Spice industry needs state boost, says industry expert
Boosting the sale of quality spices born in Sri Lanka is key to retaining its export market; but recent government moves to ban imports is not the panacea for the industry’s re-export strategy. Stopping imports of spices immediately has caused prices of these products to increase sharply, former Spice Council Chairman and current Silvermill Natural Beverages Director Nanda B. Kohona said adding that on the other hand the government should increase production.
He explained when stopping import of spices, “at the same time we need to increase production to maintain prices and balance off exports and imports”.
The Finance Ministry has said that it had prohibited the importation of spices and minor export crops for the purpose of re- export or re- export after minor processing in a bid to assist the small export crop growers and SMEs.
As a result imports of pepper, tamarind, cinnamon, nutmeg, peas, cardamom, ginger and cloves have been prohibited.
In Sri Lanka all spices produced are sold and since it is either exported or used domestically it is said that there is an insufficient quantity available for exports.
As a result, Mr. Kohona pointed out that immediate steps need to be taken to grow spices of all categories in the short, medium and long term plans thereby extending the land area for these plants.
Sri Lanka produces 3-4 per cent of the world production of pepper and 15 per cent of the world’s total cinnamon produce.
Mr. Kohona explained that Sri Lanka needs to be concerned about cinnamon gaining uniqueness to Sri Lanka since some countries in the region are already planting Ceylon Cinnamon in their countries.
“On the long term we may lose our entity and holding as the produce of Ceylon Cinnamon to the world,” he pointed out.
Some of the other major crops Sri Lanka produces are nutmeg, cloves, mace, cardamom, vanilla, arecanut and cocoa among others.
The pepper industry in Sri Lanka faced difficult times last year as prices dropped drastically from a high of about US$8 per kilo to $1 per kilo and currently Sri Lanka pepper is marketed at $4 per kilo.
Spicy jobs
The spices industry already caters to approximately over 1.3 million small to medium scale farmers and others dependent on the produce for their income and this could be enhanced with increased production adopting organic farming methods, it was pointed out.
Mr. Kohona has recommended that the government look into establishing a register for all spice processing centres to register all farms that would give a clear indication of the processing carried out in Sri Lanka.
He also noted that the industry is lacking in people to work on the plantations as there is currently a shortage of about 35,000 – 40,000 in the sector.
This has led to only about 75- 80 per cent harvest of the cinnamon that is grown annually and out of this about 15- 20 per cent is harvested two times a year and the rest not harvested due to the labour shortage.
Moreover, he notes that the intrinsic values of the local spices need to be cashed in to enter niche markets and ask overseas missions to assist in the promotion of more business opportunities with buyers worldwide.
Sri Lanka is currently working on obtaining Geographical Indication ( GI) for cinnamon essential for niche marketing.
Certifying standards, identity
If cinnamon can obtain the GI certification then Sri Lanka stands to stand apart from the rest of the world’s produce and get a higher value and not be replicated. “It’s something like Darjeeling and Nilgris teas,” Mr. Kohona said.
Growers have been asked to market this to promote and ensure more people are involved and create increased awareness about the uniqueness of Ceylon Cinnamon, it was pointed out.
Talking about the plight of the cinnamon industry, he noted that the quality of the product had dropped and as a result Sri Lanka nearly lost its Mexican market as a number of containers of cinnamon stock were sent back.
The government needs to ensure standardisation and provide SLS certification for the export of cinnamon.