KOCHI:
Dr A Jayathilak relinquished his post as Spices Board Chairman after an eventful and standout five-year tenure, which witnessed spices export ballooning by around Rs.10,000 crores and a string of valu
During his tenure, the export of spices surged to a record Rs 16,283.23 crores in 2015-16 as against Rs 6840.7 crores in 2010-11, crossing the Rs.15, 000-crore mark for the first time. The export from the north-eastern states also clocked record figures with a 353 per cent increase in quantity and 620 per cent in value, also for the first time in the company’s history.
The innovative spice products like spice chocolates (flavours of chilli, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, clove and mace), which were introduced during this time, gained huge popularity in the national and international trade fairs. Several value-added spice-based products like shampoos, creams, oils and fabrics were also introduced by him.
India’s biggest Spices Park at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh was also launched during his tenure.
In addition to the three existing Quality Evaluation Laboratories (QELs), four more were established during the last five years at Chennai, Narela, Tuticorin and Kandla, besides a new one of a kind pre-engineered building for such a laboratory in Mumbai, he noted.
In the last five years, the QELs at Mumbai, Chennai and Guntur received the NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accreditation while the QELs at Kochi, Chennai and Guntur got approval as referral labs under the FSSAI certification.
“The rapid alerts have decreased to a large extent due to the implementation of compulsory quality checking procedures on exports of spices from India. In 2010, the rate of rapid alerts was 121, but in the present year it has decreased to a mere 16. Approval of Codex Alimentarius Commission to set up standards for spices and culinary herbs to achieve the objectives of fair practises in trade and consumer safety was also achieved,” Dr. Jayathilak informed.
During his tenure, Spices Board was conferred twice the prestigious “Niryath Bandhu Award”, and Dr A Jayathilak received the award from President Shri Pranab Mukherjee in 2012 and 2014.
