Palle Ganga Reddy, the Chairman of the newly established Turmeric Board, has said that the country should aim at achieving exports to the tune of ₹5,000 crore by 2030 from the current level of ₹1,876 crore.

He asked the farmers to focus on cultivating high-curcumin varieties to boost their incomes. “Pesticide residues and heavy metal contamination continue to hinder India’s turmeric exports in global markets. Scientists have to address this challenge and help the farmers overcome this hurdle,” he said.

“We need to promote domestic consumption of turmeric too by launching value-added products. The board is planning to introduce turmeric-added milk, branded as Golden Milk, to be served on Indian Railways and flights.

He was addressing the ‘Turmeric Stakeholders Conclave’ held at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research–National Institute for Research on Commercial Agriculture (NIRCA) in Rajahmundry on Friday.

Stating that the country has a rich diversity in turmeric cultivation, he noted that the crop is grown across the country except in Goa. 

Reddy also expressed concerns about the high input costs involved in turmeric farming and asked scientists to develop low-cost technologies to help farmers lower the cost of production.

Maganti Sheshu Madhav, Director of NIRCA, said that the country was home to a wide variety of turmeric species, with six varieties already receiving Geographical Indication tag.

“NIRCA has set a target to increase turmeric exports from 1.6 lakh tonnes to 2.7 lakh tonnes over the next five years,” he said on Friday.

Published on April 11, 2025