Origin and distribution
- India or China or the Indo-Malayan region is the home of turmeric (a diploid form) from which C. domestica is likely to have evolved by a process of triploidy, and subsequent continued selection and cultivation by vegetative propagation. But now, it is not grown in a truly wild state.
- The crop has now become widely distributed throughout the tropics, but its cultivation as a spice is largely confined to India, Sri Lanka, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru, Bangladesh, El Salvador and Taiwan.
Area and production
- India is the largest producer and exporter of turmeric in the world having an area of 1,08,000 hectares under turmeric cultivation.
- Among the turmeric growing states, Andhra Pradesh stands first with 30% of the total annual national production of 2,95,000 tonnes, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. Out of the total production, 12,588 tonnes is being exported to Libya, Moracco, USA, Iran, Japan, UK and Singapore, earning nearly Rs. 171.6 million as foreign exchange.
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Participants