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Turmeric harvest released to the market; prices are expected to drop
Turmeric prices are expected to come down, with farmers beginning to sell their harvest, Agriculture Exports Director General Dr. A.P. Heenkenda said.
He said that in anticipation of a better price and a good profit, more farmers resorted to turmeric cultivation after the Government last year banned imports from India as part of its measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“In 2019, turmeric was grown in 1,900 hectares, but with the introduction of the import ban last year, turmeric cultivation was carried out in 6000 hectares. As a result, we got 2,500 metric tonnes of turmeric. Now we could buy a kilo of raw turmeric for Rs. 400 in the market,” he said.
However, the harvest was still short of the country’s annual turmeric requirement of 7,000 metric tonnes.
But the Director General said the turmeric harvest season would continue till next month and the department believed that by then the final harvest would be enough to meet 75 percent of the country’s requirement.
Mr. Heenkanda said he expected another 30,000 hectares of agriculture land would be used for turmeric cultivation and once this was done the country could reap a harvest of 6,000 metric tonnes.
With the import ban, the price of turmeric powder rose to Rs. 4,000 a kilo. To take advantage of the high prices, some farmers started selling substandard turmeric or the pre-harvest product.
The Agriculture Exports Department has also urged farmers to start their next cultivation now as the weather in March and April are highly suitable for turmeric cultivation. If they start now, they could reap the harvest by December.
As a result of the Government’s policy, good quality local turmeric is available in the market at affordable prices, the DG said.
Turmeric is grown in wet and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka as a mono-crop and an intercrop with coconut. Turmeric is grown in 17 districts with the districts of Ampara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Kandy, Ratnapura and Kegalle being identified as major cultivation areas.
Many soil types are suitable for turmeric cultivation. However, well-drained sandy clay loam soils rich in organic matter and sandy loam are the most suitable soil types. Poorly drained rocky or clay type soils are not suitable, he added.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has requested the consumers to be on alert when buying turmeric powder because adulterated turmeric is still being sold in the market, with unscrupulous traders mixing turmeric powder with rice and wheat flour or, in some cases, flour and yellow dye without turmeric.
The CAA said it would continue its raids and take legal action against traders who sold adulterated turmeric.