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Annual subscription Rs. 50/-

Vol. 22No. 3

March 2009

SPICEINDIA

A JOURNAL DEVOTEDTO THE PROMOTION OFINDIAN SPICE INDUSTRY

IN MARCH ISSUE

SPICES BOARDMinistry of Commerce & Industry

Government of IndiaSugandha Bhavan

P.B. No. 2277Palarivattom P.O.Cochin - 682 025

No. 3Vol. XXII MARCH-2009

Chairman : V.J. Kurian I.A.S.Chief Editor : Dr. P.S. Sreekantan Thampi

Deputy Director (Publicity)Editor : S. PalanichamyPublisher : Smt. K. Lekshmikutty

(Secretary)

Editorial Advisory CommitteeS. Kannan

Director (Marketing)Dr. J. Thomas

Director (Research)R. CHANDRASEKHAR

Director (Development)SPICE INDIA

PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY INENGLISH, MALAYALAM, TAMIL, KANNADA

TELUGU, HINDI AND NEPALI

1 year - Rs. 50/-5 years - Rs. 200/-

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

Subscription may be sent either by M.O. orBank Draft drawn in favour of

the Secretary, Spices Board, Cochin

The views expressed by the contributors are notnecessarily those of the Spices Board

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Tel : 0484-2333610-616, 2347965Fax : 0484-2331429-2334429E-mail : spicesboard@vsnl.comWebsite : www.indianspices.com

Printed at :Niseema Printers & Publishers, Kochi-18

Tel: 0484-2403760

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FIRST SPICE PARKIN CHHINDWARA COMMISSIONED 4IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL ENEMIESIN CARDAMOM PLANTATIONS

S.S. Chandrasekar, S. Varadarasan,M.A. Ansar Ali and B. Gopakumar 9

TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY ACTIVITIES- AT A GLANCE

K.M.Kuruvilla, K.Reji and J. Thomas 12INDIAN CARDAMOM RESEARCH INSTITUTEREGIONL RESEARCH STATION, SAKLESPURProfile and Prospects

K. Dhanapal , Sreekrishna Bhat,I.R.Noolvi and J. Thomas 16

CROP IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMES ONCARDAMOM AT ICRI

V.V. Radhakrishnan,K.J. Madhusoodanan,K.M. Kuruvilla and J. Thomas 19

CARDAMOM CLONES FORWAYANAD IN PIPELINE

V.V. Radhakrishnan andK.J. Madhusoodanan 22

GLOBAL WARMING: DIVERSION TOWARDSSPICES IN KULLU VALLEY

Raj Pal Meena and P R Kumar 24The Piquant Fabric of Folklore - CHANDERI

Hugh & Colleen Gantzer 27TOWARDS ESTABLISHINGBLACKPEPPER PLANTATION IN GUYANA

B. SASIKUMAR 31EVENTS 32CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS FORIMPORTANT SPICES-APRIL 2009 36SPICES STATISTICS-FEBRUARY 2009 41

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Shri Kamal Nath, Hon’bleUnion Minister ofCommerce & Industry in-

augurated the first Spice Park inChinndwara in MadhyaPradesh on 17 February,2009. The Spice Park has comeup in an area of 18 acres in Laasvillage, Umranala, nearChhindwara. The park consistof a Garlic Dehydration Plantset up by the Spices Board anda Steam Sterilization Plant setup by STCL Ltd., another Gov-ernment of India undertaking.

In his inaugural address theMinister said that the Park will be an asset to the spices growers. The es-tablishment of regional crop-specific Spices Parks elsewherein the country is a major initia-tive of the Government as partof its commitment that anygrowth in the country should bemore of agriculture-specific andpro-farmers. He recalled howhe dreamt of a Spice Park likethis in Chhindwara. Few yearsback, one night while he waswalking on the roads ofUmranala village he happenedto watch vegetables like to-

Shri.V.J.Kurian IAS, Chairman, Spices Board delivering the welcome address.Also seen in the picture are… (from left) Shri.Vishvanath Okte, Member, SpicesBoard, Shri. Deepak Saxena, MLA, Chhindwara, Shri.Balkaran Patel, Member,Spices Board, Shri.Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry,Shri. N.K. Mathur, Chairman, STCL, Shri. Prakash Uttamchand Wadhwani,Member, Spices Board, Shri. K.C. Ponnana , Managing Director, STCL.

FIRST SPICE PARK

IN CHHINDWARA

COMMISSIONED

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mato, cauliflower, etc. were ly-ing on the roadside for want of storing andmarketing facilities. From thatmoment he feltthe necess i ty to improve the sad plight of the farmerswhich resulted in the setting upof a Spice Park at Chhindwara.

The Minister requested thefarmers to make use of the fa-cilities available in the Park. Healso informed the farmers thatthe machineries installed in thePark are imported from Ger-many and with the help of this,the vegetables and spices grownby the farmers could be proc-essed and sold at high ratesabroad. The steam sterilizationfacility will enable to boost theexport of quality spices andspice products to the developedcountries like Britain , Japan ,USA , etc. which will pay a pre-mium price to the farmers.

The foundation-stone forthis Park was laid by Sri KamalNath himself on August 19,2007.

Shri. V.J.Kurian IAS, Chair-man, Spices Boardi n h i s w e l c o m eaddress, informed that theBoard will help the farmers ofthis region by arranging train-ing programmes on good agri-cultural practices, post harvestoperations, advanced process-

Shri. Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry addressing thegathering after inaugurating the Spice Park in Chhindwara.

Shri. Deepak Saxena, MLA, Chhindwara, speaking at the occasion.

Shri.Vishvanath Okte, Member, Spices Board, making the felicitation

Shri.Balkaran Patel, Member, Spices Board, felicitates

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ing practices and also educat-ing them on global food safetyand quality standards. He alsostated that the Spices Board willassist the farmers in marketingand export promotion of garlicproducts. He called upon thefarmers of this area to expandthe area of cultivation and pro-duce more of garlic.

Shri N.K.Mathur, Chair-man, STCL said that all thespices including chillies beinggrown in the Chhindwara willbe processed using the steamsterilization facility with moreavenues of marketability.

Shri Vishwanath Okte, ShriBalkaran Patel, and Shri.Prakash UttamchandWadhwani, Members, SpicesBoard, Shri. Nikunj Srivastav,IAS, District Collector,Chhindwara, Chairmen,APMCs of Saunsar andChhindwara, Mr. RajababuSingh, Superintendent of Police,Chhindwara, industrialists,farmers and general publicwere present at the inaugural function of the Park. ShriDeepak Saxena, MLA,Chhindwara delivered felicita-tion speech. Sri V.J.Kurian. IAS,Chairman, Spices Board wel-comed the gathering. SriK.C.Ponnana, Managing Direc-tor, STCL Ltd. proposed a voteof thanks.

Shri. Prakash Uttamchand Wadhwani, Member, Spices Board, presenting acardamom garland to the Minister.

Shri.Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry switching on thedehydration Plant.

The process of Dehydration of garlic is being briefed to the Minister

A view of audience attending the function

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The state-of-the-artGarlic Dehydration Plant inthe Spice Park at Chhindwarahas the capacity to process 30tonnes of raw garlic and thefinished products of Flakesand Powder will be six metrictonnes a day. It has thecapacity to process 5,000tonnes of raw garlic perseason

The Garlic plant can function only for four monthsin a year depending upon theavailability of raw garlicwhose production isseasonal. Currently, thereexists a mismatch between

GARLICDEHYDRATION PLANT

PARKFOCUS ONCHILLIES &GARLIC

availability of raw garlic andthe processing capacity of theplant. For the plant tosustain its operations throughout the year, theSpices Board is exploring thepossibilities of processingvegetables, fruits andmedicinal plants like NigerSeed, Onion, Potato, Cabbage,Carrot, Peas, Spinach, etc.which are grown abundantlyin this area. At present, the Dehydration plant will beoperated by M/s FlavouritSpices Trading Limited, acompany promoted by theSpices Board.

The Chhindwara Spice Parkfocuses on garlic and

chillies grown in Chhindwaraand surrounding areas. As perthe latest statistics, this regiongrows 33,228 metric tonnes of garlic in 2,769 hectares while25,152 metric tonnes of chilliesin 3,144 hectares.

Madhya Pradesh is thesecond largest producer ofgarlic in the country with1,82,500 metric tonnes in 41,735hectares. India exported 716metric tonnes of garlic andgarlic products valued at Rs.741.00 lakhs during the year2007-08.

Though Chhindwara is alarge producer of garlic andchillies, Due to lack of scientificfacilities like of cleaning,grading, processing, steamsterilization, warehousing andorganized marketing facilities,the farmers of this region werenot able to sell their produces atgood prices. Now the SpicePark may be a good remedy for the problems of farmers of thisarea.. The Garlic DehydrationPlant and the SteamSterilization Unit are the major

The Steam Sterilization and grinding unit of the STCL,set up at a cost of Rs. 8.00 crores, has the capacity to processtwo tonnes of raw material. Steam Sterilization has beenwidely accepted as a technology to improve the quality andsafety of the spices and herbal products. Steam sterilizationunit stimulates the exports of safe and quality spices of smallexporters who cannot afford to invest in costly technologyby themselves. The proven state-of-the-art processtechnology designed by the overseas M/s SteamLab Systemsensure maximum debacterisation and preservation of theproducts’ properties and sterilization at any temperaturelevel of any product in small or large volume.

