In a first-of-its-kind, UAVs or drones have been used to transport high-quality Lakadong turmeric in West Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. Lakadong turmeric has been identified as a product with potential for growth and export for West Jaintia Hills under The One District, One Product (ODOP) initiative of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Drone/UAV technology was used for payload delivery and it can serve as a model of solving the 1st-mile connectivity issues for Lakadong Turmeric farmers from the hinterland. The drone technology was used to link the market for more than 500 farmers from 4 villages.
Lakadong Turmeric
Lakadong turmeric, one of the finest turmeric varieties in the world has the highest curcumin content of 7-9% (in comparison to 3% or less in other varieties). It belongs to West Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya and the State has applied for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Lakadong turmeric.
Benefits of using drones
The percentage of curcumin and oleoresin content in turmeric determines its demand and price. Lakadong turmeric can be a game-changer in the economy of the district due to its export and domestic market potential. However, despite having a high content of curcumin and potential for domestic sales and export, Lakadong turmeric faces severe market access issues due to the remoteness of the location, topography, and terrain.
Additional transportation costs and time delays hamper the prospects of the product. Thus, the flyoff event would not only give a fillip to the ODOP initiative but also leverages modern technology to overcome the issues of transportation.
Further, under ‘Lakadong Turmeric 2.0’, the government is undertaking new efforts to scale up procurements for sustainable sales for the harvest season of 2022 and the years to come.
In addition to using technology to help boost farmers’ income, it is also a step towards using innovation for solutions and addressing connectivity issues.
Turmeric Production in India
India is the largest producer and exporter of turmeric (APEDA, 2019). Our country exported US$ 236.5 million worth of turmeric in 2018 compared to US$ 182.53 million in 2017. On the other hand, in terms of production, India produces 78% of the world’s turmeric. In 2018-19, turmeric production was 389 thousand tonnes.
In 2017-18 the top 10 turmeric growing states were Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Haryana, and Assam.
One District One Product (ODOP)
Under the One District One Product scheme, a product from each district of India is identified and benefits are reaped from it in terms of profitability and employment. It is a step forward towards realizing the true potential of a district, helps in economic growth, and is also in line with Vocal for Local.
13,136 kgs of sliced and dried Lakadong turmeric were traded to a large food processing industry in Ernakulam, Kerala in 2021 under ODOP. ODOP partnered with AGNIi Mission, one of the nine technology missions under the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council to identify Indian innovative technologies that can play a transformative role in the end-to-end processing of Lakadong Turmeric, starting with leveraging payload drones (UAVs) to transport the turmeric in large quantities.
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