November 4: Almost 600,000 metric tons of spices are produced in Nepal annually, according to government data. The data provided by the National Centre for Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crops Development shows that 594,800 metric tons of spices were produced in 73,300 hectares of land in all the districts of the seven provinces of Nepal in the fiscal year 2020/21.
The data prepared by the center only covers cardamom, ginger, garlic, red pepper and dried chilies produced in Nepal. Apart from these, the center said that the production of other types of spices is not significant in Nepal, so they are not included in the data.
Looking at the data of the last three years, it seems that the highest production was in the year 2020/21. Before that, 555,000 tons of spices were produced in the year 2019/20 and 543,000 metric tons in the year 2018/19.
Altogether 184,611 metric tons of cardamom, ginger garlic, red pepper and chilies have been produced in 29,962 hectares in Province 1; 53,600 metric tons of spices have been produced in 6,200 hectares of land in Province 2; and 72,100 metric tons of spices have been produced in 8,748 hectares of land in Bagmati province.
According to the data, 49,500 metric tons of spices were produced in 6500 hectares of land in Gandaki province, and 138, 000 metric tons were produced from 11838 hectares in Lumbini province. Similarly, it has been found that 35,800 metric tons of spices were produced in 4,000 hectares of land in Karnali province and 61,200 metric tons in 6,100 hectares in Sudurpaschim province.
Although the data shows that there has been some increase in production, it is not enough to meet the demand of the domestic market. In FY 2020/21, a total of 158,600 metric tons of spices were imported. About 15,000 metric tons of spices were exported from Nepal that year. Similarly, in the year 2019/20, altogether 127,800 metric tons of spices were imported and 14,000 metric tons were exported. According to the government data, 700,000 metric tons of spices are consumed in Nepal annually.
