Erode:
Turmeric growers abstained from markets for the second day today as part of their boycott to press central and state governments for procuring the spice directly from farmers at minimum Rs 10,000 per quintal.
About 5,000 turmeric farmers here did not place samples in the four turmeric sales markets in Erode district and boycotted its sales.
Due to the two-day boycott, Rs 5 crore worth of turmeric transactions were suspended in the district P K Deivasigamani, President of the Association, said,.
"The boycott is total and all the fifteen lakh turmeric farmers in India have joined the two-day strike and did not place their samples in turmeric markets conducted in various places in India".
He hoped that the Governments would consider their plea for procuring the turmeric directly from farmers.
The Turmeric Traders Association declared holiday for the markets for three days Jan 24, 25 and 26.
The traders said that because of the closure of three day sales, they are expecting heavy arrival of turmeric for sales on Jan 27, which will drive down the prices.
Turmeric farmers said they were already affected because of the deep decrease in turmeric price, which has dropped below Rs 4,000 per quintal, and they would continue to suffer as prices will decrease further, thanks the boycott as their stocks would accumulate.
The traders said they are purchasing minimum quantity to fulfill their pending orders as they were not receiving any fresh orders from North Indian traders.