The country's spices exports rose by 21 per cent to Rs 1,885 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal due to higher realisation, though volumes of shipment remained low at 1.16 lakh tonnes in the same period.

India's spices exports stood at Rs 1,560 crore during the April-June period of 2010-11 fiscal, while the total volume of shipment was high at 1.57 lakh tonnes, according to the data released by the Spices Board.

"The forex revenue from exports of spices and spices'products from India during April-June 2011 registered a rise of 21 per cent, while the tonnage declined by 26 per cent,"the Spices Board said in a statement.

The forex revenue jumped because of the increase in the export realisation of spices such as chilli, turmeric, pepper, cumin and mint products.

According to official data, export of pepper was undertaken at an average price of Rs 261.52 per kg during April-June of this fiscal, higher from Rs 168.35 per kg in the same period last fiscal.

Similarly, chilli was exported at Rs 90.31 per kg, as against Rs 60.55 per kg, while turmeric was shipped at Rs 113.38 per kg, as against Rs 129.34 per kg during the review period, it said.

The maximum realisation was seen in the export of mint products at Rs 1,180 per kg in the first quarter of this fiscal, as against Rs 688.35 per kg in the year-ago.

Ginger was exported at Rs 124.48 per kg, as against Rs 60.13 per kg and garlic was shipped at Rs 51.11 per kg, as against Rs 34.96 per kg in the review period, it added.

The Board said that volumes of export, however, showed a decline in chilli at 40,500 tonnes from 64,000 tonnes in the year-ago.

Similarly, export of coriander fell to 7,500 tonnes from 17,000 tonnes, cumin to Rs 5,750 tonnes from 10,600 tonnes, fenugreek to 3,750 tonnes from 6,375 tonnes and mint products to Rs 3,150 tonnes from 3,580 tonnes in the review period.

Source : indiareport.com