India's spice exports are hitting record levels as chilli and pepper prices ride a global commodities boom.
Failed harvests in key growing regions and improved quality controls in India will boost the value of the sub-continent's spice shipments beyond $1 billion (£500 million) this year for the first time, according to the Spices Board of India.
Leading the charge, Indian chilli exports have jumped by more than a third this year, to about 169,000 tonnes — enough to season a billion curries.
The figures have been lifted by strong demand and lower yields as farmers around the world battle an increasingly volatile climate, experts say.
Chilli exports, which were badly hit three years ago by reports that carcinogenic dyes were being added to the spice, have also benefited from present fears that Chinese crops carry dangerously high levels of pesticide residues, a Spices Board spokesman said.
Similar trends have emerged in the pepper market, where Indian shipments have risen by a fifth as the country's farmers undercut their rivals in Vietnam, the world's largest producer.
Mahendra Parekh, chairman of the Indian Pepper and Spice Trade Association, said that spot pepper prices for farmers in local Indian markets have increased by about a third since last year, to about 150 rupees a kilo.
"Farmers are doing better, but are not satisfied — they still see huge volatility in prices and are suffering as the world's climate changes," he said.
India's pepper crop was itself hit by an atypical dry spell this season, Mr Parakh added.
On the world markets, the price of Indian pepper has risen by about 25 per cent over the past year, to about $4,000 a tonne.
Pepper prices have surged after projections of a decline in output by Vietnam, the largest producer, by the International Pepper Community.
British curry lovers are also doing their bit by helping to drive demand for ground and blended spice mixes up by a fifth over the past year.
Exports of ground and blended curry powders reached a record 10,400 tonnes, an increase of more than 20 per cent.
India accounts for nearly half of global spice exports, even though only about 8 per cent of its annual production leaves the country's shores.
An area the size of about three million football pitches is used to grow crops that also include garlic, ginger, turmeric and mint, mostly cultivated by smallholders with tiny plots of land.
The Spices Board of India has set a goal of expanding spice exports to $10 billion a year by 2017.
To reach the target, it is planning to build several "spice parks", which will serve as processing and export bases.
India's spice industry was given a boost in January when the US Department of Agriculture said it was satisfied with quality controls at Indian processing plants and said that the US Food and Drug Administration planned to open an office in India to cope with the surge in food product shipments from the country
