Till recently there were five Commodity Boards — Tea Board, Coffee Board, Rubber Board, Spices Board and Tobacco Board in India. In January, the Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal inaugurated the National Turmeric Board, headquartered in Nizamabad, Telangana.
And most recently, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech spoke about establishing a Makhana Board in Bihar.
These Boards are autonomous bodies under a nodal Union Ministry – mainly Commerce – and are responsible for production, development and marketing of these products.
Sitharaman in her Budget speech said, “A comprehensive programme to promote production, efficient supplies, processing, and remunerative prices for farmers will be launched in partnership with States. Appropriate institutional mechanisms for implementation and participation of farmer producer organisations and cooperatives will be set up. For this, there is a special opportunity for the people of Bihar. A Makhana Board will be established in the state to improve production, processing, value addition, and marketing of makhana.”
The people engaged in these activities will be organised into FPOs, she had said adding “The Board will provide handholding and training support to makhana farmers and will also work to ensure they receive the benefits of all relevant Government schemes.”
Golden spice
While launching the Turmeric Board, Goyal had said that this ‘Golden Spice’ (turmeric is also known as golden spice) Board will pay special attention to the welfare of the turmeric farmers spread across 20 States, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Meghalaya. He had said that there is immense potential in increasing turmeric production in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and formation of the Turmeric Board will boost income of turmeric farmers.
Commodity boards provide financial and technical assistance to growers and also help them participate in trade fairs, buyer-seller meets, branding and promotion.
But there are also murmurs of political considerations at play. For example the move to set up a Turmeric Board was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the run-up of the Telangana Assembly elections. The proposal of a Makhana Board in Bihar comes at a time when the State is preparing for elections.
For boards to be effective, there must be proper representation of all stakeholders, a planter said adding today it is loaded with more public representatives and not real stakeholders.
According to Hemant Bangur, Chairman of Indian Tea Association and Chairman of Consultative Committee Plantation Association, “Role of the Board is not only branding and marketing. Boards have a big role in ensuring good produce comes out. They have a very important role. Their outreach has to be to the farmer. Besides, they ensure that small producers get fair price”.
During the Turmeric Board’s launch, Goyal had said it will boost income of turmeric producers in the country. He had also said that the new Board will promote research and development of new turmeric products, and value addition of turmeric related products for marketing abroad. The Board will also create awareness on the medicinal properties of turmeric, ways to increase its yield and boost logistics and supply chain to foster trade into newer markets, he had said adding that the Board will also ensure quality and safety standards of turmeric production and exports.
Though the Board has been launched it is yet to take off fully, according to reports.
Makhana Board
The latest to join the bandwagon is the Makhana Board.
Makhana (Euryale ferox Salisb.) is an exclusively annual aquatic rooted plant with large spiny floating leaves also known as gorgon nut. It is mostly cultivated in ponds (water depth: 0.75 m to 1.20 m) and low lying shallow wetlands having water depth of 0.45 m to 0.60 m.
Bihar contributes 85 per cent of the total gorgon nut production in India. The productivity potential of the gorgon nut crop is 2.8 to 3.0 t/ha. For its growth and development, the conducive range of air temperature is 20-35°C, relative humidity 50-90 per cent and annual rainfall 100-250 cm. Being a popular aquatic crop, it is a water intensive crop, needing assured availability of irrigation. The plant has an evolutionary significance in view of having a combination of dicot and monocot characteristics. Makhana is classified a dry fruit although it is a product of an aquaphyte.
The challenge in Makhana cultivation is that most ponds and low lands are owned by the rich while the cultivation is done by the fishermen community.
Around 80,000 fishermen families of nine districts (Darbhanga, Madhubani, Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura, Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj and Sitamarhi) of north Bihar are directly or indirectly dependent on cultivation and processing of makhana. Makhana cultivation also requires a lot of expertise.
According to In-charge Head & Principal Scientist, ICAR-National Research Centre for Makhana, Darbhanga, Indu Shekhar Singh, work has been happening on standardising a boat to be used for makhana cultivation, to attract more cultivators.
The Board’s roles include — facilitating traders, capacity building for farmers, encouraging use of new technologies by involving the scientific community, marketing, branding and ensuring a fair price.
But, challenge comes in constitution of such Boards and the key people managing them. If the autonomy of the Boards are retained, they can play a crucial role in boosting output and increasing farmers’ income.