STEAM STERILIZATIONPLANT

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attractions of this Park. TheGovernment of India hasalready spent Rs. 20.00 croresfor this project. AQuality Testing Laboratory willalso be set up in the Parkshortly.

M/s KITCO, a Governmentof Kerala Consultancyorganization was the ProjectConsultant for the execution ofthe Park. M/s ARCONInfrastructure, Nagpur were thecontractors for the constructionof the Spices Park . The servicesof other governmental agencieslike APEDA and NAFED willalso be available to the SpicePark .

1. View of the Spice Park in Chhindwara2. Shri.Kamal Nath, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry

inaugurating the Spice Park in Chhindwara by cutting theribbon

3. View of the dias: (seated from left are)Shri.V.J.Kurian, IAS, Chairman, Spices Board,Shri.Vishvanath Okte, Member, Spices Board, Shri.BalkaranPatel, Member, Spices Board, Shri.Kamal Nath, UnionMinister for Commerce & Industry, Shri.N.K.Mathur,Chairman, STCL, Shri.Frank Schiebschick, CEO, Steam Lab,Germany, Shri.K.C.Ponnana, Managing Director, STCL, andShri.S. Kannan, Director (Marketing) Spices Board (standing)

4. Steam Sterilization, Grinding & Packing Plant5. Garlic Dehydration Plant6. Administrative office of the Spice Park7. The Minister, Chairman, Spices Board, Member, Spices

Board, Chairman, STCL after unveiling the stone.

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IMPORTANCE OF

NATURAL ENEMIES

IN CARDAMOM PLANTATIONSS.S. Chandrasekar,

S. Varadarasan,M.A. Ansar Ali and

B. GopakumarSpices Board

Indian Cardamom Research Institute,Mylaldumpara - 685 553,Idukki District, KERALA

Our country is blessedwith “Queen ofspices”, the cardamom

and is being intensivelycultivated by our efficientfarmers with a gradual increasein the productivity. In the earlyyears of cardamom cultivation

(i) the cardamom habitat wasleast disturbed,

(ii) the shade & soil conditionwere not much altered witha very low level ofimposition of chemicalfertilizers and insecticides,and so

(iii) a lot of natural enemies ofpests and diseases wereavailable; pest problem wasalso less.

But, what is the trend now?

With the intensive cultivation ofcardamom,

(i) the shade level and soiltillage are being reduced,

(ii) pest damage intensityincreased,

(iii) many minor pests reachedmajor pest status

(iv) build-up of newer pestproblem.

To overcome the pestproblem, planters resort toexcessive use of insecticides,which lead to elimination ofnatural enemies and outbreakof minor pests.

What should be our approach?

A lot of natural enemies areavailable in our cardamomplantations. But, they are in avery low profile due toexcessive and indiscriminateuse of chemical insecticides and

fertilizers; in other words, alloperations are not beingfollowed on need-basis. So, ourapproach must be in such a waythat natural enemy populationmust be conserved andaugmented. If this is achieved,the natural enemies themselveswill take care of the pestproblem to a large extent; theremaining population of pestscan be managed by need-basedICRI’s IPM package, i.e.,cultural, mechanical,behavioural and chemicalmethods.

Role of Natural Enemies

All cardamom plantationsare naturally gifted with a lot ofnatural enemies to have a checkon pests and diseases bypredating, parasitizing andinfecting on pests and

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pathogens of cardamom. In thename of intensive cultivation,planters resort to excessive andindiscriminate use of chemicalinsecticides, i.e. with

Higher dose of insecticides

� Higher frequency ofinsecticides

� repeated use of sameinsecticides withoutrotating

� mixing of differentinsecticides

� mixing of insecticides andfungicides

� mixing of insecticides andfertilizers,

� mixing of insecticides andbiocontrol agents.

This leads to completeelimination (killing) of pestsand natural enemies. Under thiscondition, if any other livingorganisms (minor pests)colonize on cardamomplantation, where THERE ISNO PESTS AND NATURALENEMIES, they multiply veryfast and reach the status ofmajor pest in a short time. Thisis just like entering-in a vacantrailway compartment. At thesame time, if the plantation ismanaged with need-basedapplication of insecticides andfertilizers,

� the population of naturalenemies might haveretained / not eliminated.

� pest population might havemanaged, in such a waythat the pest damage isnegligible.

� minor pest outbreak andthrips resurgence problemwould not have occurred.

ICRI’s study:

At the Indian CardamomResearch Institute (ICRI) astudy on “Comparison ofnatural enemy population withdifferent methods of plantprotection measures” wasmade.

The results showed that

(i) in the less insecticideapplied plots, where four tofive insecticide sprays peryear were used, naturalenemy population wasmore (7.2 per cent),

(ii) in the plots, where ICRI’sIntegrated PestManagement (IPM)package was followed(seven rounds ofinsecticides) the pestpopulation was undercheck and the natural

enemy population washigher(6.8 per cent). Therewas also no report ofwhitefly or red spider miteoutbreak. Thripsresurgence was also notnoticed.

(iii) In the high-insecticideusage plots, whereinsecticide application wasdone at 21-days interval,thrips resurgence wasnoticed along with whiteflyproblem. Natural enemieswere eliminated (0 percent).

This comparative studyclearly indicates the importanceof natural enemies in reducing/managing pest population inthe cardamom plantation. If theICRI’s IPM schedule is followedfor the management of pests ofcardamom, the pest problemcould be managed (notcontrolled), the population ofnatural enemies could beconserved, which in turnprevent minor pests to invadecardamom. So, the naturalenemies are really to beconserved and multiplied incardamom plantations byadopting Integrated PestManagement package forgetting sustainable yield.

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K.M.Kuruvilla, K.Reji and J. ThomasSpices Board

Indian Cardamom Research Institute,Myladumpara

The transfer of technologyactivities aimed to bridgea gap between the

current yield levels realised inthe plantations and thepotential yield of the spice cropsobserved in the researchstations/elite farmers’ field. Thetechnologies evolved in variousresearch institutions withrespect to production,protection and scientific postharvest practices on crops are tobe transferred for fieldimplementations. Under theconventional networkprogramme, it may takeconsiderable delay in extendingthe proven technologies tofarmer’s field. In order toovercome the delay and speedyimplementation of theimproved technologies attainedfor achieving enhancedproductivity with respect toyield and quality of spice cropsICRI of the Spices Board has

diversified its extensionactivities.

The primary mandate ofthe institute is to developsuitable production and post-harvest technologies small andlarge cardamoms, vanilla. Theinstitute also undertakes theadaptive research on other spicecrops like black pepper, ginger,turmeric and herbal spiceswhich are the companion cropscultivated in the cardamom ecosystem. The performance of thecardamom clones are locationspecific and by virtue of itsperformance the cardamomtract is categorised into variouszones earlier (A, B and C zones).With the adoption of intensivecultivation practices hasincreased the yield levelssignificantly in the plantationsaccompanied withenvironmental problems. Asustainable production underthe field adoption of Good

Agricultural Practices is theonly option to answer thechallenges encountered in theplantations.

The institute is implement-ing the transfer of technologyprogrammes through training,conducting seminars, scientists– farmers interface, mobile agri– clinics and residential trainingon Good Agricultural Practices(GAP) to unemployed youthsfor quality spice production.Supply of organic inputs andbioagents like Trichoderma sps,Pseudomonas sps, EPN(Entomopathogenic Nema-todes) in cadaver form for themanagement of various dis-eases and pest ( Root grub ) tofarmers is being undertaken.Soil analysis for major nutrientsis being carried out for fertiliserrecommendation in the carda-mom plantations. Need basedadvisory field visits to carda-mom plantations are also un-

TRANSFER OF

TECHNOLOGY ACTIVITIES

- AT A GLANCE

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dertaken on request of the farm-ers. Technology disseminationthrough All India Radio /Dooradarshan and establishingdemonstration plots in the car-damom tract is practiced.

Training : The trainingprogrammes are organised forfarmers, SHOs ( Self helpGroups ) women entrepreneurs,officials of the state and centralgovernments on GoodAgricultural Practices (GAP) forquality spice production ,organic farming and productiontechnology of bioagents ,vermicompost and otherorganic inputs likePanchagavya, egg aminoextract, fish amino extract etc…at the Research Institute,Myladumpara and in variousspice crops grown areas.Scientists – farmers interface isanother extension programmein which scientists and farmersparticipates in the open houseinteraction to sort out the fieldproblems encountered in theplantations.

Bio-agents : Various bioagentsare employed for themanagement of diseases ofspice crops. The technology forthe production and use ofbioagents like Trichoderma andPseudomonas has beenstandardised. These bioagentsare supplied to farmers onrequest. EPN (EntomoPathogenic Nematode) incadaver form is also distributed

to farmers for the managementroot grub problem in theplantations on trial basis.

