It’s almost time for the harvest for turmeric in Thailand, as the harvest should start sometime next month. The higher humidity during cultivation has delayed the harvesting by two weeks to almost a month. One farmer, thanks to the USDA certification, can export the turmeric to the United States.
The turmeric season in Thailand is approaching harvest time. Chris Petcharalum is a consultant in agriculture and has been active in the fruit and vegetable for close to two decades. At the moment she’s assisting at a turmeric farm and has seen slight delays in the harvest due to humidity: “For turmeric, it takes between eight and nine months from cultivation to final harvest. In Thailand, we cultivate in the early rain season, and harvest between December and March. This season, the weather did have a small effect on the cultivation, as the higher humidity led to a delay of 15 to 30 days in the harvesting time. Our main export market is USA so far. This year we can export to USA with USDA Certified produce.”
Petcharalum expects they’ll have about 900 tons for export this year. “We produce 300 Rai and the production is 600 tons in Chaingmai province, northern Thailand. This year the production is a little bit higher than last year because we have enough rain water to nourish the roots while in the last few years Thailand was in a drought crisis.” she explains.
There’s a lot of history for Turmeric in Thailand, says Petcharalum. “Turmeric has been used for thousands of years as a spice and medicinal herb. It is a local spice which contains high curcumin compound. Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant. In Thailand, our turmeric is cultivated by Karen descendants, who have cultivated it for many generations in economics woods and forest woods without reforestation. Finally, we help the Karen in our area, so they have a stable income and better living quality, thanks to the cultivation of their turmeric. Our organic turmeric is SdgSPGS and USDA Organic Certified. We are ready to export to around the world!” she concludes.
For more information:
Chris Petcharalum
Roadmap International Thailand Co., Ltd.
Tel: +66 86 844 8608
Email: roadmapthaifarmers@gmail.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/roadmapthaifarmers