Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday said annual production of spices in the country rose 60 per cent to record 107 lakh tonnes since the 2014-15 season.
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 per cent, following an increase in the cultivation area from 32.24 lakh hectare to 45.28 lakh hectare.
Among the major spices, jeera (cumin) output rose 14.8 per cent, garlic 14.7 per cent, ginger 7.5 per cent, saunf (fennel) 6.8 per cent, coriander 6.2 per cent, fenugreek 5.8 per cent, red chilli 4.2 per cent, and turmeric 1.3 per cent showed significant growth rate in production," according to the statistical compilation in a book 'Spices Statistics at a Glance 2021'.
Besides, India's earnings from exports of spices almost doubled during the period at Rs 29,535 crore, Tomar said.
Tomar was speaking at the launch of a handbook titled 'Spice Statistics at a Glance - 2021' here. He released the book -- a compendium of all the spices statistics like, area, production, productivity, export, import, price and value of output of various spices produced in the country -- on Tuesday.
The book constitutes statistics on production, acreage data, yield, export-import, historical prices, values and nutritional values of the commodities.
Tomar, during his address at the launch event, said this book will benefit policy makers, stakeholders, scientists, researchers, and most importantly the farmers.
Spices export
The spices' export grew from 8.94 lakh tonnes worth Rs 14,900 crore to 16 lakh tonnes valued at Rs 29,535 crore ($ 3.98 billion) during the above period, logging an annual growth rate of 9.8 per cent in terms of volume and 10.5 per cent in terms of value, a release from the Ministry of Agriculture said.
The export of spices contributes 41 per cent 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.
Stating that the spectacular growth of spices witnessed in the country is due to the various development programmes implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the release said the demand for spices has increased tremendously due to the recognition of spices as a health supplement especially during the pandemic period, which can be clearly seen from the growing export of spices like turmeric, ginger, cumin, chilli etc.
(With inputs from IANS)
