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The Turmeric Farmers Association has urged the Prime Minister to order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the malpractices on the NCDEX and set up a separate Turmeric Board to help their cause.
In a representation, they also wanted turmeric to be removed from the list of commodities traded on the NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange). Representatives of the Association, Swadeshi Jagran Manch and a few MPs met Manmohan Singh and submitted the their plea.
They also enclosed complaint letters from traders and manufacturers alleging that the NCDEX was trading without stock and quoting lower price. This was affecting farmers, who were incurring losses due to this type of malpractice, they said while reiterating their long pending demand for a Board on the lines of the existing ones for Coffee and Spices.
Turmeric farmers have been affected by fluctuations in the selling price. While the price in December 2010 was Rs 18,000 a quintal, it fell to a low of Rs 2,500 in January 2012. In recent months also, prices touched Rs 3, 000 before the Government intervened to raise them to Rs 4,000 a quintal.
The cost of cultivation/production of turmeric is Rs 1,73,605 an acre. Average yield is 20 quintals/acre and the cost of production for a quintal is Rs 8,700, they said.
Though the potential for export and domestic markets was high, turmeric farmers face financial problems and have no godown facilties to hold back the stocks till the price rises. They are forced to sell, even if it means heavy loss, they argued.
The major turmeric growing States are Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Karnataka, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Turmeric production is about 30-40 lakh tonnes, which is nearly 80 per cent of world production.
Among those who met the Prime Minister were P.K. Deivasigamani, President, All India Turmeric Farmers Association, K. Narsimham Naidu, President, AP Turmeric Farmers Association, and MPs – Nama Nageswara Rao (TDP), Ramesh Rathod (TDP) and Ganesh Murti (MDMK).
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