Challenges and Opportunities in Value Chain of Spices in South Asia Editors Pradyumna Raj Pandey Indra Raj Pandey December 2017 SAARC Agriculture Centre ICAR- Indian Institute of Spices Research i Challenges and Opportunities in Value Chain of Spices in South Asia Regional Expert Consultation Meeting on Technology sharing of spice crops in SAARC Countries, 11-13 September 2017, SAARC Agriculture Centre, Dhaka, Bangaldesh Editors Pradyumna Raj Pandey Senior Program Specialist (Crops) SAARC Agriculture Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh Indra Raj Pandey Senior Horticulturist (Vegetable and Spice Crop specialist) CEAPRED Foundation, Nepal 2017 © 2017 SAARC Agriculture Centre Published by the SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, BARC Complex, Farmgate, New Airport Road, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh (www.sac.org.bd) All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher Citation: Pandey P.R. and Pandey, I.R., (eds.). 2017. Challenges and Opportunities in Value Chain of Spices in South Asia. SAARC Agriculture Centre, p. 200. This book contains the papers and proceedings of the regional Expert Consultation on Technology sharing of spice crops in SAARC Countries, 11-13 September in ICAR-IISR, Calicut, Kerala, India. The focal point experts represented the respective SAARC Member States. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not imply any opinion whatsoever on the part of SAC, especially concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ISBN 978-984-34-4171-3 Price US$ 10 SAARC Countries US$ 50 for other countries Printed by Natundhara Printing Press 277/3 Elephant Road (1st Floor), Kataban Dhal, Dhaka-1205 ii Foreword Agriculture has played a central role in the economies of South Asian countries. Over two- thirds of the population still depends on it for a liv- ing, and it accounts for nearly one-third of the region’s exports. In statistical terms, the region occupies a major position in the world in several agricultural commodities including with spice crops. Spices are important essential condiments in the SAARC countries and there are many spice crops commonly grown in the region. The total demands of these spices are increasing among the SAARC countries as well as outside the SAARC countries. Among the SAARC Countries, India holds an important position in the production of such commercial crops as spices, together with bananas, tobacco, oil seeds, and cotton. SAARC Member States have been made significant progress in Research and Development on these crops and have high export potentialities of spices. However, to achieve such progress our joint efforts would be the crux for remarkable achievement. Therefore, sharing of production and post-harvest technologies are important for development, improvement and marketing of spice crops. Thus, documentation of value chain activities (production, post-harvest handling, processing and storage) of spices would be mutually beneficial to each member country. Considering the diverse use and high potentiality of the value added products of the spice crops in South Asia, SAARC Agriculture Centre in collaboration with Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Spice Research (IISR), Kerala, India organized a regional consultation meeting on “Technology sharing of spice crops in SAARC Countries”. This book “Challenges and Opportunities in Value Chain of Spices in South Asia” is a collection of papers contributed by the experts from SAARC Member States. I would like to take this Opportunities to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Pradyumna Raj Pandey, Senior Program Specialist (Crops), SAARC Agriculture Centre, Dhaka and Mr. Indra Raj Pandey, Senior Horticulturist (Vegetable and Spice Crop specialist), CEAPRED Foundation, Nepal for their hard work to put together the manuscript in this form. I am confident that this compilation will facilitate further research and development in Spice value chain development in SAARC Region. Dr. S.M. Bokhtiar Director SAARC Agriculture Centre iii Foreword Spices evoke a strong sense of ownership among the South Asian countries as these crops have a long history of association with the social fabric and geo-political developments, not to mention its pervasive influence on the local cusines and traditional medicinal systems. Concerted efforts for the development and strengthening of the spice crop economy attains urgency considering the potential of spice crops to engineer positive and significant changes in the livelihood status of millions of small holder producer households spread across the various SAARC Member States. It was in this context that SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC), Dhaka partnered with ICAR- Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode, a constituent of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, to organize the Regional Expert Consultation Meeting on “Technology Sharing of Spice Crops in SAARC Countries” at Kozhikode, Kerala State, India during 11-13 September 2017. The core objective of the meeting was to discuss the current status and level of production and processing technologies for spice crops available in the SAARC Member States with a special focus on black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric. This meeting with an exclusive focus on spice crops of SAARC Member States is first of its kind. As one of the leading institution in spices research at the international level, ICAR-IISR is proud to host the gathering of an elite group of policy planners, researchers and other stakeholders from the SAARC region to discuss pertinent issues, identify critical gaps and evolve efficient strategies for strengthening the spice value chain stratrting from the primary producers to the final consumers. The SAARC region has the potential to emerge as the global hub of production and supply of high quality and food safe spices produced under sustainable practices by leveraging the synergies amongst the member states and by developing harmonized and common market and trade development strategies. Sharing of specific strengths in production and processing technologies of the spice crops can improve the productive efficiency of the region and help in optimizing resource allocation among research and development priorities. Institutional innovations in organizing spice production and processing while ensuring community participation and ownership can also bring revolutionary changes in the spice economy of the SAARC Member States. I express my sincere gratitude to SAARC Agriculture Centre for partnering with ICAR- IISR in organizing this important event and to all participants who attended the meeting from member countries for their valuable contribution. ICAR-IISR is glad to pledge our unwavering support for all the initiatives for strengthening of spice value chains in the SAARC region. Nirmal Babu Director ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research iv Content Foreword iii Foreword iv Executive Summary vii Value Chain Development and Technology Practices of Spices 1 in Afghanistan Ferdaws Bromand Value Chain Development and Technology Practices of Spice Crop 12 Research and Development in Bangladesh Cardamom (small and large), Ginger, Turmeric, Black Pepper, and Cinnamon Md. Iqbal Haque, Md. Kalim Uddin and Shahana Akter Value Chain Development and Technology of Large Cardamom 38 and Ginger in Bhutan Tanka Maya Pulami Value Chain Development and Technology Practices of Spices Crop 56 in India (Cardamom, Ginger, Turmeric, Black pepper & Cinnamon) Lijo Thomas, A. I. Bhat, Homey Cheriyan and K Nirmal Babu Value Chain Development and Technology Practices of Spice Crop 116 (Cardamom (small and large) Ginger, Turmeric, Black pepper, and Cinnamon) in Nepal Anisur Rahman Ansari Value Cain Development and Technology Practices of Spice Crops 136 (Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Ginger and Turmeric) in Sri Lanka A.P. Heenkende Successful Spice Value Chain Development Technologies in South Asia: 161 Strategies for Achieving SDGs Indra Raj Pandey Proceedings 181 Meeting Agenda 189 Participant List 192 Photo Gallery 196 v Executive Summary The estimated growth rate for spices demand in the world is around 3.2%, which is just above the population growth rate. The forecasted population increase is up to 1619 million in 2050 with increased GDP and per capita food spending. The per capita demand for spices is expected to increase many fold by 2050. Therefore, there is urgent need to continuously strive to increase spices productivity by enhancing input use efficiency and reducing post-harvest losses with an eye on reducing the cost of production. Moreover, spice crops constitute an important element in the agrarian economy of all the SAARC Member States. It is therefore important to evolve strategies aimed at strengthening this sector for ushering in robust growth in agricultural sector. The growth potential of this sector and the potential to bring about equitable development in the agrarian sector underline the urgent need for the SAARC Member States to evolve creative policy guidelines and strategies for promoting overall development of the spices sector. The total demands of spices are increasing among the SAARC countries as well as outside the SAARC countries. Among the SAARC Countries, India holds