An analysis of institutional interventions in supply Chain of Turmeric: Case study of FPO’s in Chamarajanagara District

Abstract

Turmeric is used as condiment along with medicinal and religious properties. It is one of the important spice crop also known as Indian saffron. India is the largest producer and exporter of turmeric in the world having an area of 2.91 lakh hectares. Among the turmeric growing states, Andhra Pradesh stands first with 30 per cent of the total annual national production, followed by Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. Majority of the turmeric growers in Karnataka are small and marginal and only about 2% of them are large farmers. Turmeric marketing plays a vital role in the movement of commodity from producer to consumer; APMC and FPO are playing a crucial role in procurement of turmeric in the study area. When costs are compared, FPO farmers are incurring less compared to APMC farmers, this is mainly because farmers associated with FPO have no transaction costs of marketing the produce. FPO farmer realized the profit of Rs. 57,210/- per acre and APMC farmer realized the loss of Rs. 4313.72. Hence, selecting the appropriate marketing channel is important to sustain the income levels of farmers (Acharya & Agarwal, 2019; Government of India, 2022).