SNAPSHOT :
| Major Spices Produced | Turmeric, Tamarind, Red Chilly,, Ginger, Garlic, Coriander, Black Pepper, Small Cardamom |
| Area (ha) & Production (MT) of Spices | 115960 ha and 183530 MT. |
| Major Spice Growing Areas | Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Thoothukkudi, Ramanathapuram, Kanniyakumari, Theni. |
| Agri Export Policy (AEP) / One District One Products (ODOP) | Erode District had been identified for One District One Product programme under MoFPI for Turmeric as focus crop. |
| Major Ports / Export Hubs | Chennai, Tuticorin, Kattupalli, Ennore, Coimbatore, Trichy, Tudaliyur |
| Major Market Centers | Chennai, Erode, Tuticorin, Virudhunagar, Nagarcoil, Bodinayakanur |
| No. of Registered Exporters (as on Oct 2021) | 795 exporters in which 55 Manufacturer exporters |
| Regional Offices | Chennai, Bodinayakanur, Tuticorin |
| Field Offices | Bathalagundu, Erode and Nagercoil, |
| Regional Research Station | Thadiankudisai |
| E-auction Centre | Bodinayakanur |
| Quality Evaluation Laboratory | Chennai and Tuticorin |
| Spices Park | Sivaganga Total Area : 29.43 Hect Spices : Turmeric and Chilli Total number of plots : 36 |
Tamil Nadu is the third biggest State in South India and second largest economy in India. Tamil Nadu consists of major ports/export hubs viz., Chennai, Tuticorin, Kattupalli, Ennore, Coimbatore, Trichy, Tudaliyur Of these, Chennai is an artificial harbour and second principal port in the country in handling containers. The economy is based on agriculture and manufacturing industry as well.
More than one lakh hectares of land is cultivated with Spices with a production of about 1.83 lakh MT. Tamil Nadu is the fourth largest grower of turmeric (behind Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka) with the production of 0.86 lakh tonnes (2020-21). Erode turmeric won GI tag during 2019 which is a stamp of approval of our Turmeric. Apart from turmeric, several others spices like Tamarind, Red Chilly, Black Pepper, Coriander Seed, Small Cardamom, Nutmeg & Mace, Curry leaf, Garlic (KodaikkanalMalaiPoondu - Kodaikkanal Hill Garlic won GI tag during 2019; 8917 MT), Clove, Vanilla etc are also produced. The production of Herbal spices like Rose Mary is picking up slowly in the hills of Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam (Thalavady). As on September 2021, the State has a spice exporter base of 795 firms, of which 55 are manufacturer exporters, with own facilities for processing and value addition of spices. The collective annual exports of spices and spice products during the year 2019-20 through the ports in Tamil Nadu is around 282054.20 MT valued at Rs.4412.67crores. The major spice products exported from the State are Chillies, Turmeric, Pepper, Small Cardamom, Currypowders/Masalas, Ginger, Spices oils and oleoresins Garlic, Coriander, Tamarind etc to countries such as USA, Indonesia, Philippines,Newzeland, and Hongkong.
| Sl No | Item | Area in Ha. | Production in MT. | Productivity In MT/Ha. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turmeric (Dry) | 20894 | 86513 | 4.14 |
| 2 | Tamarind | 14501 | 44659 | 3.08 |
| 3 | Red Chillies | 55716 | 25648 | 0.46 |
| 4 | Ginger (fresh) | 645 | 11015 | 17.08 |
| 5 | Garlic | 1272 | 7364 | 5.79 |
| 6 | Coriander | 9717 | 4184 | 0.43 |
| 7 | Black pepper | 6576 | 1750 | 0.27 |
| 8 | Cardamom(small) | 4910 | 1372 | 0.28 |
| 9 | Clove | 1039 | 1008 | 0.97 |
| 10 | Nutmeg | 174 | 20 | 0.11 |
| Total including others | 115960 | 183530 | 1.58 | |
Spices Board has three Regional Offices at Chennai, Bodinayakanur & Tuticorin, Three Field Offices at Bathalagundu, Erode & Nagercoil and one Regional Research Station of Indian Cardamom Research Institute at Thandiankudisai.There is also one e-Auction centre for Small Cardamom at Bodinayakkanur and two Quality Evaluation Laboratories at Chennai & Tuticorin and one Spice Park at Sivaganga.
Board is also implementing various Development and Marketing schemes and Research and Laboratory activities, the details of which may please be seen from the Board's website indianspices.com