To revive the agricultural economy in Langchenphu Gewog of Samdrup Jongkhar, farmers have shifted their focus from growing ginger and orange crops to cultivating turmeric. However, despite their efforts, they are now facing the challenge of finding the right price to sell their turmeric produce. This struggle has persisted for some villagers for over three years, making them desperate for a solution to reap the rewards of their efforts.
Pema Dema from Agurthang village says with cash crops such as ginger and oranges dwindling due to various factors, the villagers decided to try their hands at turmeric cultivation in hopes of finding a sustainable source of income.
However, they could not get the expected price.
Pema Dema began cultivating turmeric three years ago on her 50-decimal land.
With returns not as expected, Pema is compelled to leave her turmeric unharvested.
The current market price of turmeric is only Nu 10 a kilo, a rate not worth investing time and energy to cultivate the crop.
“I sold it once for Nu 30, and that was when the agriculture officials bought it. We were offered only Nu 5 to 10 per kilo by other buyers, so we couldn’t sell at those rates. At Nu 5, it is not worth growing the spice. Currently, I might be able to harvest two pickup truckloads. Initially, we used to plant it only for self-consumption, but after the agriculture office intervened, we thought it could be an alternative source of income,” said Pema Dema, a resident.
“I haven’t sold it yet because there are no buyers. I might consider selling it if there is interest, but right now, it seems like we won’t even recover our labour costs. We cultivated it with the hope that the prices might go up,” said Lhamo, another resident.
“We started with oranges, but that didn’t work out. Then we tried cardamom and ginger, but both were unsuccessful. Finally, we turned to turmeric cultivation, and we cannot find buyers. I have been cultivating turmeric for about four years. Despite our efforts to sell, there are no takers. It does not even cover transportation costs, so we decided to leave it unharvested,” said Pema Yuden, who is a resident of Augurthang.
According to Langchenphu Gewog Mangmi, all 10 households in Agurthang village have grown at least 80 kilogrammes of turmeric each.
In addition to Agurthang village, residents of other villages in Langchenphu Gewog have also started cultivating turmeric.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Extension Supervisor of Langchenphu Gewog said that the current market price of turmeric in India is Rs 5, leading to lower profits for the villagers.
He added that the villagers will receive training to produce value-added products from turmeric.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Sherub Dorji
