Shillong, Oct 24: NEC Secretary Satinder Kumar Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the progress of the Integrated Lakadong Turmeric Value Chain Enhancement Project in West Jaintia Hills.
Bhalla inspected the proposed site for the Centralised Processing Unit and Curcumin Extraction Plant at Thadmuthlong C Phramer village, where officials said tendering will begin after finalisation of plans and estimates.
He also interacted with the Lakadong Turmeric Cooperative Union Ltd, holder of the GI tag, and visited the processing unit run by Shangpung Farmers Union Collective Marketing Centre at Shangpung Pohshnong. Farmers flagged manure shortage and sought cattle support.
The Secretary said the issue falls outside NEC mandate and advised them to approach the National Dairy Development Board.
At Shangpung, he stressed quality packaging, export compliance, batch-coding for traceability and branding of cartons to avoid rejection.
He also inspected the Bio-curcumin Extraction Unit run by LIFE Spice Processing Cooperative Society Ltd at Laskein, which is yet to start operations pending ISO certification. He advised advance planning for certifications to prevent machinery lying idle.
He was accompanied by NEC Director Dr Sentitula, Meghalaya State Agricultural Marketing Board Joint MD Pranjal J Dutta and district officials.
