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Spices Board Asks Farmers To Focus On Quality And Safety To Regain Global Market Shares

Cheap produce from Vietnam and Gautemala rule the global markets now.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>(Source:&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/@erwanhesry?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Erwan Hesry</a>/ <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/farmers-spices?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>)</p></div>
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The Spices Board has urged farmers to focus on improving the quality and safety of their produce in order to claw back their lost global market shares and double export earnings to $10 billion in few years.

Addressing a national spices producers' conference being organised by the Kochi-based World Spice Organisation here on Thursday, D Sathiyan, secretary of the Spices Board, rued that higher cost of production along with low/poor value addition has led to some of the top spices from the country like pepper losing dominance as cheap produce from Vietnam and Gautemala rule the global markets now.

India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices such as chillis, black pepper, turmeric, spices oils & oleoresin, mint oils, cumin, coriander, saffron, nutmeg, paprika, and celery, among others, with an annual production of about 10.80 million tonnes. Of this, the country exports only 1.5-1.7 million tonnes or about 15 per cent of total production to over 180 countries, and consume the rest 8.3-8.5 million tonnes, the secretary said.

Sathiyan said over the past two years, thanks to the pandemic which has increased demand for spices due to the perception that spices are agents of immunity, health and wellness and the resultant rise in prices, have seen spices exports nearly doubling to $4.1 billion.

But "if we control cost of production and improve the quality and safety of our spices by lowering the use of harmful pesticides and work on value addition then we can easily more than double our export earnings over the next few years to around $10 billion," Sathiyan said without referring to a clear deadline for the target.

However, Ramkumar Menon, chairman of the World Spice Organisation, which is organising the conference, later told PTI, "We can easily earn over $10 billion from spices exports by 2030 and this year we should cross $ 4.5 billion, because we need to cover a lot of distance when it comes to meeting global food safety standards, and also bridging the missing links on the value addition front." Sathiyan said at present, spices exports contribute just 1% of the country's total merchandise exports, around 10% of agriculture exports and about a good 40% of horticulture exports.

The country tops in exports of chilli, turmeric, spices oils & oleoresin, mint oils, cumin, coriander, celery etc, and has lost out on black pepper and cardamom, which were once the top forex earners. Both these produces are now facing stiff competition from low-cost producers like Vietnam and Gautemala, Sathiyan said.

Despite being the pioneers of processing and value addition in spices, value-added spice products enjoy a share of about 50 per cent in total export volume only, he said underscoring the need to improve value addition.

"Our higher production cost is a challenge, affecting our price competitiveness and subsidies as a way out may not be a viable long-term solution," Sathiyan said and pointed out that a durable solutions can be focusing on value addition, and stop selling in raw form, investing in product development, and customisation to meet the requirement of export destinations, preparing export-oriented production systems and by working in partnerships through creating more farmer producer organisations and handholding farmers which all should lead to ensuring quality and safety across the whole production system.

According to international trade projections, demand for spices is poised to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% in the next decade, indicating the huge opportunity for exports which are currently only 15% of total production, he said.

"We can easily reap the benefits of this global opportunity provided we are successful in addressing a few issues at our backyards, like demonstrating quality and food safety through certifications, authenticity with traceability, and maintain integrity and consistency," Sathiyan said, adding, "we also must focus on product diversification to capture the imagination of global buyers and customisation to meet their regional, cultural and other finer expectations, which means that we should stop being comfortable to export what is available, and instead should produce what is desired." Menon of the World Spice Organization, which is the technical partner of the All-India Spices Exporters Forum, said the focus of the ongoing conference is to drive home the message of food safety and quality standards to farmers and helping them establish better market linkages, with the help of farmer producer organisations.