North east spice growers visit Kerala to gain more expertise in the field

Increasing spice cultivation in the north east India has prompted a team of spice growers to visit Kerala to study from their counterparts good agricultural practices, cultivation of spices meeting global standards, knowledge of the markets to get optimum value for their produce.

The team has arrived on invitation from All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF) which has initiated Kisan Pragathi Yojana to work closely with farmer groups all over India, train farmers in good agricultural practices and post-harvest activities.

The team led by Akali Sema, professor and head of Horticulture Department Nagaland SASRD University and Abe an entrepreneur who is actively engaged in spice trading has 16 representatives from farmer forums from almost all states of north east region.


“It was during one of the spices symposiums held in Dimapur, Nagalnd that we came across this group of farmers, who were producing substantial quantities of ginger, turmeric and chillies in their farms. But the lack of infrastructure, non-exposure to modern post harvest practices, storage, access to markets and right sales channels prevents them from getting the optimum value for their produce,’’ Rajiv Palicha- chairman, AISEF said.

The team would visit ginger and turmeric farms. They will also visit spice and oleoresin factories wherein they will understand with the processes involved in converting the spices to end products. They would also have an opportunity to interact with experts on various processes, systems which are followed to meet the standards for exports.

AISEF is working more closely with farmer groups all over India and plans to extend this programme to other parts of the country, Palicha said.