It will provide a common platform for buyers and sellers of the spice industry to interact directly and establish effective business linkages.
The Spices Board of India will be holding a buyer-seller meet for spices at Hilldale resorts in Madikeri on January 24.
A press statement from the Assistant Director of Spices Board of India’s Divisional Office in Madikeri said the buyer-seller meet, which will be held between 10.30 a.m. and 5.00 p.m., will provide a common platform for buyers and sellers of the spice industry to interact directly and establish effective business linkages.
The Spices Board India, which functions under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, in its statement, pointed out that Karnataka holds a significant position in spice production in India by being a major producer of ginger and black pepper.
Karnataka also produces other spices such as cardamom, chillies, turmeric, garlic, coriander, nutmeg, clove, tamarind etc. During the year 2021-22, the State produced 7,09,546 metric tonnes of spices from an area of 3,75,082 hectares, the statement added.
Spices Board India, a flagship organisation for the development and worldwide promotion of Indian spices, said India’s spices exports with “a volume of 15,31,154 metric tonnes, valued at ₹30,576 crore during 2021-22, scaled the landmark level of USD 4.102 million in value realisation, besides recording a growth rate of 26.76 per cent, 38 per cent in rupee terms and 32 per cent in dollar terms, compared to 2019-20, despite the global pandemic situation”.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / January 21st, 2023
Progressive farmer and Rajyotsava awardee Somengada Ganesh Thimmaiah shares his thoughts
Madikeri:
Kodagu’s progressive farmer Somengada Ganesh Thimmaiah of Nallur village near Ponnampet in the southern part of the district has won the Rajyotsava Award for agriculture.
Though coffee and pepper are the prominent commercial crops in Kodagu, Ganesh Thimmaiah has been growing both agricultural and horticultural crops in integrated farming methods and has scripted success.
He is actively involved in innovative agricultural practices since the last 30 years and had earlier served the Indian Army. After retirement from services, he took up agriculture in his 15-acre land and has grown more than 60 varieties of paddy.
To gain additional income, he has a poultry farm and is also involved in apiculture and pisciculture. Apart from the regular crops of coffee, pepper, ginger, mango, orange and jackfruit, Thimmaiah has cultivated rambutan fruit.
In the integrated method in agriculture, he grows areca, coffee and paddy as main crops and a variety of vegetables and fruits and sub-crops. Thimmaiah has also been growing the ‘Beth’ plants required for honey bees and has implemented a mechanised system in agriculture.
At a time when more and more youths are showing interest in jobs and businesses, Ganesh Thimmaiah has earned name and fame as model farmer and has bagged many awards in the past. He won the National-level Babu Jagjivan Ram Krishi Samman Award. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, conferred the prestigious award on Thimmaiah on the occasion of its 92nd Foundation Day in 2020.
In April this year, he gave comprehensive training in agriculture to the batch of IAS officers at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.
“I am honoured to be conferred with the prestigious Rajyotsava Award and this gives me an opportunity to innovate further. I have been involved in agriculture for three decades and there is a need of attracting more and more youths to agriculture as it is profitable if innovative,” he said.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / October 31st, 2022
Call to help preserve memories of a vanishing people
While modernisation has opened many opportunities for the well-qualified, it has also distanced the young from their heritage and culture. This is even more accentuated amongst Kodavas living outside Kodagu. There is a need to establish a platform where young Kodavas could learn and keep in touch with the community’s heritage, cultural practices, folklore, music, dance, festivals and history, says Mrs. Codanda Rathi Vinay Jha, IAS (Retd.) and Chair, India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), who has initiated establishing a Virtual Museum of Kodava Heritage & Culture named ‘Sandooka,’ a treasure trove of information. —Ed
Kodavas are a micro-minority community in India, who live in Kodagu (Coorg) in Karnataka State. It is estimated that there are about 1,50,000 ethnic Kodavas within and outside Kodagu.
Kodavas, by virtue of living quite isolated in a densely wooded hilly terrain on the Western Ghats of India since time immemorial, have developed their own unique culture, physical attributes, cuisine, language, attire, religious rituals and practices.
Over the centuries, Kodavas adapted themselves to the harsh weather conditions, dangers from wild animals and the inhospitable terrain of Kodagu and transformed the land to an idyllic haven it is today. With the passage of time, they toiled literally with bare hands to cultivate paddy in the valleys.
