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Trinity Saioo: A helping hand for the Upliftment of Rural People in Meghalaya

A good idea should always be shared, especially if it may help someone else. Trinity Saioo has lifted her natives into the light of progress by introducing curcumin-rich turmeric, which costs three times, encouraging a generation that traditionally produced curcumin-deficient turmeric varieties.

Trinity Saioo, a resident of Mulieh village in Meghalaya’s West Jaintia Hills district, leads 800 women in her state to cultivate and popularise Lakadong Turmeric. Along with working as a teacher in a rural school in her district, Trinity Saioo began farming to support her family. This 54-year-old woman known as “Turmeric Trinity” is credited with instigating the state’s women-led turmeric growing movement. Through her programme, women farmers were able to triple their income.

Experimenting With  Lakadong Variety

In 2003, Saioo began experimenting with Lakadong turmeric in her fields and found that it increased her revenue compared to the Lachein-type turmeric she had previously planted. She understood that other farmers were unaware of the advantages of cultivating the Lakadong type.

Training Under The Spices Board of India

Through the provision of training programmes, seminars, study visits, etc., the Spices Board of India made some significant contributions to aiding her in educating, preserving, and promoting the growth and cultivation of turmeric in the area. Saioo has been a member of the Spices Board since 2013. The majority of the farmers were uneducated, so Saioo took it upon herself to visit them and inform them of the Lakadong turmeric’s comparatively high output and market value. She aided them in submitting applications for vermicomposting and environment-friendly farm subsidies to the Spices Board. Saioo instructed the women on the cultivation and planting of seedlings, the use of organic fertilisers, the use of chemical-free white grub insecticides instead of pesticides and the harvesting of crops.

Mission Lakadong

Saioo involved the women of the village in the grading and processing of the turmeric to generate a profit from it. It ultimately improved the sale of turmeric and its value-added goods. With the aid of “Mission Lakadong,” which the government of Meghalaya launched in 2018,  Saioo is exponentially increasing the production of Lakadong turmeric and thereby expanding its market footprint worldwide.

The Life Spice Federation of Self-Help Groups

The Life Spice Federation of Self-Help Groups, which Saioo assisted in reviving, includes more than 100 self-help organisations. Saioo, the organisation’s assistant general secretary, mentors 700–800 female farmers through SHGs which rely on turmeric-related products for a living. She has played a crucial role in promoting policies, implementing projects and supporting the promotion of Lakadong Turmeric. Saioo has been successful in expanding its marketing network in various states in addition to attempting to enter global markets.

Recognition

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, presented Trinity Saioo with the “Excellence in Horticulture” award on the International Day of Women Farmers in 2018. In 2020, the Indian government presented Saioo with the Padma Shri Award in recognition of her significant contributions to the production and promotion of turmeric.

Saioo, a member of the Jaintia hill tribe, follows matrilineal inheritance. As, a trained teacher,  she decided to teach the ladies in her community about the sustainable and organic farming of turmeric after learning that the Lakadong type was selling worth more in the market than the Lachein kind that was often grown in Meghalaya. Thus, she paved the way for underprivileged women to a sustainable agriculture-based economy. Women farmers in other villages decided to switch to Lakadong turmeric as a result of Mulieh’s female Lakadong turmeric producers’ success.

Credits and References

https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/trinity-saioo-meghalaya-woman-who-led-turmeric-farming-movement-receives-padma-shri-2176657

https://www.sentinelassam.com/north-east-india-news/meghalaya-news/meghalaya-turmeric-farmer-trinity-saiyoo-is-an-icon-in-the-true-sense-heres-why-48

https://feminisminindia.com/2020/02/11/meghalaya-trinity-saioo-turmeric-india-padma-shri/