THE Indian Spices Board has launched the first major processing hub for pepper and cardamom at Puttady in Kerala's Idukki district in an effort to boost the export of value added spice products. The Rs270m ($5.87m) spice park has been set up over 12.5 acres of land, purchased and leased out to the Indian Spices Board for a period of 30 years by the Cardamom Development Trust out of the cardamom development fund, which is made up of voluntary contributions made by the cardamom growers in the Idukki district, J Thomas, director of research at the Indian Spices Board, told reporters. The park includes a hall for the electronic auction of cardamom, a processing building for cardamom and storage facilities for the spice in raw material form as well as in finished product... Read More