Sri Lankan farmers are capable of cultivating the country’s total turmeric requirement, which is around 7,000 metric tonnes, Agricultural Exports Department Director-General A.P. Heenkenda said.
Speaking to the Daily News recently, Heenkenda said that previously, around 5,000 metric tonnes of turmeric was imported to the country from countries such as India.
“By now, about 1,500 hectares of land are being cultivated with turmeric, countrywide. The harvest of this crop is to be reaped mid-January. A quantity of 22,500 metric tonnes of turmeric could be reaped then. That means a stock of 3,800 metric tonnes of dried turmeric could be produced,” Heenkenda said.
“About 4,000 metric tonnes of turmeric will be re-utilised as seed turmeric for growing the crop once again. Through this, our country will be self-sufficient in turmeric by 2022,” he added.
