Spice Cultivation in India

Pepper once lured European sailors across entire oceans, in search of it. Today, India still grows more spices than any other country on Earth.

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Indian Economy · IndEco0107

The world’s largest spice producer, in a record export year

40%+

of the world’s total spice output is grown in India

FY 2024-25 spice-export earnings, by category

Chilli

27%

Cumin

12%

Spice oils & oleoresins

12%

Small cardamom

Mint products

Turmeric

17.99 lakh t

Spices exported, FY 2024-25 — an all-time high

₹39,994 cr

Export earnings that year (about $4.72 billion)

Kerala, the land of spices

Kerala grows most of India’s black pepper (GI-tagged “Malabar Pepper”) and cardamom (“Idukki Green Cardamom”). The Spices Board of India, set up in 1987 and based in Kochi, regulates and promotes 52 scheduled spices nationwide.

📑 Contents

1Must Know
2Good to Know
3Test Yourself
4Great to Know
5Current Affairs

Must Know

India is the world’s largest producer, consumer, and exporter of spices.
In 2024-25, India’s estimated total spice production was about 11.99 million tonnes.
Major spices grown across India include chilli, cumin, turmeric, ginger, coriander, black pepper, and cardamom.
Kerala is popularly called “the land of spices.”
It is India’s largest producer of both black pepper and cardamom.

Good to Know

Kerala’s black pepper carries a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, as “Malabar Pepper.”
It is grown mainly in Wayanad, Kannur, Kozhikode, and Kasaragod, plus parts of Malappuram and Idukki.
Kerala’s small cardamom also carries its own GI tag, as “Idukki Green Cardamom.”
The Spices Board of India regulates and promotes exports of 52 scheduled spices.
It was constituted in 1987, under the Spices Board Act, 1986.
It formed by merging two older bodies: the Cardamom Board (1968) and the Spices Export Promotion Council (1960).
Its headquarters is in Kochi, Kerala, with a quality-testing laboratory on site.
It also runs regional testing labs, in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Tuticorin, Kandla, and Guntur.
Meghalaya’s Lakadong turmeric carries its own GI tag, for an unusually high curcumin content. See IndEco0206 — Mission Golden Spice.
India is the world’s largest producer and exporter of turmeric specifically, not just spices generally. In 2022–23, it grew more than 30 turmeric varieties, mainly in Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

India grows over 40% of the world’s total spice output, by volume.
Yet in global spice-export earnings, India holds only about a 9% share, by value.
That gap has a simple explanation: most of India’s spices feed its own kitchens, not export markets.
India’s own population and cuisine drive enormous domestic spice demand.
Even so, India’s spice exports have never earned more than they do now.
In FY 2024-25, chilli alone made up 27% of India’s spice-export earnings.
Cumin, and spice oils and oleoresins, each contributed about 12% more.
Small cardamom added another 9%, and mint products about 8%.
Together, these top categories made up over 90% of all spice-export earnings.
The USA, China, and the UAE are India’s three largest spice-buying markets.

Current Affairs

In FY 2024-25, India’s spice exports hit an all-time high. (Source: IBEF)
India shipped 17.99 lakh tonnes of spices that year, worth ₹39,994.48 crore, or about $4.72 billion. (Source: IBEF)
That marked a 17% jump in export volume, and a 6% rise in value, over the previous year. (Source: IBEF)
Separately, India’s cardamom exports reached about 25,000 tonnes in 2025, worth around $500 million. (Source: PIB)