Keonjhar: Sale of turmeric leaves has picked up in Keonjhar for the Prathamastami festival Friday, but turmeric growers, mostly tribals, are not getting the right price for their produce.
The leaf is an essential ingredient of the traditional cake, called ‘enduri’, which is usually prepared with turmeric leaves. The leaves give an aromatic flavour to the cakes. So the leaf is in high demand during this festival.
However, traders take away the lion’s share of the profit. They buy leaves from tribals in advance at a low price and sell them at a high price days before the festival. Commoners have to pay through their nose for the leaves.
“The traders buy big bundles of leaves for anything between Rs 5 to Rs 10 a bundle. Every bundle is split into three to four small ones. The traders make three times more profits,” said Braja Kishore Ray, a local resident.
Keonjhar town witnessed a huge rush of customers to buy turmeric leaves.
“At this time, people have to buy leavers at a higher price. Traders create an artificial shortage of leaves by buying them in advance,” said Fakir Chandra Mishra, a resident of Baniapatna.
Social activists observed that tribals cultivate turmeric investing a lot of labour, but they fail to get the right price for it.
PNN