RURAL HAAT AND TURMERIC PLANTS HAVE BEEN INAUGURATED.
Uttam Nayak,Odishabarta
Koraput: In Nandapur and Semiliguda blocks, the district haat and turmeric plant has been inaugurated by Collector cum District Magistrate Abdul Akshatar. NABARD has provided a grant of Rs 15 lakh for this purpose.
In the Nandapur block of the Andhra Pradesh border, turmeric cultivation has made the lives of people in the village of Abrada in the Koolarsingh Panchayat in a secluded area bordering Andhra Pradesh. Most of the families in the village cultivate turmeric and run the family happily. The villagers earn a lot of money by cultivating turmeric as it is harvested twice a year. According to villagers, no one is using chemical fertilizers in all parts of the country. Due to the villagers’ determination to use organic manure, the village’s turmeric has a special place in the foreign markets. However, Murari Mohan Behera, district commissioner of NABARD, said that hundreds of tonnes of turmeric have reached various markets in the country every year as farmers in about 15 villages like Abarda in Nandapur block are cultivating turmeric in the same way. The turmeric contains 5 to 6% curcumin and its quality can make it marketable, said District Magistrate Abdal Akhtar at the inauguration of the turmeric processing unit in Abarda today. NABARD has provided Rs 24 lakh for the construction of a processing unit with broilers and dryer machines to encourage large-scale turmeric farmers in the region, while the Department of Horticulture, Agriculture and Water Resources has provided financial assistance. At the urging of Ras, a leading voluntary organization, locals have been able to work hard to make the unit a reality. So far, while the turmeric is directly in the hands of traders, the processing unit, which was set up with the help of NABARD, will bring a new level of economic development, said Madhu Majhi, a farmer in Abarda.
