SPICES dominated international trade during the ancient ages and led to many rivalries among the colonial empires across the world. While today it is not the dominant commodity in world trade, it still has a great hold on the global market, particularly against the back-drop of a rise of the herbal pharmaceutical industry and expanding consumption of the product in the western world.
This ancient commercial activity of ancient origin involved the merchandising of spices, incense, herbs, drugs and opium by civilizations of Asia, followed by the Greco-roman world, especially along the Roman-Indian routes.  The latter were dependent upon techniques developed by the then maritime trading power, Kingdom of Axum (ca 400s BC–AD 1000s), which had pioneered the Red Sea route before the 1st century. By mid-seventh century, the rise of Islam closed off the overland caravan routes through Egypt and the Suez, and sundered the European trade community from Axum and India.
Arab traders eventually took over conveying goods through the Levant and Venetian merchants to Europe, until the rise of the Ottoman Turks again cut the route by 1453. Overland routes helped the spice trade initially, but maritime trade routes led to tremendous growth in commercial activities. During the medieval periods, Muslim traders dominated maritime spice trading routes throughout the Indian Ocean, tapping source regions in the Far East and shipping spices from trading emporiums in India westward to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, from which overland routes led to Europe.
The trade was transformed by the European “Age of Discovery”, during which the spice trade, particularly in black pepper, became an influential activity for European traders. The route from Europe to the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope was pioneered by Portuguese Vasco De Gama in 1498, resulting in new maritime routes for trade.
This trade, which drove the world economy from the end of the Middle Ages well into modern times, ushered an age of European domination in the East. Channels such as the Bay of Bengal served as bridges for cultural and commercial exchanges between diverse cultures as nations struggled to gain control of the trade along the many spice routes. European dominance was slow to develop. The Portuguese trade routes were mainly restricted and limited by the use of ancient routes, ports, and nations that were difficult to dominate. The Dutch were later able to bypass much of these problems by pioneering a direct ocean route from the Cape of Good Hope to the Sunda Strait in Indonesia. (Adapted from Wikipedia)
Government has now ventured to get involved in the growth of spices in a more structured and organised manner, which is part of the diversification programme of Guyana’s agricultural sector – the sector that forms the backbone of this country’s economy.
The $12M scheme to cultivate spices, initiated in June 2008 by the Ministry of Agriculture, will put turmeric on the local market by December of this year.
According to Director of the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI), Dr. Udho Homenauth, the project is intended to satisfy the needs of Guyanese as Guyana imports close to $1M in spices annually.
The Head of NARI said that, at present, mainly Amerindian communities in hinterland regions have been targeted to cultivate spices in an effort to boost their economic activities, because spices are not perishable and have a long shelf life, which is ideal for transporting them over long distances. This is a wise move because the agricultural potential of our hinterland communities needs to be optimised as this would stimulate the growth of other economic and commercial activities and help to further reduce poverty in these communities, a target high on Government’s agenda.
Turmeric, ginger, black pepper and nutmeg cultivation is currently being done by 35 farmers, primarily in Regions One (Barima/Waini); Eight (Potaro/Siparuni); Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni); parts of Regions Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) and Four (Demerara/Mahaica), where soil type is appropriate.
But while asserting that, from a broader perspective, the growing of spices provides another window of opportunity for our current farmers and those who are planning to venture into farming, Dr. Homenauth noted that the spices will take at least seven months to mature, resulting in only one harvest per year.
However, he said that there is a great amount of demand for ginger and turmeric on the market and that machinery is currently being sourced to process them into tumeric and ginger powders.
Dr. Homenauth said that turmeric would be the first on sale, but while it may not initially satisfy the local demands,  enough planting materials have been acquired to expand the industry on a larger scale in 2011.
According to the NARI Head, blackpepper, which would be grown mainly in Region One, where the climate and weather are conducive, should be ready for cultivation in two years.
With regard to nutmeg, Dr. Homenauth said that approximately 1,000 seedlings have been planted and should be ready for reaping soon.
Dr. Homenauth opined that Guyana should not be importing such large quantities of spices, or any at all, because we have the capacity to be self-sufficient, and to be an exporter as well.