A MASSIVE surge in sales this March, with heavy demand from East Asian countries, helped push Indian spice exports for fiscal 2009/10 beyond the 0.5m tonne mark for the first time. A total of 502,750 tonnes of spices valued at Rs55.61bn ($1.21bn) were exported, improving upon the 2008/09 performance by 7% in volume and 5% in terms of value. "The achievement was particularly commendable since recession continues in most parts of the world," said Spices Board chairman V J Kurian. "We had set what we thought was a realistic target, but it was exceeded by 16% in volume and 24% in value... Read More