The government's announcement extending the deadline for turmeric procurement till the end of July did not come as a happy news to the farmers in Erode district.
The government said that it would procure turmeric from farmers at the rate of Rs. 4,000 a quintal till July 30. But the prices of good quality turmeric in the open market hover around Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 5,500.
No one will be interested in selling their turmeric for Rs. 4,000 when they can get Rs. 5,000 plus in the open market. It appears that the government has failed to take note of the current prices of the turmeric before extending the deadline, farmers here say.
The government first announced the initiative of turmeric procurement in the beginning of June and stated that the process would be carried out till June 30. But it could not commence the procurement immediately following the delay in framing guidelines. The procurement commenced on the evening of July 28, leaving just two days for the farmers to bring in their produce. As a result, none of the farmers sold their yellow spice to the government in June.
They appealed to the government to extend the deadline for the procurement and increase the price to Rs. 7,000, besides allowing a farming family to sell at least 100 quintals.
Many farmers also expect that the price of the spice will increase in the near future as the acerage under turmeric cultivation has declined in the country.
