Turmeric Fingers
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Turmeric, one of the most important spices, is used to make thousands of palatable Indian cuisines. It is well known for its healing property and used in cosmetics. It is also used as dye by textile industry. Pramukh Export presents optimum quality Turmeric Fingers which are of premium quality. The Organic Turmeric Fingers, we export, have been known for their freshness and pleasing aroma. We serve only pure Yellow Turmeric Finger at an economical rate.
Uses
The use of turmeric dates back nearly 4000 years, to the Vedic culture in India, when turmeric was the principal spice and also of religious significance. Turmeric is mainly used as spice in Indian foods. It is a principal ingredient in curry powder. It is used in a wide variety of foods of the cuisines of Southern Asia but locally it also applies as an antiseptic for skin abrasions and cuts. Turmeric is an important spice among the rice-eating peoples of India, South East Asia and Indonesia. Turmeric is a mild aromatic stimulant seldom used in medicine except as a coloring. Its chief use is in the manufacture of curry powders. It is also used as an adulterant of mustard and a substitute for it and forms one of the ingredients of many cattle condiments. Turmeric is also used as a dye in textile industry.
Climate & Soil
Turmeric is a tropical herb and can be grown on different types of soil under irrigated and rainfall conditions. It is a shade tolerant crop with shallow roots suitable for intercropping and as a component crop in the homesteads where low to medium shade is available. Turmeric can be grown in diverse tropical conditions from sea level to 1500 m above sea level, at a temperature range of 20 to 30oC with an annual rainfall of 1500 mm or more, under rain fed or irrigated conditions. Though it can be grown on different types of soils, it thrives best in well-drained sandy or clay loam soils.
Harvesting
Depending upon the variety, the crop gets ready for harvest in 7 to 9 months after planting during January and March. Early varieties mature in 7 to 8 months, medium varieties in 8 to 9 months and late varieties after 9 months. The land is ploughed and the rhizomes are gathered by hand picking or the clumps are carefully lifted with a spade. The harvested rhizomes are cleared of mud and other extraneous matter adhering to them. Turmeric is a seasonal product which is available in the market mainly in two seasons, commencing in mid February to May and second season is mid August to October.
Varieties
A number of cultivars are available in the country and are known mostly by the name of locality where they are cultivated. The important varieties used in India are: ‘Alleppey Finger’ (Kerala) and ‘Erode and Salem turmeric’ (Tamil Nadu), ‘Rajapore’ and ‘Sangli turmeric’ (Maharashtra) and ‘Nizamabad Bulb’ (Andhra Pradesh). In Tamilnadu, the important varieties cultivated are Erode local, BSR-1, PTS-10, Roma, Suguna, Sudarsana and Salem local. Among these varieties, 70-75% is occupied by the local varieties.
Global Scenario
India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of Turmeric. Other producers in Asia include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, China, Burma (Myanmar), and Indonesia. Turmeric is also produced in the Caribbean and Latin America: Jamaica, Haiti, Costa Rica, Peru, and Brazil.
Major importers are the Middle East and North African countries, Iran, Japan and Sri Lanka. These importing countries represent 75% of the turmeric world trade, and are mostly supplied by the Asian producing countries.
Indian Scenario
Production and Productivity
India accounts for about 80% of world turmeric production. Up to 2004-05 India had approximately 1.5 lakh hectares under Turmeric cultivation; within which Andhra Pradesh occupies the largest area coverage (40%) with approximately 63% production share in India. That means Andhra Pradesh topped in both area and production of Turmeric. Historical data says that on average India produces 5-6 lakh tons turmeric every year. Turmeric production in India has shown a fluctuating trend throughout last decade. It was 3.92 lakh tons in 1990-91, in the year 1993-94 it reached 7.07 lakh tons, attained the peak level of production of 7.196 lakh tons in 2000-01. In 2002-03 turmeric production was 5.82 lakh tons. The annual production in 2004-05 was 6.78 lakh tons.
Consumption
Not only India is the largest producer of turmeric in the world but also largest consumer. Domestic consumption accounts for nearly 93%-94% of total production.
Export
India exports Turmeric to other countries in a range of 5-6% of its total production since 1995 -2005. Out of the production in India, 90% is consumed locally and the rest is exported. Still India accounts 60% of the world turmeric exports. Turmeric grown in Erode region is preferred for grinding but due to cross contamination of different varieties and improper post-harvest practices followed, the acceptance level of Erode turmeric has declined sharply in the recent times. Now most of the turmeric produced in the Erode belt is used for domestic consumption and on the other hand, the quality of Salem turmeric is comparatively better and has acceptance in the international market for grinding and blending purposes.
