Organic spices

Abstract

India is considered land of spices. Of the 109 varieties of spices listed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the country produces more than 65 spices and which are mainly under conventional practices. Though organic farming is not anew, scientific and organized production of organic spices is blooming in snail’space. Very negligible data are available in this domain. Among total turn-over of organic products from India to world export basket, the contribution of spices was only about 1%, till now. Indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, processing inputs etc., in vast areas of spice fields or orchards are major drawbacks for early adoption of organic conversion of these existing lands under cultivation. Provision of subsidies on organic inputs, scaling up of organic production strategies, framing up of well-connected market intelligence will boost up the situation to a greater extent in near future.