrival information of approximately 1300 markets from Agmarknet and 129 markets from Agriwatch.