AP bets big on e-Spice Bazaar

Visakhapatnam: e-Spice Bazaar, a unique project of the Spices Board to ensure traceability of Indian spice farmers in international markets and determine the quality and price of their produce for export purposes, was launched here on Sunday. The portal was inaugurated by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The Board’s e-Spice Bazaar Farmer Traceability Project, being executed with the support of the Central government’s Department of Electronics (DeitY), seeks to incorporate all commercial spices grown in the country, bring spice farmers into the global supply chain with identification of traceability at source, and generate direct linkage with exports to get a premium price.

The portal features the farmer with his farm, crop, crop practices, application of pesticides and chemicals, besides the harvest and harvested quantities. Farmers and farms are surveyed by field coordinators, who maintain the link with the farmers and farmer groups by providing technical and training support to them. 

The field coordinators upload the data on the web portal using android tabs and they also help the farmer in getting required data on prices, climate, quality, diseases, pests and application of pesticides, if required. Buyers of spices have also been listed on the portal to enable direct buying from the farms based on the quality and variety required for the export purchase.

The portal enables the farmers to quote their sale prices. For the first time with this portal, a farmer is getting the freedom to dictate the price against the commodity. The buyers registered on the portal are also given the option to offer their quote for the purchase while the Field Level Coordinators help the farmers in matching the offers.  

The e-Spice Bazaar ensures total integration of all the agencies involved into spices production and exports. The farmers are also helped through technological advice from scientists in universities and other research stations. There is a live contact between the administrative segment of the e-Spice Bazaar and the farmers.

In addition to the chilli and turmeric farmers in four districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the portal has also database of pepper and turmeric farmers of the tribal belt of the Visakhapatnam Agency area and curry leaf growers of Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts, with Global Location Numbers (GLNs).  

According to Spices Board Chairman Dr A Jayathilak, under the project, all spice farmers are allotted unique GLNs for international traceability. GLNs are allotted by GS1 (Global Standards One), the organisation for traceability solutions. All the details of spice farmers are made available in the GS1’s Global Data Dictionary (GSS) for traceability and this ensures maximum visibility to them,” he added.

By VKL Gayatri