Good Agricultural Practices(GAP) for Quality Spicesproduction : The Spices Boardhas initiated a residentialtraining programme of threemonths duration on GoodAgricultural Practices (GAP) forquality spices production tounemployed youths of India.The major objectives of thetraining programme are tocreate a parallel extensionsystem in rural areas whereSpices Board operates itsdevelopment activities. Thetraining programme wasdesigned for youths who areinterested in taking upagriculture as a profession inrural areas aimed at ecologicallysound and sustainable spicesproduction. It is intended thatthe better–equippedagriculturist will contribute toproduction of quality spices forthe domestic / internationalmarkets as well as earn a betterlivelihood with professionalfarming. The trainees can alsoget involved in self-employment opportunities suchas nursery production, bio-agent production, consultancyservices etc. Moreover otherinterested entrepreneurs /NGOs could utilize the serviceof the trainees for improvingtheir own farms.

So far seven programmeswere conducted and a total ofone hundred fifty twounemployed youths fromKerala, Tamil Nadu, AndraPradesh and North Eastenstates (Assam, Tripura,Manipur, Nagaland,Meghalaya, Sikkim ) weretrained. Emphasis was given onpractical training on variousaspects of spices productioncovering the following aspects.

1. Method of Soil analysis formajor nutrients,identification of nutrientdeficiency based on plantsymptoms and fertilizerrecommendations.

2. Nursery management forproduction of qualityplanting materials ofcardamom, vanilla andother spices.

3. Good agricultural practicesof all the major spices.

4. Post harvest technology ofmajor spices, vanilla andherbal spices

5. Identification of pests anddiseases on major spices,and their managementpractices.

6. Safe use of agrochemicalsand fertilizers.

7. Production of bio-controlagents such Trichoderma,Pseudomonas, Beauveria,Metarhizium etc.

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Adequate exposure is givenon traditional farming / organicinputs preparation such asGood Panchagavya, Fermentedslurry, Fish amino extract, Eggamino extract, use of plantextracts as manure and for plantprotection etc. The trainees alsoget involved in the programmeon organic agriculture systemsuch as Biodynamic faming,and Effective Microorganism(EM) technology. The traineesare given an initial intensivetraining on English andcomputer application to copeup with the latest trends, inmodern agriculture.

During the course of thetraining programme, thetrainees were given exposurevisits to Indian Institute ofSpices Research. Kozhikode,CWDRM, Calicut andAgricultural Universities forobtaining practical training onspices like pepper, ginger,turmeric, tree spices and onwater management. Resourcespersons from agriculturaluniversities, nationalinstitutions and award winningfarmers imparted training onGood Agricultural practices forquality spice production and onrural based extension activities.

Mobile Agri – clinic : Spicesproductivity is the reflection ofsoil health, conduciveenvironment and goodagricultural practices formaximizing production in spice

crops like cardamom. Intensivefarming practices have resultedin realizing high yield levels inthe plantations. Indiscriminateuse of chemical fertilizers,pesticides and other agro-chemicals became a commonpractice in the cardamomplantations under intensivemanagement. This has led tovarious problems including theoccurrence of new diseases,incidence of pest resurgence,environmental pollution, healthhazards and rise in soil andambient temperature in theforest eco system. More over,the high cost of productionassociated with increasedproduction and productivitybecame very oftenunsustainable. Considering theseriousness of the problems inthe plantations Spices Board hasinitiated a Mobile Agri – Clinicwith the financial support of theNational Horticulture Mission,Kerala to create awareness onenvironmental safety and needto achieve sustainableproduction through adoption ofscientific Package of Practices.Mobile agri-clinic isimplemented through regularscientific interventions at thefarm level in various locationsof the cardamom tract tohighlight the proventechnologies developed at theresearch institutes. It is aimed tobring about a close interactionbetween the scientists andfarmers at farm gate level. Both

research and developmentdepartment of the Boardinvolved in the conduct of theprogramme.

The activities involved inthe mobile agri clinic areenvisaged to make on the spotassessment of soil health andfertility status in the cardamomtract in Idukki district initiallyand thereafter will be extendedto other parts of the cardamomtract in the Western Ghats.During the plantation visit andthe interface, technologies willbe transferred to farmers for theefficient management ofnutrient, pest and diseaseproblems in the plantations. Ateam of scientists representingeach research departmentparticipate in the programmeand provide awareness on theinnovative technologiesdeveloped in the researchinstitutes for field adoption atvarious selected locations of thecardamom tract.

The Board has alreadyconducted 21 mobile agri clinicscovering Idukki and Palakkaddistricts of Kerala out of which17 are conducted in Idukkidistrict. Problems encounteredin the plantations were criticallyanalysed and suggestedsuitable measures for increasingthe production andproductivity of cardamom andother spice crops in therespective areas.

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GREEN ECONOMY

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FibrelessChillies (Bird’s Eye)

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Curcumin content - 6.5%, 7.3% & 9.0%

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Chilli seeds & saplings

Turmeric (GCT-1 Black Pepper9.0% Curcumin (HPLC)

Turmeric (Lakadang) Cinnamon7.30% Curcumin (HPLC)

Ginger (Moran) Bay Leaves2.10% Oil (Vol)

Ginger (Thingria) Large Cardamom1.85% Oil (Vol) Bada Dana

Chilli (Bird’s Eye) Large Cardamom1.20 % Capsaicin Chota Dana

Chilli (King or Raja) Lichens3.50% Capsaicin (Wood & Store)

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INDIAN CARDAMOM

RESEARCH INSTITUTE

REGIONAL RESEARCH STATION, SAKLESPUR

Profile and ProspectsK. Dhanapal , Sreekrishna Bhat,

I.R.Noolvi and J. ThomasICRI, Regional Research Station, Saklespur, Karnataka-573 134

Karnataka shares majorcontribution next toKerala in the cultivation

of cardamom in the country,specifically in Mudigeri,Sakalespur, Madikeri, UttaraKannada and DhaksinaKannada. Most of the areas arecategorized as high rainfallareas, exhibiting a totallydifferent agro climatic conditionfrom other cardamomproducing states. To cater to theregional specific needs of thecardamom growers ofKarnataka the regional researchstation was established atDonigal, which is locatedalmost 45 km from Hassan and130 km from Mangalore. TheRegional Research Stationstarted functioning from1978 in20 hectares.

Salient findings of this station

Even with the limitedfacilities available, the stationhas contributed substantiallynot only to the cardamom

development in the region, butalso to the spices growers ofKarnataka. The institute hasreleased a variety of cardamom–ICRI-3, to suit the high rainfallarea of Karnataka. The stationconserves the genetic diversityof cardamom of the region,maintaining at present 283accessions and 12 allied genera,which are being used fordifferent plant breedingprogrammes. A number ofhybrids produced at this stationare under various stage ofevaluation. Identified twogenotypes (SKP-169 and SKP-170) for release. Katte virustolerant lines have also beendeveloped.

Field trials proved thatapplication of 125:125:250 kgNPK/ha/year along with foliarfeeding of 0.25 per cent Zincsulphate and 0.3 per cent Boranincreases the yield underirrigated condition.Application of 20 kg of sulphurwith normal dose of fertilizer

increases the cardamom yieldand oil content (20- 25 per cent).In organic cultivation ofcardamom, Imposition of 50grams of Phasphobacteriumwith 5 to 10 kg FYM increasesthe production

The efficiency of biocontrolagents such as Trichodermaharzianum, Pseudomonasfluorescens were studied againstrot diseases of cardamom,pepper and vanilla. Thebioagents are effectivelycontrolling the rot diseases ofthese spices. These bio-controlagents supplied by this stationhas been giving best results inthe field and the planters arewell aware of superior qualityof the bio-control agentssupplied by this station. Thesequality bio-control agents aresupplied at very nominal ratekeeping an eye on promotingorganic farming in this station.

The causal organisms ofchenthal and capsule tip rot ofcardamom was identified as

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Collectrotricum gleosporoides andRhizoctonia solani respectively.Chenthal can be controlledthrough three round spray ofMangozeb(0.20 per cent) at 30days interval followed byproper shade regulation.Spraying of 0.2 per cent ofCarbendazim or copperoxychloride significantlyreduces the capsule tip rot ofcardamom. Drenching andspraying of copperoxychloride(0.2 per cent) in thepre-mansoon season ( May orJune) is found to be reduced therhizome rot disease ofcardamom

The lifecycle of the majorpests of cardamom was studied.Suitably incorporating theseprinciples, effective integratedpest management (IPM)strategy has been developed.The usage of pesticides has beenbrought down to minimumlevel and standardized.

The station has been at theforefront in augmenting vanillacultivation in Karnataka regionby providing technical supporton cultivation, diseasemanagement and post harvestaspects and also supplyingquality planting materials.

ICRI, RRS, Farm

This station is havingresearch farm in 19.27 hectares.The research farm is bifurcatedin 20 blocks. Most of the blocksare under cardamomcultivation for research purposeand maintenance of cardamomgermplasm. Cardamom plants

in most of the areas (Block no.6,10, 16, 18,19and 20) have beenreplanted with elite plantingmaterials during this year. Theproduction of cardamom hasbeen increased compared toprevious year due to massiveapplication of compost. Otherimportant crops such as pepper,vanilla, tree spices, ginger,turmeric and herbal spices arealso cultivated as intercrop andmonocrop as well.

