National Turmeric Board regional office, testing lab to come up in Erode: Union Minister

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday (January 5, 2026) said a regional office of the Nizamabad (Telangana)-headquartered National Turmeric Board (NTB) would be established in Erode, along with an accredited turmeric testing laboratory.

Responding to a request made by M. Sathyamurthy, secretary of the Erode Turmeric Merchants and Godown Owners’ Association, Mr. Chouhan said the NTB functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and assured he would take up the matter with the Ministry to establish its regional office in Manjal Maanagaram (Turmeric City). “The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will be directed to establish the laboratory in Erode,” he said. On the demand for developing new turmeric varieties with high curcumin content, the Minister said ICAR would work on it.

He said steps would be taken to market turmeric across the country through e-commerce platforms and assured that the Union government would act against illegal turmeric trading to ensure remunerative prices for farmers.

Noting turmeric farmers were facing several challenges, Mr. Chouhan said machinery would be developed for harvesting, drying, and processing, and that the government would soon roll out a new scheme aimed at value addition of turmeric. He also pointed out old storage facilities could be established under Central government schemes with subsidy support.

Earlier, the Minister inspected various turmeric varieties on display on the turmeric association premises and enquired about the medicinal properties of the GI-tagged Erode Virali, a tuber variety of turmeric. He received petitions from farmers and traders highlighting issues related to turmeric cultivation and marketing in the region. He also inspected a turmeric field and interacted with workers.