The commerce and ministry on Saturday said it is promoting use of drones for transportation of Lakadong turmeric from Meghalaya to other parts of the country with an aim to resolve first mile connectivity issues of farmers from the hinterland. Lakadong turmeric has been identified under the One District, One Product (ODOP) Initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as a product with huge potential for Growth and export from West Jaintia Hills, a district of Meghalaya.
The fly off event would not only give a fillip to the ODOP initiative but also leverage modern technology as a fundamental solution to overcome the bottleneck of transportation that acts as a barrier in realizing the optimal potential of this spice from Meghalaya, she said. Despite India being the world’s largest turmeric producer and exporter, turmeric imports had also been increasing.
The Percentage of curcumin and oleoresin content in turmeric determines its demand by the industry and the price. India is the largest producer and exporter of turmeric. India exported USD 236.5 million worth of turmeric in 2018 from USD 182.53 million in 2017. India produces 78 per cent of the world’s turmeric. In 2018-19, turmeric production was 389 thousand tonnes.