Export earnings from seed spices may go up

KOCHI: The coming years might see a spurt in the export earnings from seed spices despite the fact that export earnings from this category have been witnessing a mixed trend during this year.

The expected boom is on account of the Spices Board’s new initiative to focus on value addition from this sector. “Some of the spice parks that we have been building will focus mainly on seed spices,” the board chairman VJ Kurien told ET. The spice park coming up in Jodhpur is primarily with an objective of higher value-addition to cumin.

Coriander will be the focus area in the spice park at Kota in Rajasthan. In Guna at Gujarat all the seed spice items like fennel, fenugreek, coriander and cumin would be given prominence, Mr Kurien said. The spice parks will lead to better cleaning and grading of spices. This will in turn help better value-addition, he said.