Training Sessions on Sustainable Turmeric Cultivation in Tamil Nadu

23 Oct, 2021

A series of training sessions on ‘Sustainable Turmeric Cultivation Practices’ were organised from 18 – 23 October 2021 with the farmers from Thalavadi, Gobichattepalaym and Erode (Tamil Nadu) under the developPPP.de project. All training sessions were accompanied by an exposure visit to help the farmers gain practical knowledge on practicing sustainable turmeric cultivation while interacting with farmers who are leading in the area of sustainable cultivation locally.

Over 50 farmers joined from Chamrajnagar, Thalavadi and Thalamalai (Karnataka). The training was inaugurated by Dr P. Alagesan, Head KVK Myrada and V. Mahalingam, Assistant Director Agriculture. The sessions included an introduction to the developPPP.de project and the importance of sustainable turmeric cultivation by Dr Poonam Pandey, GIZ, and the need for export-quality spices by Mr Ashok Nair, AVT McCormick Ingredients. Dr Pachiappan, KVK Scientist, discussed soil health management practices and described a simple model to prepare organic formulations and integrate them to the turmeric field. Other sessions focused on the organic certification process by Mr K.Srinivasan and waste management in the field by Mr T.Partheban.

The field-exposure visit in Thlavadi was organised at Vasa Organic farm where Mrs Tamri Selvi, who leads the women farmers in the area, shared her journey of becoming a certified organic farmer. She explained her model of connecting her cowyard to prepare organic formulations and vermicompost to the drip irrigation unit. The farmers also saw her post-harvest processing of turmeric and oil extraction units. The next visit was organised at Mr Yogeshwarmoothy’s farm at Thalamalai who shared his experience from conserving various rare varieties of turmeric, ginger i.e., Black Turmeric, Black Ginger, and his experience with different intercropping methods in different plots.

The training at Gobichattepalaym was inaugurated by Mrs Sasikala, Assistant Director Horticulture and Mrs Kavida, CEO Kazhani FPO. While most of the introductory sessions at Gobichattepalaym and at Erode were similar to the ones at Thalavadi, here Dr Gunasekaran spoke on integrated pest and disease management for turmeric cultivation. The field-exposure visit was organised at one of the farmers from Sathyamangalam Farmers Trust who has been practicing organic farming since 2012.

The training at Erode was inaugurated by Mrs Tamilselvi, Deputy Director of Horticulture. Here, Mr Selvam spoke about organic turmeric cultivation practices, while 80-year-old Mr Sundararaman shared his experiences in organic turmeric cultivation. The field-exposure visit was organised with a farmer Bhupatisaundaram from Parapalayam on preparing organic formulations. The second visit focused on biodiversity conservation was with another lead farmer Dr Muttuvinayak at Kakam.

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About the project

The ‘Enhancement of Smallholder Spice Farmer’s Capacities in Sustainable Farming’ aims to strengthen the production of cardamom, cumin, and turmeric in four states of India - Kerala Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan - to increase the capacities of spice farmers to make production practices more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.

The project is part of the develoPPP.de Programme implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The lead executing agency for this project is AVT McCormick. develop.PPP was set up by BMZ to involve the private sector in areas where business opportunities and development policy initiatives overlap. Read More

For more information contact: biodiv.india@giz.de