Spices Board India under Ministry of Commerce and Industry and UNDP India's Accelerator Lab sign MoU

Spices Board India under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and UNDP India's Accelerator Lab on Monday signed an MoU intending to build a blockchain-based traceability interface for Indian spices to enhance transparency in the supply chain and trade.

Blockchain is a decentralized process of recording transactions on an open and shared electronic ledger. This allows for ease and transparency in data management across a complex network, including, farmers, brokers, distributors, processors, retailers, regulators, and consumers, thus simplifying the supply chain. It will allow farmers just as all other members of the supply chain to access the information which further makes the entire supply chain more efficient and equitable.

UNDP and Spices Board India are working towards integrating the Blockchain Traceability Interface with the e-Spice Bazaar portal developed by Spices Board India for connecting spices farmers with markets.

The design of the Blockchain interface is expected to be completed by next month, i.e. May 2021. The project will be piloted with over 3,000 farmers engaged in chilli and turmeric farming in select districts of Andhra Pradesh.

On this joint initiative, Shri. D. Sathiyan, Secretary, Spices Board India said that India is the largest exporter, producer and consumer of spices in the world. India's spices export crossed a milestone of USD 3 billion during 2019-20 and our estimates indicate that we would cross that milestone and achieve a new high during 2020-21. Spices Board, the agency responsible for the export promotion of Indian spices in the world markets, is happy about these achievements and would like to facilitate further growth in the sector.

This UNDP-Spices Board joint initiative to build a blockchain-powered traceability interface for Indian spices is another significant milestone in our journey to make the spices value chain efficient, transparent and equitable for all stakeholders. This traceability interface is expected to enhance consumer confidence and facilitate the sourcing of spices for exports as well as for local value addition and use. Upon successful demonstration, the Board would like to expand the reach of this interface to cover all major spices and regions of the country, and expects to have continuous partnership and support from the UNDP.

Speaking on the collaboration, Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India, said, "We are confident that the blockchain interface will help connect the spice farmers with international markets and add to their income. The technology can also help in rebuilding the pandemic affected supply chains by providing trading partners and consumers with trusted and secured data on goods and transactions."

About Spices Board

Spices Board is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. It is an autonomous body responsible for the export promotion of the 52 scheduled spices and development of Cardamom (Small & Large). The main functions of the Spices Board are the following:

1) Research, Development and Regulation of domestic marketing of Small & Large Cardamom

2) Post-harvest improvement of all spices

3) Export promotion of all spices and assisting exporters in technology upgradation, quality management, brand 4) promotion, research & product development

5) Development of spices in the North East

6) Regulation of quality of spices for exports through its quality evaluation services.