Pepper
Botanical
Name: Piper nigrum Family:
Piperaceae
Cultivation
and Harvesting :
Black
pepper is popularly known as the ‘King of Spices’ and mainly cultivated
in the southern parts of India. India is a major producer, consumer and
exporter of black pepper
Black
pepper belongs to the family Piperaceae, is one of the most popular spices used
worldwide and is native to southern India. The name “pepper” originated from
the Sanskrit word “Pipali”.
Black
pepper can be cultivated either as a mono-crop
or as a mixed crop.
Black
pepper is a plant of humid tropics requiring high
rainfall and humidity. The hot and humid climate of sub mountainous tracts
of Western Ghats is ideal for its cultivation. The crop tolerates temperatures
between 10°C and 40°C. The favourable temperature range is 23°C. - 32°C. and the ideal temperature is around 28°C.
Planting
of Cuttings: Ideal time for black pepper planting is at the onset of south-west
monsoons. Training and Pruning of Vines: Training of vines on the support trees
is highly recommended as it facilitates the energetic growth of the
fruit-yielding branches. Major purpose of this practice is to remove excessive
growth of the live standards and to give them a proper shape.
Irrigation:
Frequent irrigation from November - December till the end of March is
recommended and afterwards, irrigation must be withheld till monsoon break.
This may increase pepper yield by about 50%.
Major
Products: The major products are black pepper, white pepper, canned tender
green pepper, bottled green pepper in brine, dehydrated green pepper, pepper
oleoresin and pepper oil.
Morphology
of plant:
1.Black pepper is a perennial climbing vine
that grows well in the shade with supporting trees or poles.
The plant has 10–20 primary adventitious
roots developed from the base of the mature stem. The glabrous woody climbers
grow up to 10 m or more height.
2.The
vine has two types of branching called as dimorphic branching.
3.The
orthotropic vegetative
(monopodial, orthotropic branches) climbing shoots bears numerous
adventitious roots, leaves and axillary buds at the swollen nodes, the roots
enabling the plants to cling to tree trunks and other supports. The lateral plagiotrophic
(sympodial fruiting branches) fruiting
branch developing from axillary bud does not have roots.The orthotropic shoot has indeterminate growth, and
leaf axils produce lateral fruiting branches.
4.The
leaves are alternate ovate with sharp pointed ends and arranged alternately on
the branches, leaves are dark green, shining above and pale green.
5.The inflorescence is pendulous spike arises
opposite to leaves on plagiotropic branches. Wild type flowers are mostly
dioecious, but the cultivated type flowers are monoecious. The
flowers are partially enclosed within a bract. Each spike bears 50 to 60 single
seeded fruit.
6.The fruit is indehiscent drupes also known as peppercorns. These are circular in shape and about 4-6mm in diameter. The colour of the berries changes to red on maturity. Each berry possesses a single seed enclosed in a pericarp. The embryo is embedded in a small endosperm at the apex of the seed
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