Turmeric is grown in about 2.5 lakh acres throughout Telangana, with the previous Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts accounting for a 3rd of the State’s crop.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
As one drives by the huge expanse of fields alongside National Highway-44 and National Highway-63, criss-crossing the Armoor and Balkonda Assembly constituencies of Nizamabad district, probably the most placing characteristic to catch the attention is the turmeric crop, in numerous levels.
Turmeric spiced up the Assembly .elections of 2014 and 2018 on this area, in addition to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, however appears to have misplaced its sheen this time. Ostensibly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a National Turmeric Board in two public conferences in Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad in October, has fulfilled a long-term demand of farmers and eliminated it’s an election problem. However, conversations with progressive farmers from these two constituencies signifies that they’re not taking the announcement critically.
Turmeric is grown in about 2.5 lakh acres throughout Telangana, with the previous Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts accounting for a 3rd of the State’s crop. Armoor is the principle hub of turmeric cultivation. Posh homes with 4 wheelers parked within the porticos and tractors outdoors are a standard sight within the villages alongside these two National Highways as industrial crops comparable to turmeric and maize have reworked farmers’ lives in about 100 villages.
Pivotal ballot problem
These wealthy turmeric farmers could make or mar the possibilities of any candidate within the area, strongly backed by the highly effective Grama Abhivruddhi Sangham or Village Development Committees, whose diktat is even adopted by elected gram panchayat leaders. In 2014, turmeric farmers themselves entered the electoral discipline with 27 nominations, and adopted up within the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 183 within the fray. In reality, one other 35 farmers from Nizamabad travelled all the way in which to Varanasi to file their nominations there, within the seat which was additionally contested by the Prime Minister.
Former MP and Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha, who had promised to take up the demand for the Turmeric Board in 2014, is aware of first-hand how the problem can flip counter-productive. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the 183 turmeric farmers who entered the fray as Independents performed spoiler, garnering over one lakh votes and leading to her gorgeous defeat by the hands of BJP candidate Dharmapuri Arvind.
The BJP MP then signed a doc on bond paper, vowing to give up if he was not capable of get the Turmeric Board for Nizamabad. From his election in 2019 until 2023, he too confronted the wrath of the farmers wherever he went. After an uproar, in 2021, the Centre had introduced that it might arrange a regional workplace of the Spices Board in Nizamabad insted of a Turmeric Board, however this substitution did not go down properly with the farmers.
Sceptical reception
However, even the fulfilment of their demand by Mr. Modi’s grand announcement has not been taken critically by the farmers of the area. “If the BJP government was so sincere in its promise of setting up a Turmeric Board, why did the Prime Minister not lay the foundation stone when he addressed the public meeting in Nizamabad in October? This shows that they only wanted to woo the voters with this promise yet again,” mentioned Katipally Narsa Reddy, former sarpanch of Jakranpally and a giant turmeric farmer.
Kotapati Narasimham Naidu, founder president of the Telangana State Turmeric Farmers Association and an influential chief among the many turmeric growers is bitter. “Days after the announcement of the board, the Shiv Sena MP from Hingoli issued a statement that Sangli is the biggest turmeric market and growing area. Hence, the NTB should come up in Maharashtra only,” he mentioned. “After the PM’s announcement, the gazette notification was issued, but there is no mention whether the NTB will be set up in Nizamabad or in Telangana. Whom are these leaders fooling?” he requested.
MSP vital as a consequence of excessive enter prices
The farmers’ twin dream is to have a board and a Minimum Support Price for the crop, he added. Farmers usually make investments closely within the hope of getting good returns; turmeric is harvested and arrives available in the market between February and June, with regular costs ranging between ₹4,500 to ₹8,000 per quintal, however prices are additionally substantial.
“Till the farmers are assured of MSP, there is no meaning in helping them. We are investing about ₹1.50 lakh per acre and the yield is 25 quintals an acre. The return on this is ₹1.25 lakh per acre, which does not even cover the cost of investment,” mentioned Musku Sayi Reddy, the previous chairman of the Nizamabad District Cooperative Marketing Society.
After near a decade of dominating the elections as a significant problem, the demand for a Turmeric Board has petered out of the marketing campaign of the main events, however farmers have nonetheless been left unhappy.
