After decades of decline in the world’s markets, Indonesia aims to revive its past glory and reclaim its lost position as a major supplier of spices.

Although the dream will take years to fulfill, the steps to realize it will be taken as soon as next year as the Agriculture Ministry plans to allocate Rp 2.1 trillion (US$157 million) solely for providing seedlings for spices such as pepper, nutmeg and clove, in addition to other plantation commodities like fruits and vegetables.

“Next year, we plan to focus on boosting production of export-oriented spices like pepper and nutmeg in Maluku and many other places that were once popular for these commodities and attracted the Netherlands to invade [the archipelago],” Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman recently said.

The fame of spices drew European traders as early as the 16th century to from the sprawling archipelago.

For centuries, merchants traded dozens of different spices along the land route linking Southeast Asia to Europe known as the Silk Road.

While in the past, ancient kingdoms accumulated wealth and power from selling spices, farmers nowadays only accrue a small amount of wealth because of the small-scale farming operations they run.

The Agriculture Ministry’s planning bureau head, Kasdi Subagyono, said when approved by the House of Representatives, the money would be used to, among other things, develop innovative seedlings to replant old plantations.

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