Demonstration trial plots(2007- 2012)

Location specificdemonstration trial plot wasinitiated in sixteen planter’sfield at Hongadahalla,Somwarpet and Bhagamandlaareas through adopting locationspecific Low Cost productionTechnology with the followingobjectives.

1. Evaluation of suitablevariety for these areas

2. Evaluation of Katte escapesin hot spot region

3. Creating awareness to theplanters on cardamomcultivation through lowcost production technology.

In the selected plantations,the high yielding and KatteEscape plants, need basedfertilizers and pesticides weresupplied in free of cost from thisRegional Reaserch Station,Saklespur. The scientists of thisstation are frequently visitingthese plots and recording theestablishment, causalities, pestand disease occurrence.

Extension activities

The station is doingservice for analysis of soilsamples from planter’s field andhelp in judicious application offertilizers not only forcardamom and other importantspice crops also. This stationprovides training cum seminaron various cultivation, harvest,and post harvest aspects ofspices, composting andproduction of bio-control agentsenlightening and refreshingtheir knowledge on theseaspects. On an average thisstation conducts 20 trainingprogrammes and many locationspecific planter group meetings.Group of Scientists is used tovisit the plantations. After thatand Scientist-planters interfaceswill be arranged at village levelmeeting for solving specificfield problems. Training givenon value addition in spicesimproves the skill and promotesnew entrepreneurs towardsproduction of value addedproduces, which gives betterreturns for their produce.Recently Mobile Agri. clinic isinitiated by this station. A teamof Scientist and Developmentofficials will be visiting differentspices growing areas. Duringthis season, cardamom seedsacid treatment and training onimproved agro technique forcardamom cultivation wereconducted during thiscampaign. Planters fromAthihalli, Hongadahalla,Kaganeri, Vanagoor, Mudigere,Somwarpet,Virajpet,Madikeriand Bhagmandala are highlybenefited. �

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V.V. Radhakrishnan,K.J. Madhusoodanan,

K.M. Kuruvilla and J. ThomasSpices Board

Indian Cardamom Research Institute,Myladumpara – 685 553, Idukki Dt.

Introduction

Use of genetically superiorplanting materials andcultivation adopting improvedagrotechniques are the mostaccepted means to enhance cropproductivity. Blessed with thetwin advantages of vegetativepropagation and viable sexualreproduction, cardamom offersimmense scope for exploitationin the crop improvementprogrammes. Clonal selection

and hybridization have beenused for evolving new varietiesof cardamom. The thrust areasin the improvementprogrammes identified forcardamom include isolation ofelite clones/varieties suited todifferent agro ecologicalconditions and development ofhybrids/lines having higheryield, superior quality capsulesand resistance/tolerancetowards abiotic/biotic stresses.

Cardamom being a crosspollinated species, studies aretaken up in germplasmenrichment, selection,hybridization, polyploidbreeding, mutation breedingand tissue culture.

Germplasm

The crop improvementprogramme in cardamombegan with the exploration forgenetic variability which is

ICRI - 5

CROP IMPROVEMENTPROGRAMMES ON

CARDAMOM AT ICRI

CROP IMPROVEMENTPROGRAMMES ON

CARDAMOM AT ICRI

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available in the Western Ghatregion, the centre of origin ofthe crop. Genetic variability isthe essence of any plantbreeding programme. Anassembly of diverse geneticstocks of any crop is the rawmaterial from which newvariety can be moulded to suitthe requirement of farmers andend users.

Currently the clonalrepository attached to theIndian cardamom ResearchInstitute (ICRI) has over 800accessions. ICRI has beenrecognized as the NationalCentre for cardamom geneticresources by the Indian Councilof Agricultural Research(ICAR). Some of the variantsthat are conserved in therepository are accessionshaving six panicles per tiller,pink tiller, compound panicles,terminal panicles, branchedracemes, narrow leaves, clonescharacterized with asexuality,female sterility andcleistogamy.

Selection

The major objectives forselection of cardamom cloneshave been high productivity,superior capsule quality andadaptability to variousagroclimatic zones. Over 300accessions from the germplasmcollection have undergonepreliminary evaluation trials;

out of which promising oneswere taken to comparative yieldtrials and multilocationalevaluation. Among them fiveselections have already beenreleased for large scalecultivation in Kerala (ICRI-1,ICRI-2, ICRI-6), Karnataka(ICRI-3) and Tamilnadu (ICRI-4). Accessions namely MCC-21,MCC-246, MCC-309 and MCC-346 are in pipeline for selectionas high yielders and they aresuperior in one or other qualitycharacters also.

Hybridization

Hybridization, the mostimportant conventionalbreeding method, involvesartificial pollination betweenselected male and femaleclones. Evaluation of the F1

hybrids for vigour and selectionof promising recombinants areprocesses involvedsubsequently to spot out elitegenotypes. Cardamom ishighly heterozygous and due toits perennial nature,conventional method forevolving homozygous lines istime consuming. Attempts forproduction of haploids throughanther culture are yet tosucceed. In cardamom, bothintergeneric and intervarietalhybridizations were carried out.The former one was tried withan intention of transferring thealien gene responsible for

desirable resistant characters.However such attempts werefutile.

Intervarietal hybridizationwas successfully carried outusing different varieties/cultivars of cardamom. This hasresulted in the crosscombination of over fifty F1

hybrids. On preliminaryevaluation of these hybrids,eight of them such as MHC-10,MHC-13, MHC-18, MHC-22,MHC-23, MHC-24, MHC-26and MHC-27 have been foundto be promising with regard toyield and yield contributingcharacters. These eight hybridshave been subjected toperformance evaluationalongwith the released varietiesand found that MHC-26produced a yield of over twotones per hectare andsubsequently the hybrid hasbeen released as ICRI-5 by theKerala State Variety ReleaseCommittee for large scalecultivation. ICRI-5, a crosscombination of MCC-260 andICRI-1 is the first man madehybrid in cardamom.Demonstration and evaluationtrials of ICRI-5 have been laidout at 200 locations during lastyear across the cardamom tractto understand its fieldperformance at variouslocations and also to popularizethe hybrid among cardamomgrowers.

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In addition to selection andhybridization, specialtechniques like polyploidbreeding, mutation breedingand in vitro culture techniqueshave also been attempted forcreation of genetic variability incardamom.

Breeding for resistance

Drought

Major area under the cropis in rainfed condition. Hence,efforts to incorporate higherlevel of drought tolerance intocardamom need no justification.The development of newvarieties/cultivars with greattolerance to water stressconditions and potential toincrease and stabilize yields isof great concern in cardamom.ICRI has made some progress inthis direction by collecting oversixty drought ‘escapes’ from thelow rainfall areas like Kolli andYercaud hills in Tamilnadu andfrom the Kannielam tract ofKerala. These collections arepresently under evaluation forvarious growth, yield andbiochemical characters. Inaddition, the germplasmaccessions available in theclonal repository of the instituteare being subjected tobiochemical drought tolerancestudies.

Pests and diseases

Pests and diseases pose a

great threat to the cardamomproduction in the country. It isestimated that diseases andpests can cause over 80 per centcrop loss during the years ofsevere incidence. Chemicalcontrol of these pests anddiseases not only causespollution problem but alsoeliminates beneficialmicroorganisms. It also resultsin the occurrence of pesticideresidue in the produce.Collection of ‘escapes’ from hotspots seems to be an initial stepin resistance breeding ofplantation crops includingcardamom. Germplasmsurveys taken up by theinstitute to problem pocketsenabled to isolate a number of‘escapes’ of ‘thrips’ attack and‘azhukal’ disease infection. Apreliminary screening ofcardamom varieties andimproved genotypes wascarried out to test the relativetolerance to ‘azhukal’ diseaseinfection. Varieties such asMalabar and Vazhukka werefound to be more susceptible to‘azhukal’ as compared toMysore. The selections such asICRI-2, MCC-12 and MCC-40showed moderate tolerance tothe disease.

In addition to the effortsundertaken by ICRI,enterprising farmers havedeveloped a few promising

landraces like Njallani,Palakkudi, Panikulangara,Elarani, Vander cardamom,PNS Vaigai, Vali green bold etc.Detailed studies to assess theextent of variability in theselandraces are being undertakenfor utilizing them in the futurebreeding programmes.Considering the rich geneticbase as well as high locationspecificity of landraces, theyhave been incorporated in thehybridization programmesinitiated last year as parents toproduce location specific, highyielding and high qualityhybrids for the various zones ofthe cardamom tract. Productionof location specific hybrids isone of the priority areas in thebreeding programmes of theinstitute. Field trials forisolating suitable hybrids/selections for the traditionalcardamom tract of Wayanad arenearing conclusion. The hybridMHC-18 which is showingsuperiority over other cloneshas been put for demonstrationin planters’ field at ten locationsin Wayanad.

Crop improvement worksin cardamom involving bothtraditional and biotechnologicalmethods are in progress at ICRI.These works will be leading tothe synthesis of novel varietiespossessing the desiredcharacteristics.

