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In what could be a boost for the spice growing farmers, the Spices Board is planning to set up an export unit in a 100acre land at Thodupuzha, which would help the farmers sell their products directly. With major spice consuming countries like the US and Europe demanding more quality compliance from the producing countries, the Spices Parks coming up at various parts of the country will aim to ensure that only quality products are being exported.
The current export from India is 48 percent of the world trade and it is bound to increase with the completion of work on the other six Spices Parks.
Spices Board chairman V J Kurian said a proposal had been submitted to the State Government seeking land at Thodupuzha for the unit and a positive response is expected soon.
If value addition is given for the products, the farmers can get a reasonable price for their products by selling it directly to the exporters.

The Spices Park helps the farmers to clean, grade and pack their products before exporting and sell it directly avoiding middlemen in the trade.
The second Park, which is coming up at Puttady in Idukki, will be dedicated to the nation by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma on Sunday.
The Park at Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh has been completed and those at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, Guna in Madhya Pradesh, Mehsana in Gujarat, Jodhpur and Kota in Rajasthan will be completed this year. Kurian said the basic objective was to provide common infrastructure facilities for both post harvest and processing operations of spices and also to provide rural employment.
He said the Park in Idukki had processing plants for cardamom and pepper with cleaning, grading and sorting based on size, colour and packing. In addition to this, there are four godowns with a total area 2,750 square metre for storing raw materials and finished good.
The Board has set up a fullfledged eauction centre with a higher end server and 60 client terminals. The Union Bank of India has already set up a branch which will help farmers store their products till a reasonable price is received for their products.

The Thodupuzha Assembly seat is going to be a bone of contention between the Congress and the Kerala Congress(M). This became certain at the end of the day, with leaders of both parties making it very clear that the matter was non-negotiable, at a joint United Democratic Front (UDF) Legislature Party meeting held in the morning and at a coalition leaders’ meeting later in the day.
Nevertheless, the UDF leadership decided to put on track the straining relationship between the two parties by openly terming the recent demonstrations and violent actions, mainly in Thodupuzha and Ernakulam, as unfortunate. Mr. Mani, on his part, explained the circumstances that led to his controversial statement in New Delhi regarding the Thodupuzha Assembly seat (that P.J. Joseph will be his party nominee there) and his remarks against Kerala Congress(B) leader R. Balakrishna Pillai (who is undergoing one-year rigorous imprisonment in the Idamalayar case). The attempt of the leaders was to douse the fire, with the Congress taking the lead by prohibiting open statements and demonstrations.
The UDF leaders later made a joint appearance at a press conference, conveying the message that unity had been restored. Addressing the press conference, Mr. Chandy said the UDF would fight the elections united. All confusion that prevailed as a result of the Thodupuzha and Ernakulam incidents had been cleared. “We have sorted out all issues and these types of incidents will not take place anymore,” he said.
Earlier, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala had clearly stated that the Congress did not want to vitiate the situation any further.
The UDF leaders might have pulled the plug on open dissidence for the time being. The best bargain for the day was to set aside all bickering ahead of the formal seat-sharing discussion. The UDF leaders were unanimous in their opinion that the front needed to project a united image.
Irrespective of the UDF leaders’ stated positions, it has become almost certain that the Thodupuzha seat would be a litmus test of the coalition’s claim of unity. The statements of the leaders of both parties at the closed-door meetings clearly suggest that the truce will be temporary. The Congress leaders made it clear that the Thodupuzha seat cannot be spared for Mr. Joseph, even while accepting Mr. Mani’s right to make such a claim. Mr. Mani, on his part, maintained that the Thodupuzha seat was a sitting seat and he had the responsibility of protecting his party’s interests.
The first formal discussion on seat-sharing is to begin on February 24. UDF leaders maintain that they will be able to wind up the talks as smoothly as they did during the recent local body elections. But with Mr. Joseph and Thodupuzha as two major issues, there are several leaders who predict roadblocks ahead for the UDF.

Idukki: Even as the people of the Idukki plantation area suffer from the harmful effects of the use of the harmful pesticide endosulfan, report suggests that the pesticide is still being used widely in the plantations of Peerumedu.

Easy availability from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu and its effectiveness as a pesticide make endosulfan a preferred choice of farmers. Social activists are alleging that increasing cases of cancer in the area in recent times. There is no specific checking at the Kerala-TN checkposts and pesticide bottles bought from shops in TN freely cross border.

The Central agricultural ministry had informed that a complete ban on endosulfan can be imposed only after detailed talks with all states. The Agricultural ministry expressed this during the review meeting convened by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry at New Delhi.

An all-party delegation would meet prime minister with the demand to ban the pesticide in the whole country. The meet also decided to build and distribute houses to the homeless in the affected areas. State Chief Minister V.S Achuthanandan had informed that the State government has decided to revise the pension amount of the endosulfan victims who are bed ridden, from Rs 1000 to Rs. 2000 per month.
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