Sambalpur (Odisha): Generally speaking, who does not know about the normal colour of wheat and turmeric? But when we talk of black turmeric and black wheat, none may believe it. While it sounds a bit odd to talk about such things, it is a fact that the cultivation of black wheat and black turmeric is being done in Sambalpur town in Western Odisha. A highly educated person of Sambalpur has become successful in the cultivation of such wheat and turmeric for the first time in the state. He has been drawing accolades from various quarters after successfully conducting a field trial of cultivation of these two products in his farmhouse.
Dibyaraj Beriha of Sambalpur happens to be a botanical scientist by profession. He has done his M. Phil in Botany. He is also doing research on plant tissue culture. Earlier he had succeeded in the cultivation of bioflux pisciculture and black paddy and now he had become an example for other farmers by successfully cultivating black wheat and black turmeric.
He had procured seeds of black wheat from the Punjab University of Agriculture and had come out successful in its field trial here. But the most important point about the cultivation of black wheat is that its medicinal quality is twenty times more compared to the common wheat. Besides, it has heavy demand in the market. Its demand is skyrocketing as it is very useful for patients suffering from diseases like cancer, arthritis and bariatric. While the flour made from this type of black wheat is priced at Rs 600 per kilogram, its seeds are sold for Rs. 1200 to Rs. 1500 per kg.