With the forests providing bountiful supply of wild game, they became expert hunters initially with bows and arrows, and later with firearms which enabled them to emerge as a warrior race. They transformed the fertile land and were able to grow enough paddy that they could export to neighbouring areas.
The interactions with immediate neighbours in present day Kerala, Mysuru and Mangaluru, influenced the Kodava language, places of worship, construction of their dwellings and some of the religious practices as well. However, Kodavas still retain their fundamental philosophy of ancestor and nature worship. They come under the broad umbrella of Hinduism.
Kodagu was ruled by Kodava Nayakas or Palegars who were basically warlords. The Haleri dynasty established their rule in Kodagu after cleverly replacing the hopelessly divided Nayakas during the early part of the 17th century. The Haleri Rajas ruled for over two centuries until the British takeover of the administration in 1834 after deposing the last Raja. During the rule of the Haleri Rajas and later the British, Kodavas remained the prominent community very much involved in the administration.
During the British rule, education was introduced and this brought about quantum changes in the lifestyle of the Kodavas. Kodavas found several employment opportunities. Introduction and scientific cultivation of coffee and spices vastly improved the economy of the region. Kodava culture and ethos found expression in the writings by the British, European and Kodava authors.
By the time India got her independence, many Kodavas held important and high-level offices in sectors such as the Defence Forces, Administration, Revenue Department, Forest Department, Police, in the field of Education, Engineering and Medicine.
Kodavas have several distinctive elements in their social, cultural and religious practices. One of them is the deferential status given to women. There is no dowry system in the community. Centuries ago, widow remarriage was permitted. This enlightened attitude is now reflected in well-educated Kodava women shining in a variety of fields.
After India’s independence many Kodavas ventured out of Kodagu seeking better opportunities in education, employment, business and sports. Kodavas are now spread all over the globe. The last three decades has seen a large number of Kodavas migrating outside the country. There is now a sizable number of Kodava diaspora in the US, Canada, UK and Australia. In many cases, there are a couple of generation of Kodavas born and brought up outside Kodagu and outside India as well.
While modernisation has opened many opportunities for the well-qualified, it has also distanced the young from their heritage and culture. This is even more accentuated amongst Kodavas living outside Kodagu. There is a need to establish a platform where young Kodavas could learn and keep in touch with the community’s heritage, cultural practices, folklore, music, dance, festivals and history.
It is with this aim in mind that Mrs. Codanda Rathi Vinay Jha, IAS (Retd.), as Chair, India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), initiated establishing a Virtual Museum of Kodava Heritage & Culture (VMKHC). This project is evocatively named — Sandooka — a treasure trove of information. IFA has successfully supported several path-breaking projects in the field of art and culture.
Sandooka will be a living museum that will be interactive and open to receiving relevant new materials from the public. People, especially the future generations of Kodavas, will have an easily accessible platform to gather details of their heritage. Weblinks will also be given to some of the websites dealing with Kodava culture. It is hoped that this treasure trove of information will be of immense help to those who wish to carry out further research on Kodavas. VMKHC will cover the following aspects of Kodagu and Kodavas:
1. Customs and Rituals
2. Cuisine
3. Architecture
4. Clothes and Jewellery
5. Art & Craft
6. Landscape
7. Literature and Folklore
8. Community Histories
9. Festivals
The project is generously funded with a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) grant from Recaero India Pvt. Ltd., which is a pioneer in the field of aerospace engineering and is headed by Vinay Jha, IAS (Retd). A highly professional team has been forged to deal with every aspect of the project. The team comprises:
Lina Vincent – Project Head; Upasana Nattoji Roy – Designer (Switch Studio); Saurav Roy – Designer (Switch Studio) and Mookanda Nitin Kushalappa – Researcher.
IFA office-bearers are: Arundhati Ghosh (Executive Director) and Darshana Davé (Project Co-ordinator); Advisory Group: Rathi Vinay Jha, C.P. Belliappa and Hemanth Sathyanarayana.
Sandooka invites submission of Kodava artefacts, rare photographs, antiques including jewellery (photos) and anecdotes of yore. All accepted materials will be given due recognition and credits. Sharing your valuable knowledge and collections will enrich the contents of Sandooka.
For details of submission of materials, please visit: www.sandookamuseum.org
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by C.P. Belliappa / August 01st, 2022
While ‘Adi Pepper’ was locally known as forest pepper and was used only for domestic purposes by the locals, it has now attained a brand value of Rs 3500 per kilo.
