The Hindu Business Line : ITC-ILTD eyes N-E region for growing spices

Kolkata April 25 Indian Leaf Tobacco Development (ILTD) Division, the leaf tobacco arm of ITC Ltd, having forayed into the business of organic spices in a big way, is now looking at the North-East region for development of spices.

The Division has already carried out a survey in parts of Assam to study the potential for growing high-end quality spices.

Mr S. Janardhan Reddy, CEO of ILTD, told Business Line in Guntur that plans were already in place for a largescale foray into organic spices and introduction of exotic spice varieties like paprika. "We also intend to scaleup own growing programmes in the areas of organic and pesticide-residue-free spices across all growing areas."

New Varieties

He said the division's R&D focus was now on introduction of new varieties/cultivation practices, aimed at producing customised products for various customers. Mr Reddy said, as a long term strategy for spices, the company is going to expand presence in all major spice growing areas, reaching the farm-gate directly to source the quality material by developing multi-purpose processing hubs across all growing regions.

The company intends to invest around Rs 200 crore over the next few years for the spices development programme. A programme to develop organic turmeric has been taken up in the Arakku area of Andhra Pradesh and Phulbani district of Orissa, besides chillies, coriander and other minor spices in both Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. ILTD has its own processing unit in Guntur.

According to Dr M. Mani, Chief Scientist, ILTD Research Department, a new ITC corporate R&D wing has come up at Hyderabad and some of the new projects at ILTD, like the one on spices, are now being shifted to the new set up.

Niche products

"In a bid to improve the market for Indian spices, we have ventured into farm gate interventions for development of niche products like pesticide-free spices, organic spices and mapping of spice zones based on product quality attributes."

He said while servicing the spices requirements of ITC's Foods Division, ILTD was also now emerging as a key supplier of niche spices to customers in India and abroad, especially to the markets in West Asia, Far East and Sri Lanka. "Our strengths are in the agri-value chain — farmer networking, crop development and extension expertise, processing and warehousing capabilities, and market development."

Pointing out that ITC-ILTD will shortly commence operations in spice herbs as well, Mr Reddy said the North East was an area offering immense potential for spices. He said ITC-ILTD was now in the process of negotiating a tripartite agreement with the respective state governments and the Spices Board for developing a viable model to provide maximum value to all stakeholders, including end customers.

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