India has been world famous for its spices since ancient days. There was a great demand for these spices in the Middle East and European countries. India’s share has been 15 per cent in the world market.
In 1960-61 India exported 47.2 thousand tones of spices valued at Rs. 17 crores which increased to 103.3 thousand tones and Rs. 239 crores in 1990-91 and 244.9 thousand tones worth of Rs. 1619 crores in 2000-01. Bulk of this export goes to the countries of Europe and Middle East.
These spices are mostly used for flavoring or tempering cooked food and for preparing medicines and dyes etc. Main spices include pepper, chilies, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, clove, areca nut etc.
India is the largest producer of spices with annual output of 4.4 million tons (2005-06). But due to large scale internal consumption it only exports 1.3 lakh tones of spices annually. Table 11.XI presents an account of the area, production and export of spices in India.
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Pepper (Piper nigrum)
Black pepper is a climber shrub growing wildly in the forest tracts of Kerala. India is the second largest producer of this spice in the world alters Indonesia. The black pepper is the unripe dried fruit while white pepper is the skinned ripe fruit. It is used for giving flavour to foodstuffs.
Conditions of Growth
Pepper is the plant of hot and humid climate. It requires 10°C-30°C of temperature, 150 cm-200 cm of rainfall and well drained clayey loam soils rich in humus. It can also be grown on a variety of soils ranging from red loam to sandy loam and late rites. Its cultivation may be carried on from sea level up to a height of 1050m along the hill slopes but coastal sandy plains are generally avoided.
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The pepper plant grows as a vine and needs support for climbing. Its normal height is 9 m which is restricted to 6 m to facilitate the plucking of berries. The nearby trees of mango, jackfruit and areca nut etc provide necessary support for climbing.
The plant starts bearing fruits in the third year and attains maximum production level in the seventh year. It continues to yield fruits for 25-30 years. Flowering starts in the mid July and fruits ripen between January and March. For black pepper unripe berries are plucked and sundried to obtain black colour. White pepper is prepared by skinning off the ripe berries.
The average per hectare yield of pepper in India is 237 kg (2000-01) as against 260 kg in 1950-51 (cf. Malaysia 2900 kg). Karnataka records the highest per hectare yield (285 kg), followed by Tamil Nadu (250 kg) and Kerala (236 kg).