- Pepper has its origin in the Western Ghats of India. It occurs wild in the hills of Assam and North Burma. It is a perennial climbing plant, mostly cultivated as a mixed crop in coffee, citrus and arecanut plantations in Kerala and Karnataka. Besides India, pepper is now grown in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, China and the Federated State of Micronesia.
Area and Production
- The total world area under pepper in 1996 was 4, 03,930 hectares and the production was 1,80,289 tonnes. 2009-10/2008-09 DATA? Pepper is found throughout the Malabar Coast, extending inwards to the cultivated areas on both the sides of th Western Ghats. In India, pepper is cultivated in over 1,95,050 hectares with an annual average production of 5340 tonnes, 2009-10/2008-09 DATA? which accounts for one-third of the world's production.
- Kerala has the largest share of pepper production accounting for 96%, followed by Karnataka (3.9%) and Tamil Nadu (0.1%). Pepper is also grown in Pondicherry, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, some Northeastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Nearly 80% of the pepper produced in the country is exported, contributing to about 37% of the total export earnings from spices.
- The main buyers of Indian pepper are the USSR, USA, Canada, Italy and Czechoslovakia. India exports nearly 26,346 tonnes of its production, earning an amount of, Rs. 19, 64,709,000 (1996) 2009-10/2008-09 DATA? in foreign exchange annually.
- India enjoyed the top position in world pepper production till the 19th century, but lost its place to some South-east Asian countries. Now, on an average, under Indian conditions, we get only 1 kg green berries per vine, which in turn gives 250-350 g of dry berries, whereas the South-east Asian countries produce about 5 kg green berries per vine (1.25 kg dry berries).
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