Decline in import of most spices during FY 2023-24

17-Jun-2024 03:12 PM

Hyderabad. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. More than 80 varieties of spices and spice products are exported from India to more than 100 countries of the world, earning billions of dollars. But there is another side of the coin. Spices are also imported in large quantities in India from various producing and exporting countries.

During 2023-24, there was a decline in the import of black pepper, large cardamom, turmeric, coriander, poppy seeds,

nutmeg and bay leaves in India as compared to the financial year 2022-23, while the import of the remaining spices - small cardamom, red chilli, paprika, ginger / dry ginger, cumin black / white, garlic, cloves, mace, fennel, tamarind, cinnamon, asafoetida and curry powder / paste increased.

According to the data of the Spices Board, during the period under review, the import of black pepper from foreign countries to India fell from 35,905 tons to 34,028 tons,

large cardamom from 9403 tons to 6531 tons, turmeric from 16,769 tons to 14,638 tons and coriander import fell from 31,383 tons to 28,828 tons. Similarly, 24,728 tons of poppy seeds were imported in 2022-23 but it remained closed in 2023-24.

The import of bay leaves fell from 38,545 tons to 27,814 tons during the same period and the import of nutmeg slipped from 1234 tons to 886 tons. On the other hand, during the period under review, import of Small Cardamom jumped from 567 tons to 2553 tons,

Red Pepper/Paprika increased from 2698 tons to 6288 tons, Ginger-Dry Ginger improved from 32,172 tons to 32,926 tons, Cumin import jumped from 2013 tons to 17,760 tons, Garlic from 3014 tons to 20,066 tons, Cloves increased from 17,986 tons to 23689 tons,

Mace improved from 2169 tons to 2291 tons, Tamarind increased from 1058 tons to 1332 tons, Cinnamon increased from 2192 tons to 2473 tons, Asafoetida improved from 1441 tons to 1457 tons and Curry Powder/Paste increased from 7960 tons to 9414 tons.