Farmers in Nagaland will now be able to sell cardamom on the e-platform which will create larger market outreach, better opportunities for selling and buying, ease the business process, and promote better transparency.

The Northeast region plays an important role in contributing to spices. Some of the prominent indigenous spices cultivated in Nagaland are Cardamom which covers 3,873 hectares and produces 2133 metric tons; Ginger covers 4,724 hectares and 35000 metric tonnes are produced; Turmeric covers 649 hectares and 9191 metric tons are produced; Raja Mircha which covers 606 hectares and 2490 metric tons are produced.

The e-selling initiative has been taken by the Spices Board.

MLA and Advisor to the Department of Horticulture and Border Affairs Nagaland Mhathung Yanthan said the initiative taken by Spices Board will go a long way in creating opportunities for farmers to market, produce, and fetch revenue. He said this at a seminar held on the e-selling of cardamom recently in Chumoukedima, Nagaland.

Cardamom is referred to as the “Queen of Spices” due to its pleasant aroma and taste. Indian cardamom is offered to the international market in different grades: ‘Alleppey Green Extra Bold, ‘Alleppey Green Bold, and ‘Alleppey Green Superior. Indian cardamom enjoys a premium preference in the Middle East, Japanese and Russian markets. Spices Board holds and organizes cardamom auctions regularly. India produces 75 of the 109 varieties of spices listed by ISO.

He said that large cardamom is the key initiative in integrating economic development trade, and with growing market and market competition, e- selling had come at an appropriate time which will further strengthen the sector of spices development.

He added that this launching of e- selling will bring the spice-growing community together to participate in selling and buying spice products.

Yanthan said that the quality standard, low productivity, socio-economic factors like storage facilities, and the non-existence of market infrastructure are the major challenges that need to be addressed. To make it a global spice, profitable, and sustainable, he requested all agencies, departments, and stakeholders to work in a joint effort in taking measures for more effective and enhancing e-selling.

He further urged the exporter and traders to support spice farmers by marketing their produces which are organic and pest and disease free.

Nagaland Agriculture Production Commissioner Y. Kikheto Sema informed that the initiative on the E-selling platform for Large Cardamom will be the first of its kind in the State and hoped that this opportunity will create larger market outreach, better opportunities for selling and buying, and ease the business process, and promote better transparency.

Large cardamom production stood at more than 8800 MT last year in India, with Sikkim being one of the major producers, followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Sema stated that the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Land Resources, and Rural Development has been supporting farmers with the assistance for the cultivation of Large Cardamom for the last several years to enhance the income of the farming community.

"The State Government with support from the Government of India has taken many good initiatives in assisting the farmers in terms of the plantation, production, and post-harvest management. However, there are still many challenges such as drying, grading, packaging, and market linkages that need to be addressed in order to enable our farmers to get better price realization" he said at the seminar.

Also, strategic intervention in pre and post-harvest management with innovative technologies, an Inclusive business plan, linkages with buyers, and an innovative platform for selling the products of our farmers should be the way forward, he said.

Cardamom e-marketplace: India’s largest B2B e-commerce company, mjunction services limited has set up an e-marketplace of large cardamom for producers and sellers registered with the Spices Board of India. As part of a license issued by Spices Board, mjunction will facilitate e-selling of large cardamom on its platform to buyers all over India.

Managing Director of mjunction services limited Vinaya Varma said he is hopeful that his company’s partnership with Spices Board will pave the way for more and more FPCs to take the digital route to sell their cardamom.

According to mjunction MD Vinaya Varma, “We are happy to be a part of this digitization initiative of Spices Board. In fact, we plan to extend our platform to other FPCs as well so that more buyers can take advantage of our transparent and efficient processes.”

Secretary of Spices Board D Sathiyan, said this platform is expected to bring in better price realization, raise quality consciousness, usher in transparency and efficiency in the trade and facilitate other value-added services for large cardamom growers of the north-east region.

"I appreciate mjunction’s interest in associating with the Board on this initiative, and hope that the maiden pilot event will be conducted by early December,” he said.

This e-selling initiative with mjunction is part of the Spices Board’s initiatives to promote the indigenous spices of the north-east aimed at building a steady supply chain for the locally grown large cardamom of the region, in line with the Vocal for Local initiative of the Government of India, Sathiyan added.

mjunction will soon commence online training and demo sessions with all buyers in order to ensure seamless e-selling events. It will also provide adoption support to Farmer Producer Companies who will use its platform to sell large cardamom.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said at a seminar in Guwahati that the government and the Spices Board would be setting up a quality evaluation laboratory and training center for the development of the spices industry in the Northeast. He said Assam can leverage its potential for becoming a major hub for post-harvest processing and value addition of spices from the region and to become one of the major exporting hubs.

He said steps are being taken to make use of schemes like PM-DevINE, and One District One Product and to convert the ‘by-default organic tag’ of spices to ‘certified organic’ or ‘organic by design.

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