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Global spice summit to denounce chemical-fed industry growth

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The chorus against use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and the need for adoption of organic farming of spices in the developed countries would be the key issue to figure in the fifth World Spice Congress to be held at the Oberoi Hotel in Bombay from January 27 to 29.

About 150 delegates from 37 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Belgium and 200 from India, would attend the three-day congress, organised jointly by the Spices Board and the Indian Spice Exporters' Forum.

The congress based on the theme, "Spices to Food: New Dimensions, New Trends", would deliberate on strategies to be adopted by the spice community to cater to the growing demand in the new millennium, according to Spice Board officials at Kochi in Kerala.

The campaign against chemical fertilizers and pesticides had found an echo in the last spice congress held in Madras in 1998.

By now it has reached momentum with some importing nations rejecting spices containing traces of pesticides above the permissible limits.

The countries under the European Union have already specified limits for four pesticides (Chioropirpfos, Traizofos, Quinolfos and Etion). There have been cases of rejection of Indian spices crossing the permissible limit by the European Union after the last congress held in Madras in January 1999.

Although India had managed to save the commodity by diverting the consignments to importing countries, which have not specified such limits, exporters say that it is time for the country to address this issue seriously if it has to maintain its status as the world leader.

Other importing nations are also expected to impose stringent laws on quality in the coming days, as the spice has been finding an increasing acceptability as an essential ingredient of food, they said. The consumers have started recognising the medicinal values in spices.

The stress of the new millennium would, therefore, be on quality, says Sanjay Mariwala, president, the All-India Spices Exporters Forum. “The challenge for the Indian spice community is one of enhancing capabilities, competitiveness and value addition, as the spice consumption is set to grow in the new millennium,” he said.

Spices Board chairman V Jayashankar has admitted that the growing awareness about the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides has brought about a demand on growers to adopt organic farming.

Jayashankar told rediff.com that the importers want strict quality to be maintained in the fields and processing factories. The demand for organically produced spices cannot be ignored in the light of the changing food habits of the people, said Jayashankar.

The change in food habits owes a lot to the unprecedented increase in the fast food and supermarket chains, which have been the major industrial users of raw and value-added spice products.

The emergence of fast food and supermarket chains as the major industrial users of raw and value-added spice products has made new demands on the spice community.

India has started steps to adapt to the emerging scenario. “We have introduced special schemes for organic production of spices like ginger, turmeric, pepper, cardamom and chillies in several areas,” he added.

“We have been trying to infuse the right message about quality among the producers, growers, exporters and importers. The importers have taken note of the endeavours we have made to ensure total quality management,” Jayashankar said.

The measures India has taken in this regard include introduction of spice logo and spice house certification for processing houses and exporters, improvement of analytical and storage facilities in major spice marketing yards, encouragement for organic production of spices etc, Jayashankar said.

The Indian farmers have lately become alive to the quality demands. They have realised that better quality brings them more returns. Hence, they are now concentrating more on returns per unit area rather than focusing on price per unit, said Sanjay Mariwala. “Farmers can get higher return only if he strives to improve the quality,” he added.

The Exporters’ Forum president said the exporters would be looking forward for information symmetry. We need more inflow of information from all sides to expand our knowledge base. The congress is an ideal platform for sharing knowledge, he said, and added that this was important as the world consumption is estimated to double in five to ten years' time, Sanjay Mariwala said.

India's share in the world trade of spice is 25 per cent and 40 per cent in value and volume respectively.

In a short span of ten years or so, the Indian export earnings showed a tremendous growth to the tune of 489 per cent, from Rs.2.98 million in 1987-88 to Rs17.58 million in 1998-99.

In terms of volume of exports, it has showed a whopping growth of 225 per cent over the same period, from 70,289 tonnes in 1987-88 to 231,389 tonnes in 1998-99.

The congress will have three full-fledged and structured business sessions stretching for three days deliberating on trade-oriented subjects. The first one on crops and markets will feature an overview of the current global scenario on spices, including an evaluation of emerging trends in food habits and how the world spice community can adapt to them.

The second session is totally devoted to a discussion on the expectations of the users, suppliers and the status of regulatory agencies of spices. It would deliberate on the need for specifying pepper standards across the globe and the need for increasing production and productivity.

The views of the European Spice Association and European Community and the American Spice Trade Association on European regulatory agencies and the Food and Drug Administration of the US would also be discussed at the congress, the Spices Board chairman said.

The third session would highlight the developments taking place in other parts of the globe, levels of competencies and capabilities expected of a producer.

The congress, besides being a usual forum for interaction among the producers and buyers from various countries, would give ample room for international investors to assess Indian spice manufacturers and exporters. It gives them the much-needed opportunity to visit spice plantations, factories, markets and discuss the trade matters with their Indian counterparts.

The spice congress has been becoming immensely popular among the spice community in the world over ever since the first such congress was held in Bangalore in 1990. The need for an international forum for greater interaction between the sellers and buyers was felt in the 80s, when India made aggressive efforts to boost the exports. The Spice Board in association with the Tourism Department tried to bring the spice community together through a trade-cum-travel fete christened as International Spice Fair.

However, the experiment did not catch the fancy of the trade. The emergence of the Spice Congress in 1990 has been the result of long deliberations between the spice trade and the Spices Board.

The earlier congresses were held in Bangalore in 1990, Goa in 1992, Kochi in 1995 and Madras in 1998. Other spice exporting countries were invited to take part for the first time at the Madras congress.

There is also an exhibition of spices where leading Indian spices exporting companies will be displaying their capabilities and products. The congress and a spice exhibition would be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Commerce Omar Abdullah.

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