New Delhi, 27 Jan (KNN) Ministry of Commerce and Industry has extended the last date for submitting suggestions on the proposed Spices (Promotion and Development) Bill 2022, up to 09 February 2022.

Spices Board is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce &Industry. An autonomous body is responsible for the export promotion of the 52 scheduled spices and the development of Cardamom (Small & Large).

Spices Board currently holds the mandate for export promotion and quality management of spices and spices products. For cardamom (large and small) only, the current mandate of the Spices Board extends to pre-harvest activities also.

Riding high on domestic and global demand of traditional Indian homemade snacks, accompaniments, and condiments such as pickles, papads, jam, spices, and honey, the micro, small, and medium (MSME) sector has registered an almost four-fold growth in gross output in rural areas according to the fourth all-India census report of MSMEs.

There is a felt need to enable the Board to provide focused attention across the entire supply chain of spices if required for the purposes of export promotion. Hence, an enabling provision is required to be made for the Government to include any of the spices as ‘notified spices’ in the Schedule II of the Act, in addition to cardamom, so that interventions across the entire supply chain can be undertaken by the Board for such notified spices.

Also, considering the emerging quality, food safety requirements in the spices sector, and the modern applications of spices in nutraceuticals, natural colors, etc, it is essential to orient the research support to the spice industry to address these aspects. 

Further, some of the never-used/redundant provisions in the Act need to be removed and offenses are to be decriminalized for facilitating ease of doing business in the spices sector.

The Union Minister for Agriculture released the book ‘Spices Statistics at a Glance 2021’on 21st December 2021.  The book is published by the Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development (DASD), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the nodal agency for collection and compilation of area and production estimates of spices at the National level. 

The book highlights the growth achieved in the spices sector during the last seven years from 2014-15 to 2020-21 in the country.

Spices production in the Country grew from 67.64 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 to 106.79 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 with an annual growth rate of 7.9%, following an increase in area from 32.24 lakh hectare to 45.28 lakh hectare. Among the major spices, Cumin (14.8%), Garlic (14.7%), Ginger (7.5%), Fennel (6.8%), Coriander (6.2%), fenugreek (5.8%), Red chili (4.2%), and Turmeric (1.3 %), show significant growth rate in production.

Spices export grew from 8.94 lakh tonnes worth Rs 14,900 crores to 16 lakh tonnes valued at Rs 29535 crores (USD 3.98 billion) during the above period, logging an annual growth rate of 9.8% in terms of volume and 10.5% in terms of value. The export of spices contributes 41% of the total export earnings from all horticulture crops in the country and it ranks fourth among agricultural commodities, falling behind only the marine products, non-basmati rice, and basmati rice.