Meghalaya: Organic Turmeric queen Kong Trinity Saioo awarded with Padmashri

SHILLONG: Organic Turmeric queen of Meghalaya, Kong Trinity Saioo awarded with the highest Padmashri award by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind in the field of agriculture.

Trinity Saioo also known as Turmeric Trinity is from Mulieh village, West Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya.

She is working with the Lakadong Variety of turmeric and assists the unread women in learning the methods of organic farming to boost their earnings.

She is now working with more than 900 farmers and probably touching thousands.

She was presented with the fourth highest civilian award ‘Padma Shri’ for leading turmeric farming.

Mrs. Trinity Saioo initially started farming to support her family, in addition to being a part-time farmer, she is also a teacher at a village school in her district.

However, with time, her interest in the farming sector encouraged her to share her knowledge with the farmers in her district about the importance of organic farming of Lakadong turmeric and thereby enabling the farmers to triple their income.

Mrs. Trinity Saioo is known for her ‘Selfless work’ towards uplifting the livelihoods of the farmers in her district.

The Spices Board of India made some major contributions in helping her to educate, preserve and promote the growth and cultivation of turmeric in the region through the provision of training programs, seminars, study tours, etc.

Presently, she is also been a member of the Spices Board since 2013 till date.

Initially, it was Lakachin variety of turmeric that was grown in Mulieh village, however, when Mrs. Saioo came to know of a much superior quality of turmeric, i.e., the Lakadong turmeric, she started putting more efforts in creating awareness among the farmers of the importance of cultivation this particular variety. It was finally in the year 2003 that the cultivation of this variety got a boost through the subsidies received under the Spices Board.

To attain a profitable income from turmeric, Mrs. Saioo engaged the women of the village in the grading, processing of turmeric and this ultimately led to better marketing of turmeric and its value-added products. With the help of the ‘Mission Lakadong’ which was launched by the Government of Meghalaya in the year 2018, Mrs, Saioo seeks to multiply the production of Lakadong turmeric by leaps and bounds to reach the targeted quantum of 50,000 MT by the year 2023 and thereby to increase its market footprint across the country with and without governmental support.