Telangana ranks 5th in spices production

Only 15% of the production at Rs 33,000 crore is being exported to other countries while the rest is consumed in the domestic market. The export market is growing at a CAGR of 8-10% - Ramkumar Menon, Chairman, World Spice Organisation

Telangana stood at fifth position in spices production in India with 893.67 tonnes during this year, while Andhra Pradesh was at sixth position having 885.68 tonnes. Turmeric is the major spice grown in Telangana, whereas chillies is the chief spice in AP. Tamarind, ginger and coriander seeds are the other spices being cultivated in the Telugu States.

World Spice Organisation (WSO), a non-profit technical partner of the All-India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF), has set an ambitious target to achieve $10 billion worth of Indian spices exports by FY 2030 from $4 billion in this fiscal. It has hosted the second edition of the National Spices Conference 2023 in Hyderabad.

The two-day conference was dedicated to the theme “Food Safe Spices - The Way Forward to a Stable & Sustainable Income”. The experts and industry leaders in the conference deliberated on crucial the issues surrounding the safety and sustainability of spices. Several farmers and farmers’ producer organisations (FPOs) have attended the conference on the first day.

“Indian spices market has reached about Rs 1.14 lakh crore in terms of value. However, only 15 per cent of the production at Rs 33,000 crore ($4 billion) is being exported to other countries while the rest is consumed in the domestic market. The export market is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8-10 per cent,” Ramkumar Menon, Chairman of WSO told Bizz Buzz.

He said, “Because of better incomes, convenience and changing lifestyles, the demand for branded spices is increasing drastically in the domestic and global markets. More agricultural startups are coming into this space to establish quality products. With this, the exports are likely to reach Rs 40,000 crore ($5 billion) by 2025 and Rs 80,000 crore ($10 billion) by 2030.”

With an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore, the National Horticulture Board has recently launched Cluster Development Programme (CDP). It has developed 12 clusters across India. The turmeric cluster project has come up in West Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. The Centre has proposed to set up more clusters all over the country in the coming years.

“Even with a meager annual growth rate of 2 per cent, the demand for spices is expected to be 200 lakh tones by 2047. The projected export demand is around 40-50 lakh tones by 2047 including the processed products,” said Dr Homey Cherian, Director of the Directorate of Arecanut and Spice Development (DASD), Ministry of Agriculture.

He said that the DASD is working with a network of 40-45 agricultural universities across the country where the planting material is being produced based on the spices available in those regions. The DASD is implementing many programmes for producing nucleus planting material of high yield varieties (HYV) at selected institutes for further multiplication and distribution.

Dr A B Remashree, Director Research, Spices Board, said that the board is providing development & replanting schemes for the FPOs in the country. Last year, it has launched ‘Quality bridge gap’ scheme which provides up to Rs 25 lakh subsidy for the spice exporters. It also brought mandatory testing for exports to reduce the consignment rejection.