DHARMAPURI: The Tamil Nadu government's announcement to set up an Integrated Tamarind Trade Centre, with a processing complex, for Rs 11.30 crore has delighted farmers in Dharmapuri. 10,000 farmers and 20,000 labourers stand to directly benefit from the centre, which was announced by Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday.
Dharmapuri is among the largest producers of Tamarind, with an output of about 8,180 metric tonnes (MT) annually, about 12.6% of the state's production. However, over 60,000 MT of tamarind procured from other states are sent to the southern districts. Due to a lack of market, local farmers and traders incur an additional 10% cost in private markets towards market fees and transportation, losing about Rs 2 crore annually.
Tamarind Traders Welfare Association president Pachamuthu Baskar said, "In Dharmapuri, there are about 4,405 acres of tamarind trees, and over 20,000 labourers are involved in processing the tamarind. While most of the tamarind is procured from states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, over 60,000 MT of tamarind is processed here and sent to other districts.
By setting up a tamarind trade centre, we are reducing costs. Currently, over 10% of the profit is expended as 1.5% for transport and 8.5% for market fee in Salem. By trading locally, we can save about 9% of the cost, which amounts to roughly Rs 2 crore every year. Here, we only need to pay 1% market fee. Further, it will also strengthen value-added production such as seedless cake and pulp, among others."
Officials in the agriculture marketing department said, "We are the largest traders as far as tamarind is concerned. The Integrated Tamarind Trade Centre will help improve prices with better market access and make Dharmapuri a key hub for tamarind trade."
The facility will consist of a 500 MT warehouse, a 500 MT cold storage facility, a drying yard and solar drier, a processing shed for sorting, de-seeding and material storage of 50 MT. 30 shops will also be set up here, along with other facilities.
Improve cultivation area of Tamarind
S Selvakumar, a farmer from Dharmapuri, said, "Right now, the cultivation area of tamarind has greatly declined. Nearly two decades ago, the trees were abundant along each state highway. But repeated highway expansion has led to many trees being uprooted. The administration must ensure more tamarind trees are planted in each panchayat, and improve the rural economy through tamarind production."