Growing red turmeric brings in income of 300 - 400 million VND/ha

With the price of 10 - 15 thousand VND/kg of commercial red turmeric, farmers in Binh Son village, Sa Binh commune, Sa Thay district (Kon Tum) have an income of 300 - 400 million VND/ha.

In March 2016, Mr. Pham Van Cau (64 years old) and Mrs. Tran Thi Kiem (60 years old) in Binh Son village boldly invested in a pilot project of planting 600 square meters of red turmeric on their family's farm. Due to limited techniques in selecting varieties, planting and caring for the crop, the yield and quality of the harvested turmeric tubers were not as expected. However, the family's turmeric acreage also brought in more than 2 tons of tubers.

According to Mr. Cau, if the selection of seeds, planting, care, and harvesting are done with the right techniques and technology, each sao can yield 6 tons of raw turmeric. Not only does it achieve high yield, but if planted and harvested at the right time, the percentage of starch in turmeric is also high.

Visiting the red turmeric growing model. Photo: Internet

Mr. Cau was the first person in the village to boldly invest in growing red turmeric. To get good varieties, planting and care techniques, he traveled to Krong Commune (Kon Tum City) to buy and learn. From studying and working, he has now expanded his family's turmeric area to 8,000m2.

In addition to expanding the turmeric area, Mr. Cau also provides turmeric seeds to villagers at low prices so that they can expand their cultivation. Not only that, he also invested 30 million VND to buy machinery to produce turmeric starch. Currently, his family consumes 1 - 1.2 tons of raw turmeric every day. If villagers expand the area and there is an abundance of raw materials, his family will continue to expand the turmeric processing workshop in the near future.

In addition, he and the Women's Union of Binh Son village built a model of "Women's group linking turmeric cultivation" with 32 members participating and committed to purchasing all turmeric products.

Red turmeric is cut, dried and processed into starch. Photo: Internet

Talking about the productivity of turmeric, Mr. Cau said: In the last harvest, red turmeric of him and farmers in Binh Son village achieved a yield of 20 - 30 tons/ha. With the price ranging from 10 - 15 thousand VND/kg, it helps farmers earn from 300 - 400 million VND/ha...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly, President of the Women's Union of Sa Binh Commune, said that the area has suitable soil for growing red turmeric. In 2016, villagers planted more than 4 hectares, but mainly developed by finding their own outlets for the products. To avoid the situation of traders forcing down prices, the locality has committed to Mr. Pham Van Cau to consume all raw turmeric for the villagers. Currently, the consumption capacity of Mr. Cau's family's turmeric products is from 5 - 6 hectares/year.

According to Nongnghiepvietnam