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CARDAMOM CLONES FOR

WYNAD IN PIPELINE

V.V. Radhakrishnan and K.J. MadhusoodananSpices Board

Indian Cardamom Research Institute, Myladumpara

Idukki Dt., Kerala – 685 553

Introduction

Wynad, one of the richestagro biodiversity centres ofWestern Ghats is a traditionalcardamom growing area. Asizeable extent of about 4,000hectares in Wynad is undercardamom cultivation.However, production andproductivity of the crop inWynad is very low compared tothat of other areas of the

cardamom tract in the countryespecially the Idukki tract. Oneof the reasons for this situationcould be the non availability ofclones suited to the agroclimaticconditions of Wynad. In thisbackground, an evaluation trialincorporating nine improvedcardamom clones evolved bythe Indian Cardamom ResearchInstitute (Spices Board) was

conducted in a planter’s field inKalpetta and compared with areleased clone and a popularlocal variety with a view toisolate suitable clones forWynad.

Experiment details

The study was initiatedduring 2002-03 crop season andthe field trial was laid out inrandomized block design (RBD)with three replications andtwelve plants per plot adopting2.7 m X 2.7 m spacing. Nineimproved clones includingselections, hybrids andlandraces namely MHC-10,MHC-13, MHC-18, MCC-21,MCC-40, MCC-73, MCC-200,MCC-260 and MCC-346 wereincorporated in the trialalongwith the released varietyICRI-2 as standard check andthe locally available varietyClone-37 as local check.Package of practicesrecommendations of the SpicesBoard was followed forcultivation.

Observations on growthand yield parameters such astotal tillers, tiller height, numberof leaves on the tallest tiller,number of bearing tillers,number of panicles, number ofracemes per panicle, number ofcapsules per raceme andnumber of seeds per capsulewere recorded and analyzedstatistically. The plants in the

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trial plot started yielding aftertwo years of planting andstabilized yield for two cropseasons has been recorded sofar.

Findings

The performance ofcardamom clones varied withregard to growth and yieldattributes. Cardamom being acommercial crop, moreattention was paid for yieldevaluation. The yield differedsignificantly among the clonesand the hybrid MHC-18performed the bestconsecutively with a yield of1415 kg/hectare followed by

selections MCC-73 (1164 kg/hectare) and MCC-21 (1129 kg/hectare). Based on the yieldperformance MHC-18, MCC-73and MCC-21 are considered tobe high yielders suited to theagroclimatic conditions ofWayanad area of the cardamomtract. Performance of thereleased clone ICRI-2 and thelocal check Clone-37 was on parand differed significantly fromMHC-18, MCC-73 and MCC-21.All other clones were found tobe on par. The field trial will becontinued for one more cropseason to confirm the findings.

Meanwhile, considering the

best performance of MHC-18,demonstration plots of the clonehave been established at tenlocations in Wayanad forpopularizing it amongcardamom growers. Sincecardamom is a highly crosspollinated crop, vegetativepropagation by suckermultiplication is recommendedto produce uniform plantingmaterials. Large scalecultivation of the identifiedimproved clones by adoptinghigh production technologywould substantially enhancethe production andproductivity of cardamom inWayanad.

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GLOBAL WARMING:

DIVERSION TOWARDS SPICES

IN KULLU VALLEY

Raj Pal Meena and P R KumarDWR, Regional Station, Katrain,

Kullu-Valley, H. P. 175129IARI, Regional Station, Katrain,

Kullu-Valley, H. P. 175129

There is no doubt about itthat climate is changing.It goes without saying

that the climate would continueto change, which is a threat toagriculture and ecology. Even ifthe concentration of all greenhouse gases and aerosols werekept constant at year 2000levels, a further warming ofabout 0.1oC per decade wouldbe expected. Afterwardstemperature projections

increasingly depend on specificemission scenario (Anonymous,2007). This article presents avision of how the climaticproblems in agriculture can beaddressed. It is based onexperience in Kullu valleyregion of Himachal Pradesh ofIndia. The principles, which itlooks at, though, are valid inany system and any climaticzone. The title of the articlerefers to the conviction that

sustainable farming needs tochange in order to ecologicalprocesses.

Among all fruits, apple isthe main crop of HimachalPradesh occupying the place ofpride in economy. Kullu inNorthern Himachal Pradesh,also known as the apple basketof India, is steadily movingtowards other options. The risein temperature due to global

A view of the Kiwi orchard and vegetable fields in Kullu valley Photo : Author

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warming has affected applecultivation forcing farmers toshift to other cash crops. Theglobal warming has taken a tollon many varieties of traditionalfruits grown in the state, bothin terms of quality and quantity.The mean productivity of applein 1980-81 was 7.06 tonnes/hectare as compared to 4.65tonnes/hectare in 2004-05(Singh, 2008). In Kullu districtfarmers have shifted from appleto spices and vegetables. This isjust an example of impendingimpacts of global warming andclimate change.

It was recorded that theaverage maximum temperatureof the Kullu valley rose by0.58oC from the year of 1963 to2007, whereas the averageminimum temperature rose by2.75oC. Chilling affects theflowering and subsequent fruitsetting since inadequate chillingleads to poor flowering andsetting. Over the last 50 yearsthe average minimumtemperature for all the 12months has gone up. Theaverage minimum temperatureduring December, January andFebruary, which is the chillingsensitive period, has gone up by2.27, 2.68 and 3.63oCrespectively. There is nosurprise that the orchards below1300 meters above MSL have

been rendered unproductive.Frequent cases of extremeweather phenomenon havebeen seen in recent years whichare unfavourable foragriculture. The bee populationin natural fauna has alsodwindled decades owing todestruction of natural habitatsand indiscriminate use ofpesticides. The changedtemperature has affected theactivity of remainingpopulation adversely.

Twenty years ago snowfallwas a regular phenomenon inKullu town but in last 20 yearsonly two-three instances ofsnowfall have occurred. Appleand plum cultivation has beenadversely affected in lowerareas of Kullu and Mandidistricts. Consequently, thefarmers have shifted tocultivation of pomegranate,kiwi, vegetables and spice crops(garlic, ginger, lettuce, parsley,celery, capsicum, pepper,turmeric etc.) i.e. diversion fromcultivation of traditional crops.Among several factors manysuspects global warming to bethe main culprit. The miserablesituation created by changingtemperature regime iscompounded by inappropriateand indiscriminate use ofpesticides. Alarming increase innumber of colonies of red spider

mites due to faulty use ofinsecticides is an example. Asurvey revealed that about 69per cent apple orchards inShimla, Mandi and Kulludistricts were infested withmites. Prolonged hot and dryspells during summers hasaggravated the problem further.

In early years of felt effectsof climate change in Kullu somefarsighted farmers startedspices crop cultivation to fightthis threat of climate change andtook it as a challenge. This savesthe livelihood of farmers of thisregion and now these farmersheading towards prosperitythrough these new cropadventures in the valley. Thesedays spice crops are cultivatedon large scale in Kullu districtin which mostly garlic, ginger,capsicum, pepper, turmericlettuce, parsley, celery aregrown. Garlic was cultivated onarea of 800 hectares andproduction was 7200 metrictonnes during 2007-08. In thedistrict ginger was grown on 50hectares of land and productionwas 75 metric tonnes, whereasLettuce, Parsley and Celerywere covered an area of 30hectares with combinedproduction of 450 metric tonnes.In the state under technologymission for integrateddevelopment additional area

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under different spices crop werecovered during the year of 2006-07 as crop diversification. In2006-07 the area of Capsicumwas increased 385 hectares,whereas the area under ginger,garlic and turmeric hasincreased 700 hectares.Medicinal and aromatic plantscovered 50 more hectares andadoption of organic farming inthe area was rose to 365 hectaresduring the year of 2006-07.Under the same mission 3646vermicompost units were madeduring the year. In order to savethe livelihood, a group offarmers in Kullu have startedcultivation of pomegranates ascash crop. The yield has beengood and many farmers havebenefited from the cultivation ofthis crop. Since 2002 peoplestarted planting pomegranate.These days pomegranate iscultivated on almost 435hectares of land in Kullu districtin which mostly Kandhari,Hansi, Mridula and Sindhurivarieties are grown. Thepomegranate cultivation hasushered the farmers to a newsocio-economic life style. "Oflate, the pomegranatecultivation has proved to be aboon for this area. In all, weproduce almost pomegranateworth about rupees one lakhfrom one bigha (0.625 acre) ofland. This year, my target is to

earn Rs. 1.5 lakh from one bigha"said Jai Kishan, a pomegranatecultivator.

The orchardists are alsoswitching to strategy of organiccultivation and minimum use ofcostly external inputs. Insteadof using pesticides to controlleaf fall disease in apple crop,farmers have adopted practiceof havans (Agnihotra) withdefinite success. After a surveyby joint team of Indian andSwiss experts it was found thatheavy use of chemical fertilizersand pesticides has degraded thesoils and ecosystem. Duringtheir awareness campaign theywere surprised to find that 80farmers were practicing organicfarming with good results.Although this is only amicroscopic minority withspreading awareness this maytake form of a revolution in duecourse.

