Current Science

N. Ashoka ¹, Shivanand Hongal ¹, R. Raju ², M. Harshavardhan ¹, K. T. Venkatesha ³, S. Vishwanatha ⁴

Affiliations
1 College of Horticulture, Sirsi 581 401, IN
2 ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, IN
3 CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Research Centre, Pantnagar 263 149, IN
4 College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur 584 104, IN

Abstract

Black pepper is the world’s most traded spice, mainly cultivated in Karnataka and Kerala, India. The extensively planted pepper hybrid, Panniyur-1 has resulted in a drastic fall in yield due to foot rot disease. An ancient indigenous variety, ‘Sigandhini’ has recently obtained Intellectual Property Rights under PPVFRA-2001. In the present study, we estimated the area under pepper and its seedlings demand in Karnataka, and also analysed the comparative economics of Sigandhini and Panniyur-1 nurseries. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources and the compound annual growth rate and financial feasibility of black pepper nursery raising were analysed. Karnataka’s area grew at an annual rate of 18.63% and revealed that an additional area of 27,048 ha would require 300.50 lakh seedlings in 2020–21. Sigandhini earns higher net revenue to farmers compared to Panniyur-1 seedlings.

Keywords

Black pepper, comparative economics, nursery raising, traditional and popular varieties.

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