Left, N Poonacha receiving the award at the ceremony in New Delhi. Right, Snapshot of the indigenous ‘Adi Pepper’ spikes.
Madikeri :
A progressive farmer, Napanda Poonacha of Kodagu district looks forward to being known as a pro-nature farmer. He is extensively working towards identifying commercial crops that have little or no ill impact on biodiversity and he was recently awarded the Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Reward (2019-20) for his contribution towards the conservation of indigenous crops of ‘Adi Pepper’.
The award has been conferred by the Union Agriculture Ministry’s Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority and Poonacha received the award from union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar at a ceremony in New Delhi on November 11.
“This award has been granted to farmers who recognize, conserve and promote crops that are useful to biodiversity. Similarly, I won the award for my research, conservation and promotion of ‘Adi Pepper’ – an indigenous variety of pepper that is extensively found growing across natural habitat of Garvale village limits in Kodagu,” explained Poonacha.
He is the proprietor of Adi Pepper Demo Farm and Research Center in Garvale and is extensively involved in identifying native crops in the district that have great potential of becoming a commercial crop without causing damage to the ecosystem.
“Adi Pepper crops are extensively found in the natural habitat across the Garvale area. At the research center, we took the initiative of getting this species of pepper registered under PPFRI and this quality pepper was recognized as farmer’s variety pepper in 2015. This is the only species of pepper that has undergone biochemical analysis and is considered the best among the seven species of pepper that are grown across Kodagu,” he detailed.
While this variety of pepper was locally known as forest pepper and was used only for domestic purposes by the locals, it has now attained a brand value of Rs 3500 per kilo – earning over six times more returns than the other species of black pepper marketed in the district.
“Adi pepper is a native crop and has no harmful impact on biodiversity. This is high-quality pepper and its processing is different from the other species. The ripening of the pepper seeds takes place in November and it is harvested during the same month. However, the pepper seeds are handpicked, treated with hot water and then dried and processed. This ensures top quality of the pepper, earning high returns,” he explained.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Pragna GR, Express News Service / November 18th, 2021
Left, N Poonacha receiving the award at the ceremony in New Delhi. Right, Snapshot of the indigenous ‘Adi Pepper’ spikes.
HIGHLIGHTS
Napanda Poonacha of Kodagu district, a progressive farmer, who hopes to be recognized as a pro-nature farmer
He was recently granted the Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Reward (2019-20) for his efforts to save indigenous ‘Adi Pepper’ crop
Napanda Poonacha of Kodagu district, a progressive farmer, who hopes to be recognized as a pro-nature farmer and has set examples for the other farmers to come forward to encourage them. He is working hard to establish commercial crops that have minimal or no negative impact on biodiversity, and he was recently granted the Plant Genome Saviour Farmer Reward (2019-20) for his efforts to save indigenous ‘Adi Pepper’ crops.
The Union Agriculture Ministry’s Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority bestowed the honour on Poonacha, who received it from union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar at an event in New Delhi on November 11.
He is the owner of Adi Pepper Demo Farm and Research Center in Garvale, where he is actively engaged in discovering natural crops in the district that have the capacity to become commercial crops while inflicting minimal environmental impact.
Napanda Poonacha expressed his happines for recieving the award. He said that farmers who recognise, conserve, and cultivate crops that are beneficial to biodiversity have been given this honour. Furthermore, He received the prize for his research, conservation, and promotion of the ‘Adi Pepper,’ an indigenous kind of pepper mainly grown across the natural habitat of Garvale village borders in Kodagu, India.
He further explained that Adi Pepper crops can be discovered all around the Garvale region in their natural habitat. They undertook the responsibility at the research centre to obtain this species of pepper registered under PPFRI, and in 2015, this high-quality pepper was recognised as a farmer’s variety pepper. This is the only pepper species that has passed biochemical testing, and it is regarded the best of the seven pepper species growing in Kodagu.
Since that particular form of pepper was once known as forest pepper and was mainly used for domestic reasons by the people, it has recently reached a brand value of Rs 3500 per kilo, generating more than six times the earnings of the other black pepper species sold in the district.
source: http://www.thehansindia.com / The Hans India / Home> News> State> Karnataka / by Susmita Modak / by Hans News Service / November 19th, 2021
The industrial area in Kudloor. The first and the only KIADB industrial area in Kudloor in Kushalnagar is facing a lack of basic facilities. The layout is devoid of facilities and people are eagerly waiting for its upliftment.
