There is scope for commercial plantations of turmeric in Goa with the local climate well suited for cultivation of the spice, writes Bhiva P Parab
Turmeric, a popular and sacred spice, is also known as Indian Solid Gold and Indian Saffron, owing to its golden yellow colour. The spice is an integral part of Indian cuisine with almost all homes having the proverbial jar of turmeric in the kitchen. In Goa, turmeric is used widely in everyday cooking and finds a place in every home kitchen.
Turmeric due to its varied uses and widespread consumption enjoys a good market in the state. The state’s warm, humid weather with copious rainfall makes cultivation of the spice highly feasible in vacant land lying between big plants in a Kulagar. Goan farmers can go in for intercropping of turmeric with ginger and other spices which will bring additional revenues.
Although there are farmers in the state who grow turmeric they do it on a small scale. Local farmers also earn revenue by selling turmeric leaves which are used in preparations of sweet food like patolay.
Turmeric is an inseparable ingredient in Goan cooking especially in traditional curry preparations. Owing to the increasing demand of pure, organic food products, it is an important food colouring agent. The farmers from the state can easily go in for commercial cultivation of turmeric.
According to farmers thanks to good demand whatever turmeric is grown by them gets sold in the market. Turmeric seed rhizomes from previous harvest are used for cultivation of turmeric in the next crop rotation cycle. A farmer who is cultivating it for the first time will have to buy seeds from the market or the local agricultural body. Farmers who choose organic turmeric will need to collect seed rhizomes from organically cultivated farms and for commercial production, high yielding varieties can be used.
It may be noted that both mother as well as finger rhizomes are used for sowing purposes. The mother rhizomes can be sowed in whole or split into two with each having a complete bud, while the finger buds are cut into long pieces. The flowers are pale yellow and are borne on spikes. Generally turmeric is ready for harvesting within 7-9 months. Typically it is ready for harvesting when the leaves turn yellow in colour.
The planting of turmeric is done just before the monsoon or during the monsoon season so that there is no need to water the plants. Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes and when not used fresh, the rhizomes are boiled and there is a process to be followed which is time consuming and one has to put hard work. Farmers state normally do not go for rhizomes processing on commercial basis.
If turmeric is being grown organically then it must be rotated with other organically grown crops. Using inorganic or synthetic fertilizers would affect the soil quality and the harvest thus produced would not be organic. It may be noted that turmeric is botanically called Curcuma longa. It belongs to Zingiberaceae family- the same family as ginger and it is mostly the rhizome or the root that is used for various purposes. The turmeric plant grows from the rhizome and the leaves are broad, long and bright green in colour. The plant does not have a
well-defined stem.
There is not much tabulated information on the quantity of turmeric grown in the state or the productivity of the spice. Turmeric along with black pepper, nutmeg are some of the important spice crops of the state.
The production of turmeric as well as all spice crops faces several constraints in Goa, according to the Viksit Goa 2047, Revitalizing Agriculture & Allied Sectors for self-reliant Goa, policy paper prepared by the ICAR- CCARI, Old Goa.
The report says that, limited availability of high-quality seeds of improved varieties hinders the adoption of more productive crop strains. Additionally, spice crops are vulnerable to frequent insect and pest infestations, particularly diseases that
can significantly impact yield and quality. Furthermore, “there is a lack of adequate infrastructure and technologies forprocessing and adding value to spice crops, which limits their market potential and overall economic viability,” says the ICAR report. It mentions that, investing in processing infrastructure and value addition will unlock market potential and improve economic returns for spice growers in Goa.
