September 12: Farmers of Rukum West are elated with the prospect of exporting turmeric, which is in high demand in the district. The locals say that the demand for turmeric has skyrocketed to the point that they will have to rely on neighbouring district to supply turmeric as per the demand

Triveni Labour Cooperative located at Triveni rural municipality in Rukum West has taken the initiative to export turmeric produced in the district to Germany.    
The cooperative has already established a processing centre to export turmeric produced in the district.    
"We had sent dried turmeric rhizome slices to Germany for trial. We received the report that the turmeric slice was of good quality. So we are ready for processing turmeric slice for producing turmeric. Export of turmeric will be started from November," shared Chairperson of the cooperative, Sher Bahadur Malla.    
Malla mentioned that they have asked the members of the cooperative to cultivate turmeric. He said that 200 members were involved in turmeric farming this season.    
He stated that the turmeric produced in the rural municipality is not enough to meet the demand. The cooperative has also asked the farmers in other areas of the district in advance to cultivate turmeric.    
The cooperative said it has established an industry for processing and producing turmeric. Triveni Rural Municipality and Chaurajahari Municipality in the district have been producing good quantity of tumeric. Traders buy turmeric produced by farmers from the district.
The Karnali Province Government had provided Rs 15 million to the cooperative for managing the physical infrastructure and machine required for the processing centre.    
The cooperative’s president Malla informed that they invested Rs 48,000 on their part for operating the processing plant.    
The farmers are hopeful that they will get a decent price for their produce as the turmeric produced in the district is to be exported. (With inputs from RSS)