As a part of the FAO project titled, “Strengthening Spices Value Chain in India’’, a residential ToT programme on GAP and GHP in Black Pepper was organized in collaboration with the Spices Board India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), supported by Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This programme was held from April 26 to 29, 2022 at Paderu, Andhra Pradesh.

The ToT programme commenced with opening remarks by Dr G. Lingappa, Deputy Director, Spices Board, Regional Office Warangal; Dr Joji Mathew, Deputy Director (Development), Spices Board, Kochi; and Mr Vinay Singh, National Project Manager, and Food Security and Nutrition Expert, FAO India. This was followed by 11 sessions that included classroom training and a one-day field visit. The ToT programme was facilitated by experts from the Spices Board and FAO.

The four-day training was attended by 21 participants. The participants were from Spices Boards of Kochi, Paderu and Warangal; Coffee Board, Paderu; Horticulture Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh; Vikasa Foundation; Dr Y.S.R. Horticultural University, Horticultural Research Station, Chintapalli, and the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Paderu.

The ToT programme focused on GAP and GHP in the production and marketing of Black Pepper. It familiarised Master Trainers (MTs) with requirements of good agriculture and hygienic practices at different crop stages of Black Pepper; importance of GHP during postharvest processing, packaging, transportation, storage, and marketing; Process of certification and labelling, and the importance of gender in the spices value chain.  The training programme helped in acquainting MTs with GAP and GHP in black pepper, thus enabling them to further deliver the training to selected progressive farmers.  

The ToT programme saw active participation of the MTs, and the training materials and methodology received appreciation.

Media coverage: Link: https://public.app/video/sp_255j6dp4uguu5