Owing to the efforts of then chief minister Gundurao, the industrial area had come up at Kudloor in 1984.
There are more than 60 industrial units related to coffee, pepper and others that have come up in the industrial area. About 40% of them are related to coffee and its processing. Some of the food industries including ice cream, hollow bricks, iron and other industries are functioning. The annual turn out from coffee-related industries is Rs 4,000 crore, said Kudloor Kaigarikodyamigala Sangha president A N Praveen.
The industrial area has been completely neglected over the years. Owing to the pressure from the industrialists, pothole-ridden roads have been developed in the area.
According to KIADB officials, the government had sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the development of the industrial area. All the roads leading to various industrial layouts in the vicinity have been developed. The basic facilities will be improved in a phased manner.
Though 250 acres of land was acquired for industrial area, the khata of only 100 acres has been handed over. The remaining 150 acres has no khata. It is not even registered in the name of KIADB. As a result, several industrialists are denied facilities from the government, said, industrialists.
The industrial area has a lack of streetlights. As a result, people are scared to move around at night. Even drains are not constructed by the side of the road. Weeds have grown on either side of the roads.
There is an allegation that only coffee-related industries are set up in the industrial area. As a result, the employment generation is restricted and youth have been migrating to cities in search of greener pastures, said local residents.
There is even a lack of security in the industrial area. Theft cases too have been reported in the nights.
Department of Handlooms and Textiles assistant director Guruswamy said the department had submitted a proposal on setting up a mini power loom park at the industrial area in Kudloor. The deputy commissioner has given approval for the same.
Beeralingeshwara power loom will be set up in the future which will provide employment to women and men, he added.
Industries centre joint director Shankaranarayana said that a meeting to discuss the problems faced at the industrial area will be convened shortly at Koodumangalore Gram Panchayat hall. The officials from KIADB and others will attend the meeting.
Meanwhile, MP Pratap Simha has submitted a proposal to set up an ESI Hospital in Kodagu. Even land has also been identified for the hospital at Kudloor.
However, the process for the setting up of the hospital has not been initiated so far.
Vanijyodyamigala Sangha, Kodagu, president M B Devaiah said, “We have appealed to Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar to help in the generation of employment in the district.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / b y DHNS, Kushalnagar / September 30th, 2021
Kozhikode Mayor Beena Philip has said that the corporation was willing to cooperate with the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) for the proposed spice street project.
Inaugurating the foundation day programme online at the IISR here on Thursday, she said the emerging farming scenario enhanced the social and scientific relevance of institutions like ICAR- IISR in the wake of the pandemic.
She also emphasized that the spice economy was important for the farming sector. However, the ability to maintain and enhance spices production needs to be anchored on improved cultivation practices and research advances, she said.
Presiding over the session, Dr. A.K. Singh, Deputy Director-General, ICAR, New Delhi, said the spices sector had witnessed significant changes in the recent past, and that the country was poised to make gains in production and trade in spices in the coming years.
Dr. Athulya G. Ashokan, Associate Professor, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, delivered the foundation day lecture on ‘Management of post-COVID syndrome’. The IISR also launched the e-commerce platform for sale of good quality spices from verified sources and products from incubatee entrepreneurs associated with the institute.
In a new initiative aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs, the institution has entered into an agreement with the Kozhikode District Kudumbashree Mission to provide support for development and marketing of value-added products, production of quality planting materials, and delivery training services.
The IISR also executed two technology commercialisation agreements for the turmeric variety IISR Aleppey Supreme and black pepper micronutrient mixture.
Marking the occasion, the institute conferred spices excellence awards on Kanthraj K.M. from Kodagu district in Karnataka and Rajesh E.M. from Kozhikode. R.L. Innovative Agri Pvt. Ltd., an agri-startup company, was also honoured with the award.
The staff recreation club of the institute donated 10 mobile phones and tablets to support online education of students from under-privileged sections as part of its outreach activities. The institute released five extension folders and three technical bulletins on various aspects of spice cultivation to mark the foundation day.
