Turmeric Industry in india

India’s recent turmeric production is around 1.10 million tons from an area of 2, 94,542 hectares. Telangana produces 32.8% followed by Maharashtra 18.6% Karnataka 11.3%, Tamil Nadu 8.2% and Andhra Pradesh 6.1%. The State wise area and production of Turmeric is given in table 1. and figure 1

On analysing the production statistics, it has been observed that not much growth has been achieved in the production of turmeric in India during the last one decade. The reason being that neither any significant area expansion nor the productivity increase has happened during the last one decade. The average productivity in the early years of the decade was around 5000 kg/hect. This has in fact come down to less than 4000 kg/hect in the last 4 years. The area expansion was not significant enough to compensate the decline in productivity. The total area, production and productivity of turmeric in India is given in table 2 and figure 2.

The State Governments are responsible for the production expansion of all the spices except Cardamom. Spices Board looks after the production aspects of Cardamom, including replantation, post-harvest quality improvement and auction. Also, the Research activities of Cardamom is also with the Spices Board. With regard to other Spices including Turmeric, the role of Spices Board begins from post-harvest only. Quality improvement programs like proper drying, storage etc. for Export Oriented production are coming under the purview of Spices Board. In brief, the production development such as area expansion, use of high yielding planting material etc. are the responsibility of concerned state Governments. The State Governments has to initiate action for increasing the area under cultivation, wherever possible, and also make available the high yielding planting materials to the farmers.

The Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Calicut has come up with high yielding verities of Turmeric with the productivity up to 38000 kg/hect. of fresh or 8500 kg/hect. of dry turmeric. By adopting the high yielding variety, the production can be doubled without further area expansion. The State Horticulture Departments of the major producing states like Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh has to take initiative to make available the high productivity seeds to the farmers.

As indicated above, the export of turmeric and turmeric powder is growing at a CAGR of 14% and by 2025-26, the projected export would be 355000 tons. Turmeric powder constitutes 45% of the total exports.  Thus, the raw turmeric export would be 1,95,000 tons and the turmeric powder export would be 159750 tons. The conversion ratio for turmeric to turmeric powder is 75%. In addition, the high-end value-added products like turmeric Oleoresins and curcumin powder is now using around 20,000 to 25000 tons. Assuming a nominal annual growth rate of 5%, the export of these products may touch 2000 tons from the present level of 1200 tons. The raw material required for this will be nearly 33000 tons as the oleoresins content will be from 6 to 7%. Anticipated raw material requirement by 2025-26 is given in table 6.

In order to meet the demand, there is a need for increased in production as the present growth rate in production in not adequate to fulfill the demand. If the production is not increased, more import will happen from other producing countries.

Even though India is the largest producer of Turmeric, substantial quantity is imported by the processing industry from other producing countries like Vietnam, Indonesia etc. Some of the industry sources say that turmeric is imported due to three reasons; the price advantage, inconsistent in the domestic supply and to mix with the domestic produce to get the consistency in the curcumin powder. However, the India’s domestic production and the price data is not justifying the first two reasons. The domestic production is over one million tons during the past five years and no scarcity has been reported during the period. The prices also eased in the last few years compared to the import price. Hence it can be safely concluded that the extraction industries use the imported material to mix with the domestic produce to get consistent color for the curcumin powder. Import of turmeric into India for the last few years is given in table 8.

Vietnam is the major source of import of turmeric followed by Myanmar and Indonesia. The source wise Import of turmeric for the three years is given in table 8 and

Indonesia is emerging as producer of turmeric. Its production has increased from 96980 tons in 2011 to 193930 tons in 2020. If the trend continues, Indonesia will become another major source for turmeric in the world. Production of Turmeric in Indonesia is given in table 9.

India is the major producer and supplier of turmeric to the world market. In recent years production of turmeric in other countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Thailand has increased from their export figures especially to India. Indonesia’s production has increased from 96980 tons in 2011 to 193930 tons in 2020. However, India’s production was almost stable with little ups and down in certain years. The Turmeric producing states like Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh has to take efforts to increase the productivity of turmeric in the absence of area expansion. The high yielding varieties developed by the Indian Institute of Research (IISR); Calicut have to be used for cultivation to increase production. Turmeric whole and Turmeric powder are the major items exported from India. In addition to this, high-end value-added products like Curcumin powder and Turmeric Oleoresins are also exported from India. In spite of a large production base, we import 25000 tons to 30,000 tons of Turmeric for processing. The industry sources say that this imported variety is added to the domestic produce to get consistency in the Curcumin powder. This import can be minimized as there is large number of indigenously developed, high quality turmeric is available here. The concerned state governments have to take initiative for this. In the quality aspect also, the higher moisture content in the produce available in India also high forcing the industry to import from other countries. Hence there is urgent need for improving the quality of the turmeric produced in India.

Based on the projected exports of turmeric and its products, the estimated quantity for export will be nearly 4,50,000 tones. With the huge domestic demand, unless the production has been increased in tune with the demand, the industry has to depend on the import from other producing countries.