Manipur turmeric airlifted to Delhi

Pothashang News Service: Imphal, August 25, 2018: Manipur horticulture and soil conservation department has achieved yet another milestone as the department today airlifted one metric tonne of dry turmeric to New Delhi after the department had successfully exported one metric tonne of organic pineapples from the state in July this year.

NERAMAC (North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd) under the Ministry of DoNER, in collaboration with the Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) have procured five metric tonnes of organic dry turmeric and one MT black aromatic black rice (locally, chak-hao) which will be airlifted gradually in the coming days. MOMA under the aegis of the department has been working for the development of organic farmers of the state.

Horticulture and soil conservation minister Th. Shyamkumar said that the airlifting of the products is done under the strict supervision of the department officials. He said the turmeric airlifted today has been bought by the buyers in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and National Capital Region who are foreign exporters. Appreciating the officials for the achievement, Shyamkumar said the organic products of the state will be exported to other states benefiting the farmers of the state which will help them to increase their income and also giving them a market place.

Debadutta Sharma, project director, MOMA said 5,000 organic farmers of the state are engaged in cultivation of turmeric, ginger, pineapple, black aromatic rice, lemon, orange and king chilli (locally, u-morok) since 2015-2016. He said this is the third year for the organic cultivation in the state under the MOMA which is under the central scheme of the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) launched by the ministry of agriculture and farmer welfare.

He said the department will help all the organic farmers to find a market place for their produces which are in high demand in other states. Opining that the initiative taken by the NERAMAC and MOMA will surely motivate the organic farmers, he said that the dry turmeric are airlifted today as the fresh ones will have more cargo charges and is perishable. He said the department plans to export organic produces of the state with proper packaging while maintaining quality check.

Mangsatabam Imo Singh, officer-incharge, NERAMAC said the organically certified dry turmeric has been exported by e-auction at the price of Rs 90 per kg while the black aromatic rice will be exported at the price of Rs 108 per kg to the buyers. He said the turmeric has high demand in the Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and National Capital Region. He informed that earlier they had e-auctioned 5.6 MT of black rice which has high demand in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. He said one MT black rice will be exported soon from the state.

Officials of horticulture and soil conservation department including JC Ramthanga, Principal secretary and officials of NERAMAC also attended the press conference today.