SHILLONG, FEB 20: Agriculture Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Tuesday said that to bring about positive changes in the value chain of Lakadong Turmeric, the government of Meghalaya launched the Mission Lakadong for a holistic value chain development.
She said the mission supported farmers through capacity building, technology adoption and access to remunerative markets. The interventions enabled a sustainable transition towards a more equitable and remunerative income generation option for the turmeric farmers of the state.
These interventions helped the Lakadong Turmeric to stand out and garnered much attention from all fronts, leading to high demand from both national and global markets.
In her reply to a zero hour notice, Lyngdoh said taking advantage of the default organic nature of the crop and its high curcumin content, a number of market players have been making inroads into the villages of Jaintia Hills to source the Lakadong turmeric.
However, this has led to a concerning trend of mislabelling and marketing the turmeric products from other regions and states as ‘Lakadong Turmeric’.
Therefore, to protect the authenticity of Lakadong turmeric from the Jaintia Hills region of the state, the application process for geographical indication (GI) tag was initiated in the year 2019.
She said the GI status accorded to Lakadong Turmeric stands to safeguard traditional methods and knowledge, ensuring that only farmers and growers within the designated geographical area, utilizing traditional method, can use the GI tag. The tag also serves as a unique selling point for farmers and sellers to differentiate their products in the market, potentially leading to higher prices and increased demand, especially in niche markets and lucrative markets for high-quality products.
It was reported that various buyers were engaged in the procurement of Lakadong turmeric seeds for undertaking production in other states and further selling it as ‘Lakadong Turmeric) which creates consumer confusion and tarnishes the image, quality, and unique characteristics of Lakadong turmeric.
Consequently, this can lead to brand dilution and significant financial losses for the Lakadong turmeric farmers.
She said taking cognizance of this issue, a notification was issued by the department prohibiting the sale of Lakadong turmeric seeds for production outside of the Jaintia Hills region.
The minister said that all these interventions have successfully revitalized Lakadong turmeric farming in the Jaintia Hills region with over 13 times increase in the number of farmers engaged in turmeric cultivation. The focussed initiatives are in line with the vision of doubling farmers’ income and have enabled the Lakadong turmeric farmers to command remunerative prices.
“Therefore, there is a need to protect the ownership of Lakadong turmeric and benefit the farmers for which the government has taken the best possible steps. The government of Meghalaya is committed to promoting and marketing the quality produces from the state and intends to continue pursuing GI tags for various products. This will enable the state to bring out the unique offerings on the global stage while also increasing farmer incomes and stimulating the local economy,” she added.