The Spices farmers will get the benefit of voice messages every day from the Spices Board on the schemes, projects, prices of spices and announcements from the Board. The farmers of spices crops like cardamom, chillies, curry leaf, coriander, pepper, nutmeg, cloves and herbs will benefit in receiving voice messages related to various aspects of spices cultivation, processing, marketing and exports. The Board will also stand to benefit in terms having direct interface with the vast section of growers in Tamil Nadu through the mobile network at the shortest and quickest time possible.
Chairman, Spice Board of India, Dr A Jayathilak, said at the launch, "This Voice based messages service will provide an interactive medium for the spice farming community. In a country where close to 60 percent of the 1.21 billion population still depends on agriculture for a living, the spoken message service can be a boon to farmers in distant areas. This will be of a great use to illiterate farmers who are not technologically equipped thus leading to better involvement and participation of the farming community with the Board. There will be a helpline also, where farmers can seek solution to their farm-related problems from the experts."
He added, "We are happy to partner with IKSL who will issue green cards to the farmers free of cost during enrolment as member of the spices communities. These SIM cards when used will help the farmers in receiving the voice messages daily from the Board."
The Board is planning to link spice farmers in every state. To begin with, the board has launched the service in Tamil Nadu and will take it to Kerala, Karnataka, Sikkim, North Eastern States, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. This will help in bringing into effect direct interface of the Board with the spice farmers who will get to know what the Board is doing. The farmers can also contact the call centres for more deliberations.
IKSL will also transmit messages on weather conditions and weather forecasts. There are opportunities for Phone-in programme through which farmers can interact with the expert for announced specialty. There will be some Quiz programmes in which farmers can participate and win some prizes also.
Added Mr. Dr A Jayathilak at the programme launched in Coimbatore at Tamil Nadu Agricultural Universitya, "We are launching this programme when efforts are being made for large scale backward linkages of exporters with the farmers. Simultaneously the Board is also taking initiatives to bring in traceability of spices produced , processed, value added and exported."
Tamil Nadu is a major spices producing state contributing commercially important spices grown by thousands of farmers. Chilies are grown in the districts of Selam, Theni, Ramnad and Sivaganga. Herbs like rosemary , thyme, oregano, taragon and parsley are grown in the villages in and around Ooty of Nilgiri district. Cardamom is grown in the Western ghats bordering Kerala, Meghamalai hills and Kolli hills. Bold varieties of pepper are grown in Kodai and lower Palani hills , Kolli hills and in kanyakumari districts. Madras finger turmeric, an internationally acclaimed variety is grown in Selam and Erode. Clove is grown in Kanyakumari and in Cuttalam hills. Curry leaves, one of the important exported spices, is grown in Mettupalayam of Coimbatore, Selam, Dindigal, Kovilpatty, Thirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts. Tamarind is predominantly grown in Tamil Nadu.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/qh3yjpd
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