The harvested turmeric at one site in Sattari. Captured by : Uday Sawant
VALPOI
They were once encouraged to grow turmeric in large quantities and now, there are virtually no takers for their turmeric.
This is the plight of the turmeric producers in Sattari who have vast quantities of turmeric which are lying unsold, due to a lack of demand in the market for their turmeric
Speaking to The Goan, turmeric producers said since land in Sattari is fertile for turmeric production, they had been encouraged to produce turmeric in large quantities which could then be supplied to the Horticulture
Corporation.
The turmeric, which has been cultivated in an area of 4.5 hectares in the taluka, has been harvested about 15 days ago, but the turmeric producers were shocked to find out that there are no takers
for their turmeric.
Many turmeric producers got in touch with the Goa Bagayatdar, but they have not shown interest in purchasing the turmeric. The turmeric producers are now left with huge stocks of unsold turmeric, leaving them to wonder why were they encouraged to produce turmeric if there is no demand for turmeric in the market.
Bhimrao Rane, one of the turmeric producers in Sattari, said he has produced nearly one and half tonnes of turmeric.
“I had harvested the turmeric 15 days ago and despite making several attempts, there is no demand for this turmeric and I could suffer a loss of nearly Rs 1 lakh. If there is no demand in the market, then the agriculture officials should not mislead us farmers about such cultivations.”
“The agriculture department should first provide the market and then motivate farmers to undertake different types of cultivation,” said Rane.
