Nizamabad MP K Kavitha raises pitch for turmeric gene bank

​Hyderabad: Nizamabad MP K Kavitha on Monday said that State government would support the Spices Board if it could set up a gene bank of turmeric in the State and also provide resources to save the indigenous crop of Telangana.

The Nizamabad MP was speaking at a workshop on ‘Production and Export Promotion of Turmeric in Telangana’, organised by the Spices Board here. She said that Telangana government was interested in supporting any initiative taken towards turmeric. 

She added that the primary demand of turmeric farmers of the State for the last 30 years has been to form a separate National Turmeric Board to address issues pertaining to pre and post-harvest of turmeric as a crop. 

Stating that the production of turmeric has been fluctuating since last decade, the MP added that in 1991, the production was 7 lakh metric tonnes which has now reduced to just 3 lakh metric tonnes. This is due to confusion and lack of research report and market intervention support from the consecutive governments, the MP pointed out.  

She informed that as turmeric was categorised as a commercial crop, there was no minimum support price, which was discouraging farmers. She said that after a separate board was formed for silk, coir and rubber, the production, pricing to farmers and the export had increased. “The current spices board includes 54 spices and it is little difficult for taking up research on turmeric of the 54 spices,” opined Kavitha.

Stating that the Sonalika variety gives 4.8 per cent curriculum, Kavitha wanted the Spices Board to help farmers in getting Sonalika variety in good quantity. The Sonalika variety’s yield time is only seven months, which helps farmers in going for second crop, she added. She urged the Spices Board to procure more boilers, which would be helpful for farmers in drying the crop and also Geographical Indication tag to boost trade capacity.  

Spices Board Director A B Remashree said that there were issues with the curriculum of turmeric. She said that 3,000 kg of turmeric was required for 1 kg of curriculum and the exporters would be attracted only if the curriculum value was more than 5 per cent.