Context:
Recently, the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has approved a Spices Board scheme, ‘Sustainability in spice sector through progressive, innovative and collaborative interventions for export development’ (SPICED) scheme.
Relevance:
GS II: Government Policies and Interventions
About the SPICED Scheme:
- Purpose:
- The SPICED Scheme is focused on enhancing the export of spices and value-added spice products, improving productivity of cardamoms, and upgrading the post-harvest quality of spices across India for export.
- Implementation:
- The scheme is being implemented until the end of the 15th Finance Commission term, which runs up to 2025-26.
Key Highlights of the Scheme:
- The scheme aims to promote value addition, foster innovation, and encourage sustainability in the spice sector through various initiatives:
- Mission Value Addition.
- Mission Clean and Safe Spices.
- Promotion of GI spices.
- Support for entrepreneurship through Spice Incubation Centres.
- Focus Groups:
- The scheme places emphasis on farmers’ groups, FPOs, farmers’ clusters identified under ODOP and DEH, as well as the SC/ST community, exporters from the Northeast, and SMEs.
- Eligibility:
- Exporters with a valid Certificate of Registration as Exporter of Spices (CRES) are eligible for assistance.
- Preference will be given to first-time applicants and SMEs.
- Program Focus:
- Programs under the scheme aim to improve the productivity of cardamoms and upgrade the post-harvest quality of spices.
- These initiatives target farmer groups, including Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs), and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in key spice-growing regions.
- Post-Harvest Improvement:
- The scheme prioritizes post-harvest improvements to create an exportable surplus of spices, ensuring compliance with food safety and quality standards.
- Transparency:
- Scheme activities will be geo-tagged, and information regarding fund availability, application status, and list of beneficiaries will be available on the Board’s website to ensure transparency.
