COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu on Saturday got two turmeric assaying labs with curcumin testing facility in Gobichettipalayam and Perundurai in Erode district, major turmeric producers in the State.

With this facility, farmers and traders from Andhiyur, Sathyamangalam, Erode, Chamrajnagar, Modukuruchi and Shaivagiri along with Tirupur and Karur districts will get to know about the curcumin content in their crop which is expected to open new markets including international ones for them.

Premier commodity exchange of the country, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) has established the units through one of its CSR initiatives called “PARAKH”, it said in a release.

These labs have been established, with the support of MYRADA, as these are major hubs for trading in turmeric and witness hundreds of tonnes of the commodity per season.

The unit at Gobichettipalayam at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, will provide service to Sathyamangalam, Gobichettipalayam, Nambiyur, Anthiyur, Bhavani and Talavadi taluks of Erode district.

In addition, the farmers from Chamrajnagar district in Karnataka can also make use of this facility.

Similarly, Perundurai unit will extend services to Erode, Perundurai, Modakurichi and Kodumudi taluks of the district and farmers from the neighbouring districts of Namakkal, Salem, Karur and Tirupur shall also be benefited from this facility.

This unit will impact approximately, 3000–4000 turmeric farmers, according to an estimate and in the long run, there is a possibility for marketing the crop to exporters and international buyers through institutions like Commodity Groups/FPOs promoted in these regions, it said.
Inaugurating the facility at Gobichettipalayam, State Education Minister K.A. Sangottaiyan said that Erode is an area which produce the best quality turmeric from curcumin point of view
“But the farmers here didn’t have any avenue to measure it till now and this facility coming into existence, the farmers in the region will get new markets and obviously this will increase their competitiveness,” he said.

“NCDEX has always played an important role in connecting farmers to the markets. So far we have already got more than 150 FPOs on board representing more than two lakh farmers. I am very hopeful that opening up of these assaying labs will go a long way in our endeavor to help farmers finding new buyers and getting competitive prices,” NCDEX Managing director, Vijayakumar said.