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Spices Board rolls out subsidy and post-harvest improvement initiatives
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Saturday, 01 August, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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fiogf49gjkf0d As part of boosting production of spices in the country, Spices Board has launched a raft of measures to support farmers by offering various subsidies and sensitise them on the need to enhance the quality of spices through post-harvest improvement techniques.
The Board has also decided to provide financial assistance to farmers for irrigation, land development, mechanisation, replanting, soil conservation and organic farming of various spices, mainly small cardamom. It will also give financial aid to them for purchasing state-of-the-art irrigation and farming equipment and tools.
According to Spices Board chairman Dr A Jayathilak, the initiatives are part of the Board’s 12th Plan to improve export-oriented production of small cardamom and post-harvest improvement of other spices across spice-growing regions in India. “The eligibility criteria for availing the benefits are based on land held by the grower and is different for each programme,” he pointed out.
Under the new schemes, cultivators of small cardamom in Kerala and Tamil Nadu will receive up to Rs 70,000 for replanting, while farmers in Karnataka will get up to Rs 50,000. They will also receive aid for planting material production.
To help small cardamom farmers in the three southern states in irrigation and land development, the Board will provide financial assistance up to 25 per cent of actual cost for acquiring irrigation pump sets, sprinkler sets, equipment for gravity-fed irrigation system, and up to 50 per cent for water storage structure. The farmers will also get funding up to 25 per cent for soil conservation.
Besides, the Board will bear 33.33 per cent of the actual cost (limited to Rs 12,000) for the construction of 200 cubic metre capacity tanks for rainwater harvesting. They will also get a maximum of Rs 1 lakh in subsidy for purchasing improved cardamom curing devices and 50 per cent subsidy for GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) kits and bee-keeping boxes.
Under the Board’s Farm Mechanisation Programme, small cardamom growers in these states will get 50 per cent subsidy for purchasing weed-cutter/pit-maker, equipment for plant protection and for washing, grading and polishing cardamom.
It also provides assistance for post-harvest improvement process of the spices in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and north-eastern states.
This includes funding up to 50 per cent for seed spice thresher, pepper thresher, turmeric boilers and polishers, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) kits for chilli growers and mint distillation units.
As part of the Farm Mechanisation Programme, spice growers will receive 50 per cent subsidy for purchasing equipments for the post-harvest improvement process, including cleaners, graders, spice slicing machines, de-huller, driers, storage units and extractors/dehydration units.
The Board also provides financial aid to organic farmers for attaining organic certification, maintenance of Internal Control System [ICS] and purchasing organic inputs and bio-agent production units. Apart from this, it will provide a maximum of Rs 5 lakh as subsidy to Spices Producer’s Societies in major spice-growing regions in the country.
The subsidy amount (shown as percentage of the actual cost) is subject to a maximum limit fixed by the Spices Board for each scheme and will vary in accordance with various criteria determined by the Board.
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