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West Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya on Saturday witnessed a first-of-its-kind Fly-Off event to demonstrate the use of novel and innovative Drone/UAV technology for payload delivery that could serve as a model of solving the 1st-mile connectivity issues for Lakadong Turmeric farmers from the hinterland.
Lakadong Turmeric has been identified under 'One District, One Product (ODOP)' initiative under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. ODOP partnered with AGNIi Mission, one of the nine technology missions under the Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council to identify Indian innovative technologies that can play a transformative role in the end-to-end processing of Lakadong Turmeric, starting with leveraging payload drones (UAVs) to transport the turmeric in large quantities, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement. Lakadong Turmeric from West Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, one of the world's finest turmeric varieties with the highest curcumin content of 7-9 per cent (in comparison to 3 per cent or less in other varieties), is fast becoming a game-changer in the economy of the district. The State of Meghalaya has applied for a Geographical Indication tag for Lakadong turmeric. The percentage of curcumin and oleoresin content in turmeric determines the demand by the industry along with the price. India is the largest producer and exporter of turmeric (APEDA, 2019). India exported USD 236.5 million worth of turmeric in 2018 from USD 182.53 million in 2017. (ANI)
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