Conclusion

Changing climate in NorthWestern Himalyas have broughtforth myriad new problems andnew questions, the solutions towhich will be generated bycombining farmers’ ingenuity,new technologies and severaltrial-and-error efforts. Thefarmers who tried new crops inearly years with eventualsuccess have presented a nice

example of quick anddiscretionary adaptation tochanging scenarios. In fastglobalizing world establishingbackward-forward linkages didnot prove a big challenge. Onthe one hand it may appear thatglobal warming is posing athreat to establish systems, onthe other hand it also broughtus face-to-face with newopportunities. The innovativefarmers of Kullu and Lahaulvalley have shown the way byconverting threat intoopportunity. And beautifullyso, only with local resourcesand without use of costlyinputs. Their response to thissituation has been exemplaryand they were able to reduce theprophesy of crisis in a rumour.Accepting the change andgetting in tune with nature isthe key to survival andprosperity.

References

Anonymous (2007). Fourthassessment report of IPCC-Climate Change 2007: SynthesisReport WGI 10.3, 10.7; WGIII 3.2

Singh, H.P.(2008).Mitigating global warming…Development in horticulturalcrop production with climatechange. Indian Horticulturesep-oct. 2008.pp39-45.

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CHANDERI

Hugh & Colleen Gantzer

In winter, the landscapes ofnorthern and central Indiaare patched with gold.

Mustard fields blaze inglory, mustard flavours tinglethe tongue with sharppungency. Here, mustard is notjust a spice, it is ingested

warmth, fortifying the bodyagainst the chill morning andevening mists; hot mustard oilis an ideal unguent banishingaches and pains; mustard leavesare relished as greens to stir awinter-sluggish digestion.

Mustard works in many

ways to armour weavers as theysit in dank rooms, clackettyy-clacking gold threads, silverthreads, silk threads and cottoninto creations of gossamersplendour

We were in MadhyaPradesh’s historic valley ofChanderi: home of the famousChanderi weave, and where thewarp of history is shot throughwith the bright weft of legends.

“We don’t know whobrought us here” a weaver said.“Perhaps we were here whenthe Rajputs came; or, maybe,they brought us in from adistant place to weave theirscintillating turbans andhandkerchiefs. Our buzurgs, ourrespected elders, say that onceChanderi was on the caravanroute linking the north to theImperial capitals of Agra andDelhi. That is why the rich Jaintraders built their temples andmonasteries on the cliffs above,and that is why Babar attackedthe Rajputs in Kirti Pal’s greatfort and established his owngovernors here. “

The Piquant Fabric of Folklore

One of the Jain Monoliths ofChanderi

©

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“Do you still have tradewith other places?” we asked.

“No,” said one man, andthere was a heated discussionamong them in a fast Hindi-based dialect that we could notunderstand. Then anotheradded: “The British rail lineweakened the caravan route toits extinction. But, yes, we stilltrade with the rest of India. Thecotton of our warp comes fromCoimbatore, the gold of our zari-thread is brought in fromGujarat, the silk of our weft isimported from Varanasi but, intruth, we understand that it ismade in China because theyspin the best silk. Andforeigners, tourists, buy ourweaves for curtains and tablecloths and dresses. We have

formed Self-help groups, likeco-operatives, and we arehappy…”

We did our adab farewellsto them and stepped out,nodding to the wispy-beardedBasik Mohammed Mazawar,keeper of a revered tomb andtraditional warp stretcher. Hewas supervising the laying ofcotton threads down thestraight, narrow lanes designedto hold the warp-trestles of theweavers. Filmy music filteredout of the courtyard houses,punctuated by the steady,wooden clacking of the looms.

Down the broader, butcrowded, main roads. historywas a constant subliminalrefrain breaking into theassertive chorales of themonuments. The Badal Mahalwas no mansion, no mahal, but

A Chanderi weaver at his loom

The lakshman temple reflected in Raja Sishupal’s tank

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a lancet-shaped gateway thatled from nowhere to nowhere.The Tombs of the Nizamuddinshad intricately carved stonegrilles but no one could tell usif these Nizam-ud-dins wererelated to the sufi seer of Delhi.The great, grey, stone walls thathad once encompassed this city

still stood, but many of themhad been encroached upon toerect shops and houses. A pujariin a red lungi sat on the balconyof the white marble LakshmanTemple, reflected in the stillsurface of Raja Sishupal’s Tank.A goddess had created itshealing waters to cure the king

of a skin disease but he hadbroken his promise not to unveilher idol prematurely, and soonly her head is nowworshipped in the JageshwariMandir.

Another unfinished talewreathes Koshak Mahal, theimpressive double-storeyedpalace commissioned byMahmood Khilji II in 1445 as aseven-storey building. The fiveupper floors collapsed due tofaulty construction and werenever rebuilt.

A more tragic tale wreatheda lone monument called theShahzadi ka Rauza standing atopa high plinth. A princess fell inlove with a handsomecavalryman in her father’sbodyguard. She wanted tomarry him but her father wasoutraged. “How dare he courtyou: he a commoner and you ofthe highest royal blood!” hethundered and ordered that thepresumptuous suitor be killed.On hearing his sentence, thecondemned man gallopedaway, but his steed was nomatch for those of his incensedassassins. They caught up withhim and slaughtered him.When the princess learnt of thisshe raced to her beloved’scorpse, threw herself on it, anddied of a broken heart. Now herfather had a problem. As hisdaughter, she was entitled to a

The Kati gate pierced through a rock wall links Bundelkhand to Malwa

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mausoleum; but as his fallendaughter she should notbecome an object of veneration.So he had her cenotaph placedatop a high plinth in the centreof a marshy tract of low-lyingland. But then, our generation,enchanted by this Romeo andJuliet tale, built a causewayaccessing the lonely cenotaph.

Great loves and greattragedies make great legends.

We drove to the highestpoint in Chanderi and into theonce-formidable fort of RajaKirti Pal. In the distance, abullock-cart plodded throughthe Kati Gate carved through a

rock wall separatingBundelkhand from Malwa. Onthe far edge of Chanderi’s bowlspread the graceful religiouscomplex of the Jains, the lowsun of evening plating amonolith with gold.

Our guide turned ourattention back into the fort. “Atthat spot” he said, pointing to alow monument near a smallravine, “the Rajput warriors,realizing that they wereoutnumbered by the besiegingforces of Babur, prayed andbathed. And then they killedtheir women and children.After which, they strippedthemselves of all their garments

and jewellery, and with onlytheir swords in their hands, ranout to meet their enemies, andcertain death, in the heroictradition of jauhar: embracingthe jewel of self-sacrifice ratherthan the dishonour ofsurrender.” He gazed at the redsoil of the ravine, touched by thecrimson of sunset. “To thisday..” he said, “the soil isstained with their chivalrousblood!”

There can, clearly, be a lotof embellishment on theenchanting fabric of folklore.Especially when you havemustard to stimulate the palateof the mind!.

STATEMENT ABOUT OWNERSHIP AND OTHERPARTICULARS ABOUT THE NEWSPAPER

SPICE INDIA (ENGLISH)(Form IV-See Rule –8)

1. Place of Publication : Kochi2. Periodicity of its

publication : Monthly3. Printer’s Name : K.Lekshmikutty

Whether citizen of India : YesAddress : Spices Board

Ministry of Commerce& IndustryGovernment of IndiaPalarivattom P.O.Cochin – 682025

4. Publisher’s Name : K.Lekshmikutty Whether citizen of India : Yes Address : Spices Board

Ministry of Commerce& IndustryGovernment of IndiaPalarivattom P.O.Cochin – 682025

5. Editor’s Name : Dr.P.S.Sreekantan ThampiWhether citizen of India : YesAddress : Spices Board

Ministry of Commerce &IndustryGovernment of IndiaPalarivattom P.O.Cochin – 682025

6. Name and address of : Wholly owned byindividuals who own Spices Boardthe news paper andpartners or shareholdersholding more than onepercent of the total capital

I, K.Lekshmikutty, hereby declare that the particulars givenabove are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.Dated: 1-3-2009 Sd/-

Publisher

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TOWARDS ESTABLISHINGBLACK PEPPER PLANTATION

IN GUYANAB. SASIKUMAR

ITEC Expert (Spice Technology)National Agricultural Research Institute

Mon Repos,ECD,GuyanaEmail:Sasikumarsooranadu@gmail.com

Guyana,one of the lessdeveloped nations inthe Caribbeans is

blessed with ideal climate forspices and fertile land. Spices,though has good potential as acommercial crop in Guyana,anyspice crop except ginger is yetto establish in the country as amajor spice. However,very fewisolated plants ofblackpepper,turmeric and somenutmeg trees are seen in thehomesteads. Realising the scopeof spices in boosting theNational Exchequer,Government of Guyana hasembarked upon a program ofspices development in thecountry,especially blackpepper,ginger,turmeric and nutmeg.

The blackpepper plantsavailable in the country areprobably early unorganizedintroductions from Brazil.Theseplants are seen trailed on avariety of live or even deadstandards in the backyardswithout any proper care. Lack

of awareness of nurserypractices,varieties,plantationestablishment,plant protectionand post harvest practices arethe major constraints ofblackpeper at preset in Guyana.

