In an initiative to empower spice farmers and grass-root organizations for taking up e-trading of their products, Spices Board has organized a training programme in association with Flipkart at the Indian Cardamom Research Institute, Myladumpara, in Idukki.
Cardamom prices are susceptible to international market regulations, which necessitates the need to initiate strategic interventions to mitigate the repercussions and sustain the cardamom sector, said Dean Kuriakose, Member of Parliament, Idukki while inaugurating the function on e-trading and spice sourcing mela.
He complimented Spices Board and Flipkart for empowering farmers and FPOs with proper guidance to venture into e-commerce activities.
A.B Rema Shree, Director, Spices Board, said, “Through such training programmes and various market linkage initiatives, the Board is looking forward to help the farmer communities by empowering and enabling them to market their products efficiently and profitably. Integration of technology and use of e-commerce platforms would widen their market opportunities and our farmers need to be up-skilled to reap the benefit of these advanced technologies”.
B Venkateson, Director (Development), Spices Board, urged the farmers and FPOs to focus on quality enhancement through sustainable cultivation practices to increase India’s share in the global markets as quality standards are getting more stringent.
Acting as catalyst
Flipkart acts as a catalyst of change, strengthening its commitment towards building the local economy through meaningful partnerships. In line with its objective to fortify and impact the livelihoods of farmers, Flipkart has been initiating various strategic collaborations with FPOs, small and marginal farmers across states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh said Dipu Thomas Joy, Head (Corporate Affairs and Govt Relations), Kerala State, Flipkart.
Smrithi Ravichandran, Vice President and Head of Grocery, Flipkart, said, the collaboration with Spices Board will enable easy access to high-quality regional staples for consumers, and accelerate the growth of the farmer community by unlocking greater market opportunities for them. “To ensure inclusivity of the digital transformation for farmers from Tier-II and beyond, we will continue to handhold them in their journey by replicating this initiative pan India.”
The project sought to enhance the competitiveness of Indian spices in the international market with the objectives of quality assurance, agrobiodiversity, traceability, GAP certification, mapping of sustainable development goals, ensuring social security and export promotion and sustainable exports.
An MoU between Spices Board and Zum Heiling Diagnostics and Therapeutics Private Limited, Thrissur has also been signed for starting an incubation centre at Indian Cardamom Research Institute for the R&D works on cardamom as nutraceutical.