More and Better: Improving Turmeric Crops by Caring for the Soil

What happens when regenerative agriculture practices are implemented by conventional turmeric farmers? Farmers can achieve a 10% to 15% yield increase.

Field visit of demo farm where progressive farmers are comparing regenerative agriculture techniques in contrast with conventional farming.

This is one of the key takeaways of last September’s RSP turmeric workshop in the Pokarboshi village in Nanded district of Maharashtra. Turmeric farmers and village elders joined representatives of SAN, Paras Spices, the Pasidi Panta Foundation, Agriculture Department officials and other stakeholders of the RSP program for a masterclass on soil health.

The activity was part of Nestlé’s Responsible Sourcing Program for Vegetables and Spices (RSP) and included various agricultural techniques such as the usage of local and commercially available bio inputs, cover crops, border crops, and intercropping.  The activity went beyond technical knowledge, also discussing economic diversification, women’s involvement in farming and community initiatives.

Farmers attending the workshop showed high interest and a strong commitment to implement practices that preserve and restore soil in their farms, as noted by Mr. Maruthi Dange, one of the progressive farmers from Pokarboshi village:

“We want to improve our soil health management practices for growing sustainable turmeric crop both in terms of productivity and quality”.

The workshop provided an opportunity to distribute tree saplings to farmers and to visit progressive/demo farmers. RSP farmers and other stakeholders also visited a newly established Bio Input Centre owned by Mr. Dange and supported by Nestle’s RSP. His experience showed significant differences between the RSP demo plots and the conventional way of growing turmeric.

Farmers were very impressed with the results; the RSP demo plots looked healthier, with better vegetative growth, soil structure, and leaf color when compared to the conventional plots. They explained that a 10-15% yield increase is expected from the trial plots compared to the conventional way of growing turmeric. Soil health will also be upheld with the use of locally available bio-input and compost, which in turn will reduce chemical inputs bringing down the cost of cultivation and increase productivity and commercial quality of turmeric.

Mr Dange stressed how these conversions are good both for the soil and for farmer’s pockets. “Turning to regenerative agriculture practices such as pre monsoon dry sowing cover crops and supporting turmeric famers with access to locally available  bio inputs, we’ll reduce farmers dependency on chemical fertilizers and pesticides”, he concluded.