To lay a good foundationfor blackpepper developmentin the country, scientificapproaches are now initiated asbelow:

Germplasm collection

Surveys were conducted atdifferent regions of the countryto collect the availablevariability. Apparently itappears that the cultivardiversity is rather limited in thecountry. Seven accessions arecollected and are beingmultiplied. Though uncared thevines are found to bemoderately good yielders.

Nursery techniques

Nursery practices ofblackpepper including rootingof runner shoots through ‘Pit

method’ , ‘Bamboo method ‘ ofmultiplication and plantprotection at the nursery arebeing demonstrated .

Open pollinated ProgenySelection

In order to evolve a varietyof blackpepper for the country,open pollinated seeds fromgood mother vines are collectedand the seedling variability isbeing studied. Good vigorousseedlings are noted among theseedling population raised.Selected seedlings will bemultiplied and evaluated foryield,quality and diseasereaction.

A good mother vine in a farmer’sbackyard

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BOARD IN BIOFACH 2009:WHERE WORLD’S ORGANIC PEOPLE MET

The 20th Anniversary of Biofach- theworld organic trade fair at NurenbergMesse, Germany was held from 19th– 22nd February 2009. There werearound 2900 exhibitors arrangedsystematically in ten large halls.Concurrently seminars on varioustopics pertaining to organic and fairtrade were added attractions for theintelligentsia.

The Indian Organic pavilion wasconspicuously present in hall No.4under APEDA banner and the heartof the pavilion was the Indian Spices.Under the umbrella of Spices Board,Six organic spice exporters exhibitedtheir certified products ranging fromclean spices, spice powder, masalamixes, spice oils and oleoresins,dehydrated spices, green pepper,white pepper to a variety of valueadded spices. The Indian OrganicSpice exporters participated in theSpices Board Pavilion were M/s.Jeevagram, Kalady, Kochi [Email:jeevagram@vsnl.com], Representedby Mr Johny Vadakkumchery;

Manarcadu Social Service Society,Kottayam 686 019, Kerala [Email:exports@plantrich.com] Representedby Mr Bijumon Kurian; VantageOrganic Foods Pvt. Ltd Rajasthan.Email: info @ vantagetradeservices.com reepresented by Mr Vipul Gupta;Viral International [Email:info@viralspices.com] Representedby Mr.Ramesbhai Viral Patel andWaynad Social Service Society,Manathavady [Email:wssindia@dataone.in, wsss@sify.com] represented by Rev. Fr .JohnJoseph. The spices Board with itsflavouit brand of organic spices wasrepresented by Dr. J. Thomas,Director Research and Mr. K. K.Anandan, Engineer.

Kancor Ingredients, Kochi andPeerumedu Development Society,Kerala also exhibited their spiceproducts in the Board’s Pavillion.

The spice exporters got theopportunity to meet and interact withvarious individual / participants,who were interested in sourcing

Indian organic spices and products.The Counsulate General of India ,Germany Mr.Anup Kumar Mudgilvisited the Indian pavilion on 20thand appreciated the arrangements inthe Spices Board pavilion, especiallythe literature on Indian OrganicSpices in German. Under the APEDApavilion there was demonstration onIndian cooking, where the aroma andtaste of Indian spices attracted acrowd every time the lid of thecooking vessel was opened or fryingpan became hot.

Europe, at large and Germany ,in particular is witnessing a sustainedgrowth in “BIO” products andorganics is one of the very few sectors,which shows a positive growth evenin the adversity of the global financialmelt down.

If you have an organic mind, getyourself prepared to be at Nurnberg,Germany from 17-20th February 2010,where Spices Board would bespreading a red carpet for you.

A view of the Spices Board stand at the Biofach 2009,Nurernberg

Mr K.K. Anandan [third from left] and Dr J Thomas[extreme right] at the stand with exhibitors.

�

Events

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The Board’s Field Office in Saklespur hasorganised quality improvement trainingprogrammes in Aluvally, Ussarmane,Kyanahally, and Byakaravally villages inKarnataka. Smt.Sreeja Rajendran andShriT.Ramu, Extention Assistant, Spices Board,Saklespur organised the meetings.

SAKLESPUR

A view of cardamom planters attending one of thoseprogrammes.

Spices Board’s field office Vanagur, in Karnatakahas organized 10 quality improvementprogrammes on cardamom from 12 to 22 January2009. The programmes were conducted in thefollowing places: Thambiligiri, Uchangi, Mageri,Bisle, Hadlahally, Bachahally, Yargally,Yedekumri, Kagineri and Yethalla.

VANAGUR

Shri.Biju, Field Officer, Vanagur explaining asymptom of disease in a cardamom plant to thefarmers.

Shri. R.Sundararaman a well known organic farmer in Tamil Nadu is seen taking class on organic cultivationof cardamom to the Tamil Nadu Cardamom Plantes Association, Periyakulam at a seminar held on 12th

February 2009 at the Board’s office in Bodinayakanur.

BODINAYAKANUR

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DIMAPUR

Shri.A.N.Nagaraj, Senior Field Office, Spices Board,Dimapur taking class to the Large CardamomPlanters of Mon in Nagaland on 16th February 2009

A Large Cardamom Planters is seen interacting at theseminar.

CONSTRUCTION OF POLY HOUSEAT AIGOOR & BILIGERI

Construction of polyhouse with grant assistanceof National Horticulture Mission has been set upat Board’s departmental nursery in Aigoor andBiligiri in Karnataka. This project wasimplemented through the Department ofHorticulture, Government of Karnataka. SpicesBoard has taken up this programme to produce1,10,040 cardamom seedlings, 1,54,623 pepper

rooted cuttings and 7,620 pepper nucleusmaterials of high yielding varieties cuttings. Thisis supplied to the farmers/NGO’s/GovernmentDepartments in Karnataka on no loss no profitbasis. The spices planting materials raised underpolyhouse have been noticed vigorous growth inthe field condition.

Shri.R.Chandrasekhar, Director (Development)inaugurating the Poly House at Aigoor nursery ofthe Board in Karnataka

An inside view of the Polyhouse

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� System Certification

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• EMS ISO 14001:2004 (UKAS)• OHSAS: 18001.• ISMS ISO 27001 (UKAS)• TS 16949 (IATF)• AS 9100

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• FSM 22000:2005 (UKAS)• ISO 9001 + HACCP• Eurepgap (UKAS/COFRAC)• BRC (British Retail Consortium)

Certification• Marine Stewardship Council

(Chain of Custody)• GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)

for procedures of animal feed• GTP (Good Training Practice)

for cereals and grain storage• Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS)

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• WRAP Certification• SA 8000

� Product Certification

• CE Marketing

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• IBR, MOM, DOSH Approvals

• WEEE/IECQ QC 080000

Training Courses

Directives Covered

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II Pestmanagement

NURSERY

� Regular watering may be given to bed/polybag/ sucker nursery basedon necessity.

� To control damping off/seedling rot diseases in nursery, soildrenching with 0.2 per cent copper oxychloride or 0.2 per centmancozeb may be taken up.

� As bio-control measure, trichoderma or Pseudomonas or Bacillusspecies may be applied in the soil.

� For controlling leaf rot disease, spray 0.3 per cent mancozeb and forcontrolling leaf spots, spray 0.25 per cent difoltalan or 0.2 per centbavistin after noticing early symptoms.

MAIN FIELD

� Continue irrigation based on necessity wherever irrigation facility isavailable.

� Light pruning may be done by way of removing only the hangingdry leaves and sheath. This will facilitate better pest control even atlow spray volume of pesticide

� For Integrated Pest Management prune dry leaves without removinggreen leaf sheath.

� Apply chlorpyriphos @ 200 ml per 100 liters of water (spray maycoincide shoot borer moth emergence).

� Keep constant vigil for any katte virus/kokke kandu affected plantsto uproot and destroy, if found.

� For controlling leaf rust and chenthal & leaf spots, if found, spray0.25 per cent Mancozeb or Companion (two to three rounds – 30 daysinterval).

CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS FOR

IMPORTANT SPICES - APRIL 2009Timely planning and execution of farm operations based on agroclimatic conditions of the area

is important for successful farming for higher productivity and sustainability. To facilitate this acalendar of operations in respect of important spice crops for April is given below.

Name of the crop/Type of operation Details of the operations

CARDAMOMI Agronomic measures

III Diseasemanagement

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� If symptoms of stem lodging are noticed, spray 0.2 per cent Bavistinon pseudo stem.

� Root rot and leaf yellowing can be controlled by foliar spray and soildrenching with 0.2 per cent Bavistin or Carbendazim + Mancozeb.

� If symptoms of capsule brown spot (Anthracnose) is noticed, spraywith 0.2 per cent Bavistin.

� Continue harvesting with a gap of 25-30 days depending upon thematurity of the capsules in irrigated plantations..

� Harvest only the matured capsules for getting better out turn.

� Always store the cured cardamom capsules at 10 per cent moisture in300 gauge black polythene lined gunny bags inside wooden box toretain green colour and quality.

Nursery

� Regular watering may be done in the sucker nursery with availablewater resources depending on moisture status in the soil.

