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International Spice Conference 2023 (ISC 2023) was held on January 19-22nd, 2023, in ITC Grand Chola, Chennai. The conference was attended by 850 participants and visitors from 50 countries including 60 exhibitors and 50 speakers. The theme for the 4-day conference, which began on a Thursday, was ‘Reboot N’ Rebound’ – Beyond the new normal. The conference was inaugurated by Mr. D. Sathiyan, IFS, Secretary, Spices Board. GIZ – DPP Spices Project was Biodiversity Partner for the conference and participated in the Panel Discussion for Biodiversity, Climate Change and Sustainability. Mr. Sanjeev Bisht, Chairman, All India Spices Exporters Forum, Mr. Anand Venkitraman, Vice-President, Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Cheriyan Xavier, Chairman, International Spice Conference 2023, and Mr. Emmanuel Nambusseril, Vice chairman of AISEF spoke in the inaugural session.

In a world where food safety standards are challenging and the industrial environment is rapidly evolving, it has become imperative for the stakeholders to address the concerns and imbalances of the industry. Ensuring sustainability of crops and improving the livelihood of the farmers is also a collective responsibility. It is in this context that All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF) and Cochin Chamber of Commerce organized the International Spice Conference to provide a platform for all stakeholders of the Global Spice Industry—business houses, spice organisations, policy makers, farmers, and end users—to address their concerns and interact with each other. Today, ISC has grown to become the world’s leading knowledge dissemination and unifying platform for the global spice fraternity. Five successful editions of the conference have had positive impacts on the industry and its stakeholders.

Sathiyan, Secretary, Spices Board, said India was the spice basket of the world with its biodiversity offering 75 out of 105 varieties of spices listed by International Standard Organization (ISO). He further added that India has robust supply network, excellent processing and value addition facilities along with an export base of more than 7,000 registered spice exporters with manufacturing exporters constituting more than 10 per cent. Reflecting the vision of the government, he said, “Indian spices and spice products in 225 different types are reaching more than 180 different destinations across the globe. The government of India wants the sector to grow further.”

“Despite the pandemic, export of spices from India continued its upward trend during 2020-21 and crossed the $4 billion mark and attained a record in terms of both volume and value,” said Sujay Vuppuruli, National Head – Food and Agri Business Strategic Advisory and Research, YES Bank. Spice production in India has grown from 5.35 million metric tonnes (MT) in 2010-11 to 11.04 million MT in 2020-21, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%. The top 5 spices including chilli, turmeric, and coriander contributed around 86% to the total spices production in 2020-21, stated the crop report released in the sixth edition of the International Spice Conference. Though India stands first in spice production, due to climate change and pests, crop cultivation of several spices has reduced. However, it’s expected to increase in 2022-2023, as the country has had better weather recently. Experts also presented the crop reports on various spice products, of which, India has the largest chilli production in the country.

Link to further materials

Contact
Ravindra Singh — Programmer Director
Indo-German Biodiversity Programme

Poonam Pandey — Team Leader
Enhancement of Smallholder Spice Farmers’ Capacities in Sustainable Farming Project

Key buzzwords
Indian spices, spices export, sustainability, spice farmers