PEPPER

Area, production and productivity

World production of pepper increased gradually from 2000 to 2003. Vietnam is the world leader in production and export of pepper. They raised their production from 30,000 to 85,000 tonnes from 1999 to 2003.

India harvests most of its pepper at the beginning of the year. During 2003, production of pepper in India was reported to be 65,000 tonnes against 80,000 tonnes in 2002.

Kerala State accounts for 90% of India's pepper production. The other producers are Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

During 2003, export of pepper from India amounted to 17,200 tonnes, registering a 31% fall compared to 24,914 tonnes in 2002. The export in 2003 was the lowest of the last four decades being only 64% of the average export over the last five years. India’s export share was only 8% of the total export from producing countries in 2003, against the average of 14% during last five years.

Developments in the spice industry in India have significantly affected exports. During 2003, export of whole pepper from India was only 26% of the total production, against 31% during 2002. The main market for Malabar black pepper was United States, which traditionally imported around 50% of India's exports, followed by Canada, Netherlands and Italy. However, during 2003, only 30% of India's export was shipped to the United States.

The production of black pepper has been fluctuating between 61-72 thousand tonnes during 2000-01 to 2003-04, of which Kerala’s share was more than 93%.

Area, production and productivity of black pepper in Kerala

District-wise area of pepper in Kerala (ha)

District-wise production of pepper (t)

District- wise productivity of pepper (t/ha)

Area and production of pepper in India

Global scenario

The global production of pepper was 2.95 lakh tonnes during 2005. Vietnam (90000 tonnes), India (70000 tonnes), Indonesia (35000 tonnes), Brazil (35000 tonnes), Malaysia (19000 tonnes), Sri Lanka (14000 tonnes), Thailand, and China are the major producers of pepper in the world. Vietnam's sudden increase in production has resulted in increase in the global production; from 1.9 lakh tonnes during late nineties to 3.23 lakh tonnes in 2004.Vietnam is the world's largest producer and exporter of pepper in the world now.