Call for Govt to invest in spice

A LOCAL spice expert is calling on the Government to support the spice industry with an estimated value of more than a billion kina.
Sakarias Ikio, owner and manager of PNG Organic spice developers and traders, said the spice industry had various crops.
“The spice industry is huge and has so much potential,” he said.
“Spice has a high value and there is also a high demand for it on the international market.
“Unlike coffee which is a seasonal crop and has a value of about K500 million, spice is produced all year round and is worth more.”
The common local spices are vanilla, cardamom, turmeric, ginger and pepper all of which have reliable markets. As the demand increases, prices also increase at about 30 per cent every year.
Ikio said they were establishing smallholder spice farmers.
Spices were supplied to supermarkets in Goroka, Kainantu, Lae and Port Moresby (City Pharmacy Ltd shops).
“The spice demand in PNG is also increasing because people are also worried about their health and they buy spices to protect their immune system.”
Ikio said they were trying to correlate spice production with the market.
“Without production, there’s no market and without the market, production is useless,” he said.
“We, as an agriculture company, are trying to link the two (production and market) together.
“If there’s going to be an agriculture production, it has to be market-oriented.
“Market has its own demand so when farmers are doing production, it has to meet the demand and expectation.”