� Dried or powdered cattle manure / organic manure / topsoil may beapplied in the nurseries for healthy growth of suckers if not appliedso far.

� Diseases/pests infested suckers may be removed and destroyed.

� It is desirable for every large cardamom farmer to have their ownlarge cardamom high yielding sucker nursery, for which selection ofsites, collection of cattle manure, jungle soil, bamboo materials maybe started.

Plantations

� Large cardamom plants may be irrigated at regular intervals withavailable water resources, depending on rainfall and moisture statusin the soil.

� Chirke and foorkey infected plants may be destroyed by uprooting/burial at regular intervals in the pits.

� Regular inspections may be carried out to observe caterpillar/shootborer/shoot fly incidence if any and may be hand picked anddestroyed mechanically.

LARGECARDAMOM

IV Harvest andpost harvestoperations

I Agronomicmeasurers

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� Application of cattle manure/compost/organic manures will help ingetting sustained production, improving productivity and quality ofthe crop.

� One round weeding followed by mulching may be carried out toconserve soil moisture if it is not done earlier.

� All the aged/diseased/unproductive cardamom plants may beuprooted and destroyed and the cardamom field may be kept readyfor marking lines, opening pits, so that the timely replantation/gapfilling operation can be taken soon after getting rains.

� Soon after the receipt of rains, weeding may be attended for easymovement of pollinators & for getting higher yield.

� Arrangements may be made for getting good shade tree saplings forplanting in the open/poor shaded areas.

Nursery

� Watering to be continued regularly to the pepper cuttings in polybags.

� After summer showers, due to warm humid situation, there arechances for occurrence of leaf rot disease. If it appears spray thecuttings with 0.2 per cent Carbendazim or one per cent Bordeauxmixture and also remove the disease affected cuttings and destroythem.

Main field:

� If liming was not done in the past two years, lime @ 500 grams pervine may be applied after getting first summer rain.

� Irrigation to be continued based on weather condition and necessity.

� Tying of vines with the standard to be continued based on necessity.

� Continue pollinating the flowers manually with the help of skilledlabourers between 6.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. on the day of flower opening.

� If mist or micro sprinkler irrigation facility is available it may beoperated daily to ensure required humidity and supply of water tovines.

� If any virus affected vines found in the vanillary, uproot them anddestroy.

� Prepare the mainfield after getting summer showers and plough thefield into fine tilth and form beds of one meter width, convenientlength and 25 cm height.

PEPPERI Agronomicmeasurers

VANILLA

GINGER

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� Provide proper drainage channels to avoid water logging during therainy season.

� Apply 30 tonnes of well powdered farm yard manure or compostalongwith 310 kg of super phosphate and 40 kg of muriate of potash/hectare as basal dose and mix well with soil surface of the beds whichwere already prepared.

� Planting of ginger may be done in first fortnight of April on receipt ofsummer showers with rhizome bits of about 20-25 g in weight.

� Before planting soak the rhizomes in 0.1 per cent quinalphos (400ml/100 liters of water) and 0.3 per cent dithane M 45 (300 grams/100liters of water) solution separately for half an hour each.

� Plant at a distance of 25x30 or 25x25 cm at not more than five cmdepth with a hand hoe and then close it with powdered farm yardmanure.

� Then mulch the whole bed with about 15 tonnes of green leaves/hectare.

� Prepare the main field after getting summer showers and plough thefield into fine tilth and form beds of one meter . width, convenientlength and 25 cm height.

� Provide proper drainage channels to avoid water logging during therainy season.

� Apply 40 tonnes of well powdered farm yard manure or compostalong with 185 kg of super phosphate and 50 kg of muriate of potash/hectare as basal dose and mix well with soil surface of the beds whichwere already prepared.

� Planting of turmeric may be done in second fortnight of April onreceipt of summer showers with rhizome bits of about 20-25 grams inweight.

� Before planting soak the rhizomes in 0.1 per cent quinalphos (400ml/100 liters of water) and 0.3 per cent dithane M45 (300 gram/100liters of water) solution separately for half an hour each.

� Plant at a distance of 20x25 or 25x25 cm. at not more than five cm.depth with a hand hoe and then close it with powered farm yardmanure.

TURMERIC

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KRISHI MELA 2009

Smt.Lokeshwari Gopal, Member, Kodagu ZillaPanchayath inaugurating the Board stallorganized during the Krishi Mela 2009 atShantally. Shri.I.R.Noolvi, Scientist, ICRI,Saklespur, Shri.Mukesh Shankar, AssistantDirector, Spices Board, Madikeri andM.Y.Honnur, Senior Field Officer Spices Board,Somwarpet were present at the stall and renderedtechnical advice to the farmers at the stall.

� Then mulch the whole bed with about 15 tonnes of green leaves/hectare.

� Avoid application of pesticides just before picking.

� Do not allow the pods to over ripe/dry on the plant itself. Periodicalpicking improve the yield and quality.

� Dry the harvested chillies on clean polythene sheets or cement floorsto avoid aflatoxin contamination.

� Dry the produce till the moisture content reaches 10-11 per cent.

� Prevent contamination with dust and other foreign material. Whiledrying keep the dogs, cats and poultry away from the drying floor.

� Store the produce in clean and dry gunny bags and stake them onwooden plank 40-60 cms away from the walls to prevent producefrom moisture.

� The field must be ploughed and kept open during summer. Thiswill help for controlling the pest and diseases as well as absorptionof the rain water.

� Crop should be irrigated during first fortnight.

� Harvesting of plants should be done when about 80 per cent umbelsturn to light brown colour.

� After harvesting crop should be dried on clean surface and threshedto separate the seeds.

� Grading is done with the help of sieve or vibrator.

CHILLI

FENNELCUMINFENUGREEKCORIANDER

CELERY

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MONTHLY AVERAGE PRICES OF SPICES FOR FEBRUARY 2009SPICE CENTRE GRADE PRICERS/KG

SPICES SOURCESAverage FOB export price -January 2009Prices are collected from secondary sources like Agricultural Produce Market committees, KiranaMerchants Association, India Pepper and Spice Trade Association, Licensed Cardamom Auctioneers etc.

Black Pepper Kochi Ungarbled 109.13Garbled 114.13

Cardamom small Vandanmettu bulk 508.43E-AuctionBodinayakanur bulk 502.11Saklaspur 395.93Sirsi 430.60

Cardamom (L) Siliguri Badadana 144.82Chotadana 126.56

Chillies Virudhnagar 50.00Ginger (Dry) Kochi Best 100.00

Medium 95.00Turmeric Kochi Alleppey Finger 46.50

Bombay Rajpuri Finger 70.17Bombay Duggirala 43.33

Coriander Indori 44.83Kanpuri 53.83

Cumin Bombay 4% 99.17Fennel Bombay - 72.92Fennugreek Bombay - 30.24Mustard Chennai - 33.80Garlic Bombay - 11.00Celery Bombay - 49.17Clove Cochin - NANutmeg(with shell) Cochin - 160.22Nutmeg(without shell) 263.70Mace Cochin - 484.35Cassia Chennai - 74.00Vanilla* 695.00

PERIOD FEBRUARY 2009 FEBRUARY 2008Quantity sold Average price Quantity sold Average price

(Kg) (Rs./Kg) (Kg) (Rs/Kg)First week 3,02,466 521.78 89,935 591.48Second week 2,69,422 489.00 80,695 589.62Third week 2,14,549 495.89 97,289 591.32Fourth week 1,76,219 497.24 98,290 573.87Total 9,62,656 502.34 3,66,209 586.30

Source: Auction reports received from Licensed Cardamom Auctioneers

ALL INDIA CARDAMOM AUCTION SALES AND PRICESFOR FEBRUARY 2009 COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 2008

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Black Pepper U.S.A MG-1 2.65 130.43

White Pepper U.S.A Muntok 4.63 227.89

Cardamom(Small) Saudi Arabia India Asta Extra Bold 14.00 689.08

Chillies U.S.A India S4 2.29 112.71

Chinese Small 1.87 92.04

Ginger(Dry) U.S.A Chinese Sliced 1.92 94.50

Turmeric U.S.A AFT 5..50 Curcumin 1.87 92.04

Coriander U.S.A Canadian 1.50 73.83

Cumin U.S.A Indian 2.69 132.40

Fennel Egyptian fancy 1.70 83.67

Fennugreek U.S.A Ind/Turkey 1.15 56.60

Clove U.S.A Mad/Zan/Com 4.85 238.72

AVERAGE INTERNATIONAL

SPOT PRICES FOR FEBRUARY 2009

AVERAGE IMPORT PRICE OF VANILLA IN TO USA

GRADE/ORIGIN MARKET NOVEMBER’ 08 US $/KG

Madagascar USA 23.97Indonesia USA 16.79India USA 16.30Uganda USA 21.53

Exchange Rate 1 US $ = Rs. 49.22

SOURCE: 1.A.A. SAYIA & CO.INC.HOBOKEN

SPICE MARKET GRADE (USD/KG) (RS/KG)

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REGISTEREDNo. KL/EKM/105/2009-2011RNI No. 44664/88Date of publication : 19th of every month

SPICE INDIAEnglish Monthly, March 2009Price per copy Rs. 5/-