· Pepper has a long history that is 4000 years old.
· It was used as “mode of payment”.
· It was used to pay rent in England.
· Pepper is grown in all seasons through out the year.
· The pepper plant has lifetime of around 40 years and starts producing the berries after 2-5 years.

FACT SHEET

Category· Spices

Type of Crop· Kharif

Sowing Period (India)· May-June

Harvesting Period (India)· January- March

Factor Influencing Prices of Pepper
· Production
· Export & Import
· Warehouse stock position
· Demand and Supply
· Stock Position in the Market
· Carry Forward
· Weather Position
· Stock to Consumption Ratio
· Quality
· Time of Arrival of new crop in the market
· Market Sentiments
· Seasonal variations and time of arrival
· Government interventions

Major producing countries
· Vietnam
· India
· Brazil
· Indonesia
· Malaysia
· China
· Sri Lanka
· Thailand

India’s share in the global Pepper production

· 20%

Major Producer of Pepper
· Vietnam

Major Exporter of Pepper
· Vietnam

Important World Pepper Market
· Vietnam at HCM City (Vietnam)
· Kochi (India)
· New York
· Singapore
· Rotterdam
· Lampung at Panjang (Indonesia)
· Sarawak at Kuching (Malaysia)

International Grade of Pepper

International grades of Pepper are mainly based the name of the producing centers.

Malabar Garbled (MG1) India
Lampung Panjang, Indonesia
Sarawak kuching, Malaysia
Vietnam HCM city, Vietnam

Contribution of Countries in Pepper Production

World Wide Production of Pepper (tonnes)

In this above figure, we can see that Vietnam production of pepper is larger in the year 2007 & 2008 as compare to the other countries, India holds second rank in the production of Pepper. The maximum production of pepper comes from Vietnam.

World Wide Export of Pepper

World Wide Import of Pepper

Above graph shows the import in 2008 is expected to less as compare to 2006 and 2007.

Indian Scenario Of Pepper

Major Consumer of Pepper
· India

Life of Pepper
· 40 Years

Area of Production
· 2.25 Lakh hectares in India

Current Scenario

· India harvests most of its Pepper at the beginning of the year. During 2007, production of Pepper in India was reported to be 50,000 tons against 5000 tons lowers then the production in 2006.

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

· The Indian Pepper crop in 2008 is estimated to be 48,000-50,000 tonnes. Harvesting was delayed because of heavy rains in October.

· India is the world’s top consumer of Pepper. IPC estimates consumption in the country at 55,000 tonnes in 2007—up from 50,000 in 2006. However, the international body’s projection for domestic consumption in 2008 shows a dip of 10,000 tonnes.
· India is expected to export around 30,000 tonnes in 2007 and 23,000 tonnes in the following year, with the decline being mainly because of high prices that will keep buyers away

During 2007, Indian exports of pepper amounted to 30000 tonnes, which was 23000 tonnes in 2006.The export in 2006 was the lowest quantity of pepper exported from India during the next year 2007

Following are the states other than Kerala and Karnataka in which pepper is being produced

· Maharashtra
· Goa
· Madhya Pradesh
· Andhra Pradesh
· West Bengal
· Orissa
· Assam
· Tripura
· Meghalaya
· Arunachal Pradesh
· Mizoram
· Nagaland
· Manipur
· Pondicherry
· Andaman and Nicobar Islan