Jyotiraditya M. Scindia launches Mission "Golden Spice" for Meghalaya's Lakadong Turmeric

The Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, together with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Shri Conrad K. Sangma, today launched the “Mission Golden Spice – Integrated Lakadong Turmeric Value Chain Enhancement Project”, a ₹175.45-crore convergence-led initiative for turmeric cultivation and value-chain development in the State of Meghalaya. The Mission is designed as a phased, five-year roadmap (2025–2030), to be implemented in two phases — Value Chain Strengthening (Phase 1) followed by Expansion & Scale-up (Phase 2) — for promotion of Meghalaya’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP), the GI-tagged Lakadong Turmeric.

Anchored by MDoNER and the North Eastern Council (NEC), the Mission builds upon convergence with schemes and interventions of the Ministries of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Food Processing Industries and Commerce, along with APEDA, the Spices Board, the National Turmeric Board, ICAR, MeitY, NABARD, SFAC and the Government of Meghalaya for establishing an integrated turmeric value-chain ecosystem in the State.

Smt. Nivedita Shukla Verma, Secretary, MDoNER, in her introductory remarks, elaborated on the implementation framework of the Mission and highlighted the need for a mission-mode approach to unlock the full economic potential of Meghalaya's Lakadong turmeric. She underlined that despite its exceptionally high curcumin content (7–10%), distinctive aroma and strong nutraceutical potential, the income realised by smallholder growers remains limited due to inadequate processing facilities, insufficient infrastructure, weak market linkages and the lack of high-value addition. She noted that processed and export-grade products have the potential to command significantly higher prices in both domestic and international markets.

The Secretary further highlighted that the Mission seeks to systematically address the major structural gaps in the sector including post-harvest losses, lack of integrated cold chain infrastructure, absence of commercial-scale processing facilities, weak branding, and lack of structured GI monetisation and buyer linkage systems.

As part of the launch programme, a short film on the Golden Spice Mission was screened, followed by interactions with progressive turmeric farmers from Meghalaya and remarks by investors and industry representatives.

Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister, MDoNER, said the launch was part of Prime Minister Modi's vision for “Ashtalakshmi” — India's eight northeastern states — which he described as having moved from the periphery to the centre of India's developmental paradigm over the past twelve years. He said the Ministry had worked with the Chief Ministers of all 8 NE states to define a unique selling proposition (USP) for each state, and to promote each USP “bottom up as opposed to top down.” He noted that Lakadong turmeric's curcumin content is nearly four times the world average, and highlighted extraordinary role of women in turmeric production and processing.