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Abstract

Agricultural crops that form the input of agro-based industries may be broadly classified into Food Crops and Commercial Crops. However, this classification is not specific as many crops are both commercial and food crops, for example - Sugarcane, Tea, Coffee, Cardamom and other spices. But it is common practice to include these among commercial cash crops, as they are primarily cultivated for earning money income and not for direct consumption by the producers. Spices constitute an important group of agricultural commodities, which are virtually indispensable in the culinary art. They also play a significant role in our national economy and in the national economies of several spice producing, exporting and importing countries. Spice is defined as "a strongly flavored or aromatic substance of vegetable origin, obtained from tropical plants, commonly used as a condiment".India is known as the “Home of spices” and boasts of a long history of trading with the ancient civilizations of Rome and China.

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