The international symposium on spices has recommended the development and introduction of good agricultural practices and its popularisation among farmers to enhance the availability of high quality spices for domestic and industrial consumption.

The four-day symposium, which concluded at ICAR- Indian Institute of Spices Research, also recommended the introduction of good manufacturing practices for ensuring clean and hygienic spices. GAP can also improve spices exports, the virtual meeting observed.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce should converge for the betterment of the spices sector, said experts and suggested studies on carbon footprint for spices and proper trade information management pertaining to spices sector. They stressed the importance of collaboration between institutes and countries for developing technology sharing and policy congruence to solve trade related issues in spices.

Based on discussion, the melting recommended evidence and analytical data based nutraceuticals development from spices. It emphasised the need for a database on quality parameters contaminant and adulterant raw materials to maintain efficacy and safety of nutraceutical preparations.

The expert team has prepared a set of recommendations for spice processing and value addition. It includes large scale adoption of mechanisation for harvest and post-harvest operations and promotion of small and medium enterprises for quality spices products; the importance of regulatory standards for processed spice products and the need for framing policy guidelines in processing industries for export and import of spices.

The other recommendations include a study into the role of spices in personalised nutrition and the importance of different types of genomic breeding approaches for biotic and abiotic stress management. The significance of the reference genome of important spices crops and collaboration with private players in AI for crop and pest management were also stressed.

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