Turmeric has been associated with the lives of people in Tran Ninh Village, Yen Thinh Township (Yen Bai City) for many years. From the corner of the garden that was previously empty, the dry fields that could not be planted are now covered with turmeric.

Let’s come to Tran Ninh, you can see turmeric everywhere, the house is at least 2-3 Sao tall, the house has a lot of land to grow turmeric up to one acre, there are families who have risen to through the processing of turmeric starch to become rich.

Mr. Ta Van Tuc, one of the pioneers of the model of cultivation and production of turmeric starch in Tran Ninh village, shared, “My family has been cultivating turmeric since 2001, at that time there were only 3-4 households in the village that cultivated turmeric To sell fresh turmeric in the market With a hilly area and a garden planted with low-efficiency crops like cassava, corn, etc., I switched to cultivating turmeric, which brings 3-4 times more income to my family , sometimes that of other plants.

Seeing the high economic benefits of turmeric, Mr. Tuc learned some varieties of turmeric from other areas and brought them to trial plantations such as: Hung Yen red turmeric, yellow turmeric (sticky turmeric) from communities along the Red River in Van Yen District (Yen Bai ). After a test planting of the two turmeric varieties mentioned above, which had previously provided high yields, all native turmeric varieties were replaced.

Hung Yen Red Turmeric is a large, red root, but gives little strength. With 10kg of fresh turmeric after processing, about 0.3kg of starch is obtained, so it is mainly grown to sell fresh turmeric and produce raw turmeric powder for sale to consumers. Restaurants, eateries used as food processing dishes.

As with yellow turmeric (sticky turmeric) with small false tubers, with high starch content, about 0.6kg of pure starch is obtained with 10kg of fresh turmeric after processing.

Turmeric is grown from January to February to around October each year, fresh tubers can be harvested and sold to traders. About 11-12 turmeric for a high starch content, then bulk harvesting and processing will yield the best starch quality.

“In 2021, I collected about 13 tons of fresh turmeric, after processing, I received 5 quintals of pure turmeric starch, 7 quintals of raw powder. At the selling price of 150,000/kg of raw powder, 300,000/kg of turmeric starch, After deducting, I have about 120 million dongs of all expenses collected,” said Mr. Tuc excitedly.

Besides processing turmeric starch for his family, Mr. Tuc also processes and rents turmeric every year without a processing machine to households that grow turmeric in the area.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Cuong from Tran Ninh Village (Tan Thinh Township) said, “Turmeric has high drought tolerance, wide adaptability, and is cultivated not only on dry land, garden land, but also on hilly land. collects about 7 tons of fresh turmeric every year, collects about 3 hundredweight of starch after processing, sells for 300,000/kg, after deducting the cost, I collect about 70 million VND Because the economic value of turmeric is high, people in the village also see others Crops switched to growing turmeric.”

Mr. Trung Hai Sam, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Tan Thinh Township, said: Tan Thinh Township’s turmeric starch product has been registered as a 3-star OCOP product. In the community there is the Tan Thinh Agricultural General Service Cooperative which is involved in the planting, cultivation and processing of turmeric starch. So far, the cooperative has 17 members with an area of ​​around 10 hectares. In 2021, the entire community will receive about 15,000 tons of fresh turmeric, after processing, about 9 tons of pure turmeric starch will be obtained.

While processing turmeric products is not difficult, it does require a lot of meticulousness, time commitment and going through 7 stages. To get the best quality turmeric powder, after grinding, extracting water, soaking and changing the water, it takes about 5 times every 4-5 hours to filter the water so that the product is pure turmeric. . After that, the turmeric powder needs to be dried indoors, avoiding direct sunlight to ensure quality and beautiful colors.

To preserve color and store long, turmeric starch is often machine dried, then packaged in sealed bags and jars and can be stored for a full year without fear of damage.

Turmeric Powder has the following uses: Anti-inflammatory and to prevent chronic inflammatory skin diseases, good for digestive process, support heart health, prevent and control diabetes… Turmeric powder is easy to make, with high selling price, low cost and labor, so that in some communes like Y Can, Quy Mong… in Tran Yen district, people also grow and process turmeric starch which brings high income.