BJP’s turmeric board announcement in Telangana: Election gimmick or actual resolution?
Over the previous few years, the acreage beneath turmeric has fallen considerably in Telangana. Farmers’ rights leaders and activists imagine that BJP’s announcement now, simply forward of the Telangana Meeting elections, is simply too little too late.
| Picture Credit score: M. GOVARTHAN
Within the first vital announcement from the Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) in election-bound Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the formation of the Nationwide Turmeric Board (NTB) from Mahabubnagar final week. An official gazette was issued on October 4 by the Union Authorities. The BJP cadre and leaders are celebrating this as an enormous win and a stimulus to their election marketing campaign.
Nevertheless, it won’t play out completely that method.
Within the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Arvind Dharmapuri signed a bond assuring turmeric farmers that he would stop if the NTB was not introduced instantly after his election. It led to Chief Minister Okay. Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter Kavitha Kalvakuntla of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) dropping to Arvind Dharmapuri within the Nizamabad constituency. Kavitha misplaced by over 70,000 votes, and the defeat was extensively attributed to the dissenting turmeric farmers. Almost 180 turmeric (and jowar) farmers had contested as unbiased candidates within the elections.
Nevertheless, after he gained, Dharmapuri shied away from mentioning the turmeric board difficulty. An try was made to appease farmers with a Spices Board regional workplace in Nizamabad. The Spices Board, beneath the Union Ministry of Commerce and Business, oversees the event, analysis, and promotion of almost 52 spices, together with turmeric. The minimal help value (MSP) difficulty for turmeric remained unaddressed.
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Farmers teams referred to as this a betrayal and continued demanding an unique turmeric board to handle pricing, advertising and marketing, value-addition, and export help. Over the previous 4 years, the BJP refused to behave on the demand. As not too long ago as March 2023, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Business Anupriya Patel (whereas answering a query in Lok Sabha) acknowledged there was no proposal to determine a turmeric board.
Subsequently, the announcement by the BJP now of an NTB being arrange is being seen with scepticism. Chatting with Frontline, Telangana Turmeric Farmers Affiliation president and BRS chief Kotapati Narasimham Naidu stated that an NTB might assure a remunerative crop to the growers. Naidu, nonetheless, stated that he doubted the BJP’s sincerity and referred to as it an election gimmick. He demanded that the BJP announce that the turmeric board’s headquarters shall be in Nizamabad. He stated the Union Authorities should additionally notify the funds allocation and different help techniques for turmeric farmers.
Telangana Turmeric Farmers‘ Affiliation president and BRS chief Kotapati Narasimha Naidu and others visiting a market yard at Nizamabad in February 2023. Naidu stated that an NTB might assure a remunerative crop to the growers however he doubted the BJP’s sincerity, calling it an election gimmick.
| Picture Credit score:
RAMANA KV
Naidu has been a distinguished chief within the turmeric motion since 2007. Having a turmeric board headquartered in Nizamabad, one of many largest turmeric-producing areas of India, is a longstanding demand of Telangana’s turmeric farmers. The gazette notification gives no readability over the placement of the turmeric board head workplace.
Farmers’ rights leaders and activists imagine that BJP’s announcement now, simply forward of the Telangana Meeting elections, is simply too little too late. There was ample likelihood for the BJP to arrange a turmeric board and handle the problems, stated Kiran Vissa of farmers’ rights organisation Rythu Swarajya Vedika. He stated that farmers have confronted the brunt of the shortage of redress for his or her long-standing issues, totally on MSP for turmeric.
Over the previous few years, the acreage beneath turmeric has fallen considerably in Telangana. In accordance with Spices Board India information, the realm beneath turmeric cultivation fell from 53,104 ha in 2018-19 to 40,000 ha in 2022-23 (estimated). In the meantime, turmeric cultivation in Maharashtra has grown sharply from 17,224 ha in 2018-19 to 83,000 ha in 2022-23 (estimated). The Hingoli MP, Hemant Patil, not too long ago expressed hope that the board could be arrange in Hingoli, in accordance with a current media report.
The Telangana Kisan Congress president, Anvesh Reddy, who’s a frontrunner of turmeric farmers, stated that Nizamabad has skilled a major hit when it comes to the falling acreage. In accordance with Reddy, the rising value of cultivation and the shortage of a remunerative value for turmeric had made farmers shift to different crops lately. The price of cultivation of turmeric per acre is estimated to be about Rs.1.5 lakh in Telangana. For the crop to be worthwhile, farmers want an MSP of a minimum of Rs.15,000 per quintal, in accordance with specialists.
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MSP stays central to the calls for of turmeric farmers from Telangana and elsewhere. Nevertheless, there was no announcement but regarding MSP nor a timeline for organising the turmeric board. Turmeric will start to reach within the markets in a number of weeks, however arrivals will improve considerably beginning January.
Subsequent bulletins will take a look at the BJP’s sincerity and determine how a lot the occasion can money in on its announcement within the upcoming Meeting elections. The delay of 4 years and the persevering with lack of readability might mar its possibilities of utilizing the problem to achieve an edge in Telangana’s turmeric belt.
