Vyavasaya Karmika Sangham (VKS) district committee general secretary Peddi Venkatramulu has appealed to the Central and State governments to take initiatives to establish turmeric board and ensure an MSP of ₹15,000 per quintal for the crop in view of the deteriorating economic conditions of turmeric farmers.
Wondering why the successive governments were reluctant to establish a turmeric board though the crop has very good medicinal properties and export potentiality, he questioned that when tobacco, which harms human health, had a separate board why shouldn’t turmeric have a board? If the crop continued to be neglected, turmeric growers would disappear in future, he said.
After interacting with turmeric farmers at agriculture marketyard here on Monday, he said that separate warehouses should be provided for turmeric to enable farmers to store the crop and clear the stocks when they get acceptable price in the market. He said the ruling party should understand the ire of turmeric farmers who showed their power in the Lok Sabha elections.
Mr. Venkatramulu said that of the total quantity of turmeric grown in the country 30 per cent comes from Nizamabad. Farmers incurred losses as they were spending over ₹1 lakh per acre for raising the crop, but they were not getting remunerative price, he said.
