“Accelerating Quality Production, Post-Harvesting, Value Addition & Export of Coriander from India”
Monday, 4th January 2021
Spices Board WebEx Link: 10.30 am to 1.30 pm
The Hadoti region of South-East Rajasthan and Guna district of Madhya Pradesh are endowed with Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) - the world of coriander in India. Coriander seed spices contains aromatic and medicinal properties and often used as a flavor to different cuisines. Green leaves and seeds are the two distinct segments of coriander production in India. While the green leaves cater to the domestic market, the coriander seed is a major constituent in export basket of seed spices from India.
India grows coriander over ~7 lakh hectares yielding ~8 lakh tons of seed coriander. Rajasthan is a major producer of coriander seed spices after Madhya Pradesh. The Hadoti region of Rajasthan surrounded by Madhya Pradesh grows coriander in large tracts and is the epicenter of the production of coriander seed spices in India. Ramganj APMC Mandi located at Kota district is the largest coriander mandi in Asia, and thus Ramganj is also known as the “Coriander city”.
Indian seed spices including coriander are exported to more than 135 countries worldwide. Rajasthan enjoys seamless connectivity with ports through railways and roadways. The State has several Special Purpose Industrial Parks including 5 Agro Food Parks (Kota, Jodhpur, Sri Ganganagar and Alwar) and 2 Agri Export Zones, covering 5 districts each with a focus on seed spices, coriander and cumin. The establishment of two Spice Parks by the Spices Board India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Government of India at Kota and Jodhpur is a milestone achievement in our quest to increase processing and value addition of seed spices. The Spices Park at Kota caters to the requirement of aggregation, storage, trade, processing and value addition of coriander and other spices of Hadoti region. The majority of export of coriander seed spices about 40,000 tons from India is predominately exported from the Ramganj mandi. Coriander importing countries included Europe, US, Malaysia, Singapore and Gulf countries. The demand of coriander seeds spices in the International market is increasing in recent years and it is becoming very remunerative to Indian farmers. However, the magnitude of export from India remains negligible or 5% of total coriander production. It is therefore paramount to discuss ways and means to accelerate aggregation, processing and value addition of coriander to increase export by manifolds. The world of coriander webinar focusing on Hadoti region is an apt opportunity for progressive farmers and entrepreneurs as the GOI’s MOFPI has assigned “coriander” to the district of Kota in the list of One District One Product (ODOP).
The world of coriander webinar would examine and discuss key issues related to quality production, food safety, various policies, regulatory, marketing, post-harvest management and value addition. Let us use this opportunity to make implementable action plan to increase quality production, aggregation by FPO, post-harvest management, value addition, and export of coriander from India.
DBT-SABC Biotech Kisan Hub and the Spices Board of India in collaboration with ICAR-NRCSS, RSAMB and Kota Agriculture University have organized the World of Coriander webinar “Accelerating Quality Production, Post-Harvesting, Value Addition & Export of Coriander from India” on 4th January 2020, with participation of 100s of key stakeholders from various States. The Hadoti region of South-East Rajasthan and Guna district of Madhya Pradesh are endowed with Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) and account for majority of export estimated at 50,000 metric of total coriander production at ~8 lakh tons in 2019-20. The Hadoti region of Rajasthan surrounded by Madhya Pradesh grows coriander in large tracts and is the epicenter of the production of coriander seed spices in India. Ramganj APMC Mandi located at Kota district is the largest coriander mandi in Asia, and thus Ramganj is also known as the “Coriander city”. Recently, GOI’s Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) has assigned “coriander” to the district of Kota in the list of One District One Product (ODOP).
Recognizing the epicentre of coriander production in Hadoti-Guna region, Sh D Sathiyan, Chairman-cum-secretary of the Spices Board of India vowed to exploit the full potential of coriander export and called on the entrepreneurs and exporters to harness the tremendous opportunity in export of whole coriander and other processed products such as coriander split (daal), powder and essential oil. Echoing the same outlooks, Sh PM Suresh Kumar Director (Admin & Mktg), the Spices Board of India recounted the support extended by the Spices Board in establishing the Spice Park at Ramganj mandi in Kota to boost processing, value addition and export of coriander, which is reflected in growing trend of export of coriander from the region. Various schemes, incentives and funding opportunities at minimal cost are being worked out to set up agri-infrastructure, processing and value addition as part of different schemes under PM-FME scheme, Agri export policy, FPOs, ODOP and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, stated Sh Tara Chand Meena, Administrator and Sh M L Gupta, Director (PHM), RSAMB, Government of Rajasthan. The role of FPOs in collection, aggregation and delivery in supply chain can be transformative, said Sh T Vyankatesh Krishna of NABARD.
Dr. S.S. Meena, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRCSS, Ajmer and Dr. Pratap Singh, Director (Research), Kota Agriculture University, Kota have emphasized on varietal improvement and screening of different cultivars, promotion of IPM based good agricultural practices (GAP) and popularization of disease resistance varieties such as RKD-18 and ACR-1 to overcome the menace of stem gall (longia) disease, which is becoming a nuisance for farmers resulting in the contraction of planting of coriander in Hadoti region in recent years.
Dr Shrishail Kulloli of the Spices Board of India has focused on value addition of coriander like vinegar, sausage, coriander powder & essential oils through accelerated processing mechanism and preserving quality of coriander products through proper storage facility whereas Dr Dinesh Singh of the Spices Board of India has reminded exporters to comply with quality standards and tackle issue of pesticide residue and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) with a great consideration to meet the growing quality requirements of importing countries particularly from developed countries including Japan, EU and USA.
Sh. Yashwant Bafna, Chairman, APMC, Ramganj Mandi and Sh PCK Maheshwaran, coriander exporter has deliberated on challenges faced by processers, industry and exporters and called on the Centre and State Government to immediately take measures to salvage farmers, industry and exporters from coriander price manipulation caused by future trading of coriander on NCDEX either by limiting contract validity from 6 months to 3 months or by banning future trading on NCDEX. In addition, the State government must reduce mandi tax at APMC Ramganj at parity with APMC of neighboring Madhya Pradesh causing substantial market price distortion. Exploring value added products such as Indian curry powder and mouth freshener imbued by coriander is way forward to increase coriander usages both in domestic as well as export market.
Summing up the world of coriander webinar, Dr Bhagirath Choudhary, Board member of APEDA and director of DBT-SABC Biotech Kisan hub has appealed the Centre and State Government to implement an actionable plan to increase quality production, aggregation by FPO, postharvest management, value addition, and export of coriander from India. Inviting Rajasthan State Seeds Corporation (RSSC) to engage in quality production of coriander seeds varieties such as ACR-1 and RKD-18 resistant to stem gall (longia) disease and newly developed late bolting coriander variety AGCR-1 to minimize import of coriander seeds. Moreover, the distribution of quality seeds to increase seed replacement rate (SRR), which is abysmally low and investing in farmers’ programs aimed at good agricultural practices (GAP) and IPM based production system are important steps to deal with pesticide residue issues in exportable coriander.
For more information please contact Dr Sandip Agale of South Asia Biotechnology Centre: sandip@sabc.asia
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