Karnataka state has replaced Kerala state as the leading pepper producer, accounting for nearly 50% of all pepper production in India in the last 2014/2015 season.
According to an estimate of this crop, the total pepper production in India is about 70,000 tons, Karnataka state accounts for 33,000 tons and Kerala state contributes 28,000 tons. In the 2013/2014 season, the figures were 16,000 tons and 20,000 tons, respectively.
According to the official news from the Spices Board of India, sharp increase in pepper prices and volatile coffee prices are reasons to encourage Karnataka farmers to expand their pepper area as a supplementary income crop. Furthermore, the farms in Karnataka have used a variety of initiatives to boost pepper production and plan to adopt the Vietnamese pepper monoculture method.
In Vietnam, pepper is monocultured with very high density on wooden poles, concrete or brick pillars. By now, many farms in Karnataka have adopted the approach and see that the model can be replicated in the coffee-growing region, the sources said. A tour group from Karnataka with 25 members visited several pepper monoculture growing regions in Vietnam recently as part of a field trip to coffee and pepper growing regions.
Pepper is mainly intercropped on farms in Karnataka…
According to various sources, pepper production in the state of Kerala has halved in the past few years. During the 2008/2009 crop season, the state produced more than 41,000 tons of pepper on an area of 175,000 hectares and was the largest producer along with Karnataka state and several areas in the Kanyakumari and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu. However, rapid wilt disease has contributed to the decline in Kerala’s pepper production. The main problem that inhibits the growth is the lack of quality pepper varieties, which give small and light seeds while the old pepper lines are no longer effective and many pests and diseases. All of the above is now improving in Kerala, the source said.
Pepper, a staple in traditional healthcare, is the most important spice traded in the world, accounting for about 35 percent of total spice export earnings ($2.3 billion) last year. Pepper prices have hit a record of USD 9.9/kg for black pepper and USD 13.57/kg for white pepper.
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