Demand for spices increased since Covid pandemic, says Commerce Ministry official

The demand for spices has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out last year and several studies have been carried out especially on the medicinal properties of Indian spices, said Diwakar Nath Mishra, Joint Secretary (Plantation) of Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Mishra was delivering the keynote address at an International Buyer Seller Meet (IBSM) organised by the Spices Board in association with the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, UAE on a virtual platform with a specific focus on spice exports.

The global online event was held on Wednesday and inaugurated by Sandeep Kumar Bayyapu, IFS, the Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"After Covid, demand for spices have gone high and therefore several researches have been carried out especially on the medicinal properties of the Indian spices. India and UAE have been sharing trade and culture relations from ancient times, and events like this will sensitise and educate farmers to incorporate good agricultural practices free from pesticides and antibiotics," Mishra said. Bayyapu appreciated the efforts undertaken by the Spices Board to enhance spices exports and said UAE as a location, provides a strong logistics opportunity to tap into European and African markets.

The event brought together over 250 Indian exporters and 40 potential buyers from the Middle East. The event also had a good lineup of senior bureaucrats, which has been encouraging for the spice community on both sides.

During the special address at the event, Spices Board Secretary D Sathiyan said the India spice sector views Dubai not only as a leading consumer of spices, but also as a re-export hub, from where Indian spices are re-exported to various parts of the globe.

He further said the Board has been conducting a series of digital buyer-seller meets (BSMs) for ensuring that there is no gap or hindrance in sourcing and supply of spices from the country.

"Through the virtual platform, buyer-seller meets and other market linkage programmes, we seek to increase the share of exports to achieve the export target of spices and spice products worth $ 207.88 million," Sathyan had said.

UAE is India's 4th largest export destination for spices. During 2020-21, India exported 1,15,400 MT of spices valued $ 220mn to UAE, which accounts for 6 per cent in volume and 5 per cent in value of India's total spice exports, a release issued by the Spices Board said. India's spice exports, with a volume of 17,58,985 MT valued at $4178.81 million during 2020-21, scaled the landmark level of 4 billion $ in value realization, besides recording a growth rate of 37 per cent in volume, 16 per cent in rupee terms and 11 per cent in dollar terms over the previous year, despite the global pandemic situation.

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