ERODE: In a first of its kind facility in the turmeric-growing belt of Tamil Nadu’s western region, two turmeric assaying labs with curcumin testing facility, were opened in Erode district at Gobichettipalayam and Perundurai respectively on Saturday.
The first lab at ‘Krishi Vigyan Kendra’, Gobichettipalayam was inaugurated by K A Sengottaiyan, minister for School Education at a function there. According officials, with this facility, farmers and traders from Andhiyur, Sathyamangalam, Chamrajnagar, Erode, Modukuruchi and Shaivagiri along with Tirupur and Karur districts will get to know about the curcumin content in their crop which is expected to open new markets including international ones for them. Another lab was opened at Perundurai to similarly serve the needs of farmers.
The labs were opened in Erode district for first time as pilot project under initiative by National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX). These labs have been established at Perundurai and Gobichettipalayam blocks in Erode, with the support of the noted NGO, ‘Myrada’, as they are major hubs for trading in turmeric and witness hundreds of tonnes of the commodity in exchange per season.
K C Karuppannan, minister for Environment and Vijay Kumar, MD, NCDEX, Srinath Srinivas, Director, NCDEX were also present on the occasion. Speaking at the event, Mr. Sengottaiyan, said, “Erode is an area, which produces the best quality turmeric from curcumin point of view. But the farmers’ here do have any avenue to measure it till now. With this facility coming into existence, the farmers in the region will get new markets and obviously this will increase their competitiveness.”
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vijay Kumar, MD, NCDEX said, “NCDEX has always played an important role in connecting famers to the markets. So far, we have already got more than 150 FPOs on board representing more than two lakh farmers. We are hopeful that opening up of these assaying labs will go a long way in our endeavor to help farmers finding new buyers and getting competitive prices.”