Dr. J. Rema, Director, ICAR-IISR, and Dr. Vikramadithya Pandey, Assistant Director General, ICAR, spoke.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Special Correspondent / Kozhikode – July 02nd, 2021
Members of Kodagu district Growers’ Federation submit a memorandum to MLA Appachu Ranjan. DH Photo
Coffee growers in the district have demanded special package from state government, as planters are facing hardships in the wake of Covid-19 lockdown.
Members of the planters’ association have submitted a memorandum to the MLAs of the district in this regard and have urged chief minister to come to their rescue.
Kodagu district is affected by floods for past two years and the lockdown has worsened the situation, they said and pointed out that harvesting of coffee and pepper in most of the plantations had come to a standstill, resulting in the loss of crops.
It is feared that next year’s yield too will be lost as the growers are finding it difficult to maintain of their plantations.
The growers urged the government to provide special package for the coffee growers.
Vegetable and plantain cultivators too sought assistance from the government, stating that most of the cultivators in the district have been dependent on Kerala market. But, due to the lockdown, the fruits are getting rotten and has led to a huge loss.
The government should announce support price and should procure ‘Nendra’ banana and other fruits from the farmers, the growers said and also requested the government to waive the interest on the loans availed by them.
“A committee of elected representatives should be formed towards formulating plans to encourage farmers to take up cultivation in barren lands,” the memorandum stated.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DHNS, Madikeri / May 08th, 2020
Farmers hold on to stocks due to great demand for high-quality Indian produce. Some farmers who had finished harvesting had sold in panic.
Pepper prices have turned buoyant again rising by as much as 15 per cent in India to Rs 325 per kg from Rs 285 earlier.
Rohan Colaco, a planter from Karnataka and a member of Karnataka Planters Association, said that pepper prices had been sliding prior to the lockdown. The spice was trading at around Rs 285 a kg and was expected to go down to Rs 260.
Some farmers who had finished harvesting had sold in panic. Also there was unripe pepper wine harvest and selling this year. After the lockdown, the prices opened at Rs 305.
“It is expected that there will be no inward movement of pepper through international borders. There is also good demand for high quality Indian pepper. Many farmers are keeping stocks to sell after the monsoons as winter demand will start strengthening. These reasons are pushing pepper prices up,” said Colaco.
He added that the spice had hit a high of Rs 330 about a year back. He believes pepper may approach this price as there already exists a huge stock of imported pepper.
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Markets> Commodities / by T E Narasimhan / April 27th, 2020
The immense effort that goes into setting up a gene bank is such that it can be termed as a mission. And when a group of farmers here came together to start one, it turned out to be a worthy venture. And ‘spicy’ too.
The Koorachundu Sugandhavila Karshaka Samithi realised it was high time they set up a gene bank to conserve the native varieties of spices, after they found that imported and hybrid varieties have become popular among farmers. They decided to begin with pepper and the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Moozhikkal, which got enthusiastic about the idea, decided to help the farmers collect a wide variety of local pepper plants.
Unlike the research institutes where spices are conserved in labs and experimental farms, the Samithi members will grow local varieties in their farms. As of now, the farmers are conserving 11 pepper varieties, including Arakulam Munda, Chomala, Pottanadan, Thulamundy, Kaniyakkadan and Nedumchola.
“The idea came up when we thought about the Western Ghats’ conservation and peaceful co-existence of farmers and wild animals,” said Samithi secretary P T Thomas.The Samithi, which began its gene-bank mission a month ago, plans to expand its basket to include clove, nutmeg, mace, cardamom and cinnamon in the coming days. It has 30 farmers, who own around 90 acres. Each farmer will collect a specific spice and grow it in his farm.
“Landraces of many crop plants are getting eroded due to a variety of reasons. Conservation of the landraces, which harbour many useful genes, is mostly a government effort. However, if people-participatory or farm conservation can be effected, it’ll help conserve landraces in their natural habitat,” said IISR’s crop improvement and biotechnology division head B Sasikumar.
The native varieties of pepper have the capacity to survive in the Western Ghats and can be cultivated at a low cost. Farmers can plant it under a jackfruit tree without the need for a support system, said Thomas. In contrast, imported and hybrid varieties need a proper support system.
The Samithi members are hopeful the gene bank will become fully functional in 18 months’ time. “The yield from native varieties can be an influential thing among farmers as the yield influences the farmer to decide whether to continue with the cultivation or not. However, at the Samithi, we’re planning to go forward without considering the yield from native varieties,” said Thomas.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by K C Arun / Express News Service / January 01st, 2017
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