The Spices Board has launched a raft of measures to support farmers by offering various subsidies and sensitise them on the need to enhance the quality of spices through post-harvest improvement techniques, as a part of boosting spices production in the country.
The Board has also decided to provide financial assistance to farmers for irrigation, land development, mechanisation, replanting, soil conservation and organic farming of various spices, especially small cardamom. It will also give financial aid to them for purchasing state-of-the-art irrigation and farming equipment and tools.
“The initiatives are part of the Board’s 12th Plan to improve export-oriented production of small cardamom and post-harvest improvement of other spices across spice-growing regions in the country, said Spices Board ChairmanA. Jayathilak.
“The eligibility criteria for availing the benefits are based on land held by the grower and is different for each programme,” he added.
Under the new schemes, cultivators of small cardamom in Kerala and Tamil Nadu would be provided with a sum of Rs.70,000 a hectare for replanting, while farmers in Karnataka would get up to Rs.50,000 a hectare. The cultivators would also be given aid for planting material production.
To help small scale cardamom farmers in the three southern states in irrigation and land development, the Board will provide financial assistance up to 25 per cent of actual cost for acquiring irrigation pump sets, sprinkler sets, equipment for gravity-fed irrigation system, and up to 50 per cent for water storage structure. The farmers would also get funding up to 25 per cent for soil conservation.
Besides, they would be given a subsidy of Rs.1 lakh for purchasing improved cardamom curing devices and 50 per cent subsidy for GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) kits and bee-keeping boxes.
Under the Board’s farm mechanisation programme, small cardamom growers in these states would be given 50 per cent subsidy for purchasing equipment for plant protection and washing, grading and polishing cardamom.
The Board also provides assistance for post-harvest improvement process of the spices in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and North-eastern states. The assistance includes funding up to 50 per cent for seed spice thresher, pepper thresher, turmeric boilers and polishers, Integrated Pest Management kits for chilly growers and mint distillation units.
As part of the farm mechanisation programme, spices growers would receive 50 per cent subsidy for purchasing equipment for the post-harvest improvement process, including cleaners, graders, spice slicing machines, de-huller, driers, storage units and extractors/dehydration units.
The Board also provides financial assistance to organic farmers for attaining organic certification, maintenance of internal control system and purchasing organic inputs and bio-agent production units. Apart from this, it would provide a maximum of Rs.5 lakh as subsidy to Spices Producer’s Societies in major spice-growing regions in the country.
