Lakadong Mission: Meghalaya Govt Gives Global Boost To State's Special Turmeric, Aims To Raise Productivity

During the Lakadong Festival on May 10, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma gifted turmeric polisher and washer machines to four Farming Societies of Lakadong to push the state's products into a broader market.

He further promised advanced technology for the 'indigenous' method of extracting the most valuable content of turmeric, its yellow pigment called 'Curcumin' from Meghalaya's unique turmeric, which is grown in Lakadong.

What's Special About Curcumin In Turmeric?

Curcumin is present in turmeric, which colours it yellow and gives its medicinal qualities. The presence of curcumin determines the quality and value of turmeric, and the more curcumin, the higher the value of turmeric.

Common varieties of turmeric usually have 2-3 per cent of curcumin; however, Lakadong's turmeric contains 9.36 per cent, according to a 2019 test.

CM Sangma said, "We decided we needed to go into mission mode to push Lakadong turmeric production and value addition," as reported by the Economic Times.

Significance Of The Lakadong Mission

To make Lakadong's turmeric globally accepted and ready for market, CM Sangma has promised better technology to complement the indigenous process of extracting curcumin from Lakadong's turmeric.

With the CM's initiative of Lakadong Mission, he provided turmeric polisher and washer machines and inaugurated the Collective Marketing Centres Commission at various locations such as Shangpung, Thadmuthlong, etc.

He said, "The goal should be to raise farmers' income through boosting their production by providing them with training and capacity building," as reported by North East Today.

Turmeric Farmers' Plight

Four years ago, Lakadong turmeric farmers conveyed that they faced challenges while growing turmeric, such as instability in income. Therefore, the Lakadong Festival aims to target and solve the problem by increasing farmers' income by raising productivity levels and training them in capacity-building.

In the future, Meghalaya aims to be among the top 10 states across India based on its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to commemorate 60 years of its existence. As agriculture forms the livelihood of most people, with the sector forming 22 per cent of the GSDP, the focus for development and growth remains on agriculture.

CM Sangma further promised that for all agricultural food products, they would follow this initiative in Meghalaya to become a hotspot in Agro-Tourism across India and the world.

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