No proposals received for turmeric exports to offset losses of Telangana farmers: Centre

Hyderabad: Centre has clarified that no proposals have been received by the Department of Commerce for additional incentives/support to facilitate the export of turmeric to offset the losses suffered due to unseasonal rains in some parts of the country including Telangana.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal was replying to the question from Nizamabad BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri who was attacked by TRS activists in the constituency. TRS activists decided to obstruct the tour of the BJP MP alleging that he failed to keep his assurance to set up the turmeric board in Nizamabad district.

In a major blow to Nizamabad farmers, Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar on March 15, 2021, said there is no proposal to set up a Turmeric Board in Telangana.

Nizamabad district is one of the major turmeric producers in the country. It may be also recalled that during the 2019 general election, BJP candidate Dharmapuri Arvind gave a written promise that he would convince the Centre to set up the Turmeric Board in Nizamabad if he was elected as MP.

Earlier before Dharmapuri Arvind, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and former MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha tried hard to convince the Centre to set up a Turmeric Board in the state.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, farmers from Nizamabad registered their protest by filing nominations en masse in Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seeking re-election. They finally reposed faith in Arvind, who promised to set up the board in Nizamabad within five days of the formation of the BJP government at the Centre. However, the promise still remains unfulfilled.

The Ministry of Commerce has also estimated that around 3,13,000 tonnes of turmeric were produced in 2020-21 in Telangana.