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'Haldi' or turmeric, a commonly used Indian spice, will now be declared as One District One Product (ODOP) of Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar and popularised among farmers.

Turmeric has a long history of its use in Asian, African and Caribbean cuisines.

With turmeric becoming the ODOP of Kushinagar, the Buddhist pilgrimage site has the potential to become like the Erode, Sangli and Nizamabad districts of South India, known for its high-volume cultivation.

Turmeric in Kushinagar is mainly cultivated in Dudahi, Ramkola, Bishunpura, Khadda, Severhi, Kaptanganj, Kathkuiyan, and Fazilnagar.

The Uttar Pradesh government will explore the possibilities of cultivation of turmeric in Kushinagar at its level.

According to the government's spokesman, turmeric is cultivated on about 800 hectares in the entire district. The yield per hectare is about 36.77 quintals.

As per ground reports, the data collected by the organisation, turmeric is cultivated on more than 200 hectares in Ramkola block alone. Accordingly, the area under cultivation of turmeric will be about three times.

The yield of local and developed species in the trial ranges from 150 to 400 quintals, respectively.
At present, about 10,000 farmers of the district are associated with the cultivation of turmeric.

Agricultural officer B M Tripathi, said that in the Agro climate zone of Kushinagar, Rajendra Sonia, Rajendra Sonali, Narendra Haldi-1 are the highest yielding species if the farmers are trained on a large scale about the improved methods of farming.

If quality seeds of better species are provided and cooperation in processing, packing and marketing of the produce is given, then turmeric can change the fortunes of the farmers of Kushinagar.

Efforts have also been started in this regard by Tata Trusts at a limited level. For example, a company was formed by joining 1,150 farmers. All farmers are stakeholders in this project. A processing unit of limited capacity has also been set up, but the government will have to come forward to make Turmeric a brand like Kala Namak Rice of Siddharth Nagar.

Kushinagar has better connectivity from Bihar to Bengal and north-eastern states by a four-lane road. Once the international airport is built, it will be accessible to most countries too.

Turmeric also known as Haldi is the most effective nutritional supplement in existence. Being anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory, turmeric is beneficial in pain, injury, sprain, and dental diseases.

It also helps in boosting immunity and purifies blood. Not only is it very beneficial for the skin but the melatonin present in it is helpful in bringing about sleep. Turmeric gets a yellow colour because of the main active ingredient present known as curcumin, inhibits the growth of cancer cells.