Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Parshottambhai Rupala will inaugurate the International Spices Symposium - SYMSAC X on Tuesday. The virtual symposium on spices as flavours, fragrances and functional foods will discuss innovations in the spices, aromatic plants and medicinal plants research sector.

Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kailash Choudhary will be the guest of honour at the virtual event organised by the Indian Society for Spices. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary Department of Agriculture Research and Education, and Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), will also address the function.

The four-day symposium will witness the participation of delegates from different countries. The Sugandha Bharathi award for outstanding contributions to spice research, and Sugandhasree Innovative Farmer award will be given away at the event. The release of SYMSAC-X Souvenir and SYMSAC-X Abstracts will also be held at the event.

The release of a policy paper on ‘Towards self-sufficiency in spices — Status, vision and strategies’ and ‘ICAR-IISR at a glance, a video profile about the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) will also be held during the session.

Rattan Lal, Director from Ohio State University in the US, will deliver the keynote address on ‘ Carbon sequestration for nutritional security’.