Method of Processing
Seed treatment
Whole or split mother rhizomes are used for planting. Select well developed, healthy and disease free rhizomes. Treat the rhizomes in any of the copper oxychloride fungicides and store in cool, dry place or in earthen pits plastered with mud and cow dung.
Cleaning
Harvested turmeric rhizomes are cleaned off mud and other extraneous materials, adhering to them and subjected to curing within 2-3 days after harvest so as to ensure the quality of the end product.
Boiling
Fingers and mother rhizomes will have to be boiled separately. Boiling is usually done in MS pans of suitable size. Cleaned rhizomes (approximately 50 kg) are taken in a perforated trough of size 0.9 m x 0.55 m x 0.4 m made of GI or MS sheet with extended handle. The trough containing the rhizomes is then immersed in MS pan (1 m x 0.62 m x 0.48 m) containing clean water sufficient to immerse the rhizomes. The whole mass is boiled till the rhizomes become soft. The correct stage of cooking can be judged by piercing a wooden needle through the rhizome. If the rhizomes are properly cooked, the needle will pass through the rhizome without resistance. The cooked rhizomes are taken out of the pan by lifting the trough and draining the solution into the pan.
Drying
The fingers are then dried in the sun by spreading them as a thin layer on bamboo mats or drying floor. Artificial drying at a maximum temperature of 65?C gives a bright coloured product than that of sun drying especially for sliced turmeric.
Polishing
In order to smoothen the rough and hard outer surface of the boiled dried turmeric and also to improve its colour, it is subjected to polishing. There are two types of polishing, hand polishing and machine polishing.
Hand polishing: The method of hand polishing is simple, which consists of rubbing turmeric fingers on hard surface or trampling them under feet wrapped in gunny bags. The improved method is by using hand-operated barrel or drum mounted on a central axis, the sides of which are made of expanded metal mesh. When the drum filled with turmeric is rotated, polishing is effected by abrasion of the surface against the mesh as well as by mutual rubbing against each other as they roll inside the drum.
Machine polishing
This method consists of an octagonal or hexagonal wooden drum mounted on a central axis and rotated by power.
Colouring
Boiled, dried and half polished turmeric fingers (half polished turmeric is more suitable since colour does not stick to the rhizomes that have been polished fully to smooth finish) are taken in bamboo basket and shaken with turmeric powder. For coating 100 kg of half polished turmeric 200 g of turmeric powder is required. When fingers are uniformly coated with turmeric powder, they are dried in the sun.
Turmeric oleoresin
This is obtained by the solvent extraction of the ground spice with organic solvents like acetone, ethylene dichloride and ethanol for 4-5 hours. It is orange red in colour. Oleoresin yield ranges from 7.9 to 10.4 per cent. One kg of oleoresin replaces 8 kg of ground spice.
Preservation of seed rhizomes
Turmeric pigment is highly unstable as compared to the yellow synthetic colorant, tartrazine. However, if protected from light and humidity, the curcuminoid pigments in turmeric powder and oleoresin are stable. Therefore, turmeric rhizomes and powder should be stored away from light and in a very dry environment. Turmeric is stored in huge underground pits called pews. Each pew can store 175 quintals of the commodity for almost three years. There are over 2,100 such pews in Haripur and Sangalwadi in Maharashtra’s Sangli district — the centre of turmeric trading.
Rhizomes for seed purpose are generally stored by heaping in well ventilated rooms and covered with turmeric leaves. The seed rhizomes can also be stored in pits with saw dust, sand, leaves of Glycosmis pentaphylla (panal), etc. The pits are to be covered with wooden planks with one or two openings for aeration. The rhizomes are to be dipped in quinalphos 0.075% solution for 15 minutes if scale infestations are observed and in mancozeb 0.3% to avoid storage losses due to fungi.
Need of Futures in Turmeric
Turmeric is widely grown and consumed spice that has got good international market demand. A large group of market participants are engaged in different activity in the entire value chain of turmeric right from production to its consumption. Prices show considerable volatility that could pose profit risk to different stakeholders. At present there is no risk management tool available for the traders, farmers, industry, exporters to hedge their risk out of price uncertainty. As India is having major share in the international turmeric export market thus it is equally exposed to global uncertainly that affects trade time to time and thus on price. In such a scenario offering future trading would provide an opportunity to the hedge risk for market participants against volatile price movements. Turmeric price is quite volatile and showing marked fluctuations in daily price. Due to high volatility it reinforces the need of future trading to allow traders to hedge their risk. Other factors that indicate success of future trading is well developed spot market and large number of participants such as traders, farmers, exporters, industrial consumer etc that provide depth and width to the market.
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