Raipur: A two-day national workshop on “Spices and Aromatic Crops- Possibilities and Potential in Chhattisgarh” will be organized on March 14 and 15 at Barrister Thakur Chhedilal Agriculture University and Research Center, Sarkanda, Bilaspur functioning under Indira Gandhi Agricultural University. The workshop is being organized by Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Kozhikode, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Raipur, Directorate of Horticulture and Farm Forestry, Raipur, and Chhattisgarh Council of Science and Technology, Raipur.
Experts from various states of the country will participate in this workshop and discuss the possibilities and potential of spice and aromatic crop production in Chhattisgarh. An exhibition on the production, processing, and value-addition techniques of spice and aromatic crops will also be organized during this workshop. The brochure of this workshop was released on Wednesday by the Indira Gandhi Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Girish Chandel in the Vice-Chancellor’s Secretariat. Director Research Dr. Vivek Tripathi, Director Seed and Farm Dr. S.S. Tuteja, Organizing Secretary, Dean Agricultural College, and Research Center, Bilaspur Dr. R.K.S. Tiwari, co-coordinator of the programme Dr. P.K. Joshi and Dr. Yaman Kumar Dewangan were present on the occasion.
Discussions will be held about the production prospects in Chhattisgarh and the capacity of various spice and medicinal crops like turmeric, ginger, black pepper, green chilies, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, coriander, fenugreek, garlic, fennel, cumin, etc. Chhattisgarh currently produces more than 60,000 metric tonnes of these crops from approximately 9,000 hectares of land. The state’s main spice crops are ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, and fenugreek, with almost 1 lakh hectares of land being used to grow them, resulting in a production of around 7 lakh metric tonnes.
Besides, research is being carried out on these crops by various centers under the Indira Gandhi Agricultural University. Two All India Coordinated Projects are being implemented for these crops here, under which the All India Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Integrated Development Project has been operational since 2010 at the Raipur center and the All India Spices Integrated Development Project has been operational since 1995-96 at the Raigarh center. Under both these projects, many new improved varieties of these crops and advanced production technologies have been developed.
