World Spice Congress Concerned Over Labor

World Spice Congress Concerned over Labor

Feb. 15 – The 10th World Spice Congress has just concluded in New Delhi, with members expressing concern over increasing labor shortages, rising costs and a shift in the young generation from agriculture to other sectors.

The World Spice Congress was a good platform to announce improvements in the lives and fortunes of India’s spice producing farmers. In a year when most of the rest of the world was suffering from economic maladies, spice production held up well and sustained the lives of its workers. But there is no room to rest easy.

One of the most prominent problems for spice producers is hinted at in the last words of the quoted text above… “shift in the young generation.” How you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Bollywood? Young people, exposed to computers, cell phones, Bollywood and other modern accoutrements, might not want to get their hands dirty like their elders down on the spice farms. Farming is not glamourous, cell phones are.

Take the example of the city of Bangalore in the south-central part of the Indian subcontinent. About twenty years ago Bangalore was a sleepy retirement village with not much to brag about. Within the last decade it has become an international center for certain advanced parts of the computer industry and a world outsource calling center. Within ten or fifteen years its population grew from a few hundred thousand to eight or ten million. Where did all these people come from?

Most of today’s residents of Bangalore come from nearby agricultural areas, some of which are part of the spice industry. Without a doubt many of the migrants to Bangalore are living urban subsistence lives. But most of the people barely scraping by would rather live in a humble neighborhood in the city than back on the farm. Of course, there are also many young people who are doing quite well and advancing in challenging careers, so there is no sense trying to lure them back to the spice farms.

India is a vast country and change comes slowly. There is no possibility that within the lifetimes of anyone who reads this post that India will relinquish its crown as world leader in spice production. But also be assured that slowly, inevitably the attractions of spice production will yield to other secular attractions among the young. Some day, maybe a hundred years from now, it might actually be difficult to find spice farmers in India. They will all be in big cities chatting on their cell phones and eating home delivered take out meals. Variety is the spice of life.