61 Coffee, T ea And Spices Production and Management

4.1. History, Origin, Production Status and Economic Importance of coffee, tea and spices

History and Origin of Coffee, Tea and Spices

COFFEE

The name coffee ee is derived from Kaffa. Its history dates back to 850 CE, and possibly earlier with a
number of reports and legends surrounding its first use. The story goes that Kaldi discovered coffee after
he noticed that after eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so energetic that they did
not want to sleep at night. Kaldi reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery. Of more than
100 species in the genus Coffea, the three species used in the production of the beverage cof f ee are
Coffee Arabica L. (Arabica cof f ee), Coffee a canephora P. (Robusta cof f ee) and Coffea Liberica P.
(Liberian or Liberica coffee). All commercial coffee species originate from Africa and belong to the genus
Coffea. The high quality Coffea Arabica species originates from the rainforests in the southwestern
highlands of Ethiopia.

Production status and economic importance of cof f ee

Cof f ee is among the most important agricultural commodities on the world market and is cultivated on
approximately 10.3 million hectares and represents the sole economic income for more than 25 million
families (FAO, 2021). According to FAO (2021), the crop is produced and exported by more than 60
nations.

It is produced in about 80 tropical countries, with an estimated 125 million people depending on it for
their livelihoods in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Cof f ee-producing areas are located in latitudes
between 22º N and 26º S. Overall, the annual production of cof f ee is estimated at nine million tons of
green beans.

It is considered as one of the top cash crops in developing countries. It is also the second most valuable
commodity next to fuel (Girma, 2011).

Cof f ee accounts for the lion’s share of Ethiopian export earnings and plays an important role in the
economy and livelihoods for rural population. It also accounts for 25 – 30% of Ethiopia’s total export
earnings and 5% of GDP. Cof f ee generates income for producers and traders.

Cof f ee C. Arabica:1524-2286 mm and C. Robusta grows at 1016-2540 mm and Cof f ea Liberica P C.

Arabica 18-24°C, C. Canephoraat 24-26°C Volcanic red earth or sandy loams with good structure and
texture. A fertile, well-aerated, free-draining, and slightly acidic soil with a pH range of 5.5 – 6.5.

Cof f ee propagation can be done in many ways. The two most common ones are propagation by seed
(sexual) and vegetative propagation (asexual).

Propagation by seed starts with careful selection of seed trees. Propagation by seed uses ripe cherries.
The fi rst criterion for selection is the year of planting of the mother tree.

Steps in Propagation of cof f ee by seed I. Seed tree selection The fi rst step in selection is at least 1 year
before starting the actual propagation. After the harvest, select trees that look healthy and vigorous.
Mark the tree, write down the position of the tree, and locate trees marked the fi rst time and check if
they are performing well. Select the fi nal number of trees that you intend to use and remove the
markers of f the others that were discarded.

II. Harvesting and processing When harvesting the cherries for propagation, only pick the big, healthy
red cherries. The fi nal step of processing is the removal of pea berries, broken and insect invested
parchment as well as parchment with more than 2 beans (Figure4.2).

Vegetative (Asexual) propagation of Cof f ee Vegetative propagation can be done in two ways: grafting
and cutting. The purpose of grafting is to combine several traits of dif f erent trees into one.

Cutting Since obtaining a cof f ee bean crop from a plant grown from seed may take four or fi ve years,
propagation of a cof f ee by cutting is more ef f I cient means of propagating the plant. Instructions to
follow To take a cutting from an existing cof f ee plant:

Choose a healthy, straight branch to avoid vine-like growth caused by crooked branches.

Take a measure of branches from 3/6 to 5/16 in diameter containing two or more leaves Measure 4 to
5 inches from the tip and make a diagonal cut with sharp knife Wrap the end in a damp paper towel
while transporting Prepare a small pot for the cutting by fi lling it with a potting medium such as a mix
of half perlite and half peat use clean potting mix to give the cof f ee plant a good and help keep it from
disease prepare the cutting for planting monitor the cof f ee cutting, keeping it evenly moist but not
soaking wet report the cof f ee plant into a larger pot with any evidence of new growth, keeping the
plant well watered Agriculture Grade 12 Coffee, T ea And Spices Production and Management 70 Cutting
of cof f ee for propagation involves:

Single node cutting Half trimmed leaves (pair leaves) Grafting It is an art of connecting two pieces of
living plant tissue together. Grafting takes place at soldier or butter fl y stage of a seedling.

Micro-Propagation (Biotechnology) Another possible way of propagating cof f ee is through Micro-

propagation This technique is the application of tissue culture techniques

Nursery Establishment

A nursery plot consists of a raised piece of land. The plot should ideally be 1.2m wide and 20cm deep.
Add (50%) fertile topsoil, 50% mixed with sand, and clean soil to remove any old roots, sticks and stones.
Add also 2% of lime (20g of lime to 1l water) and stir it well and leave it for 24hours.

Preparation of soil and planting bags Bags should be suf f I ciently large, with a diameter of a minimum
of 17cm and a depth of 25cm or more. Fill the bags with fertile top soil (80%) and 20% organic manure.
Add 10kg of Phosphate fertilizer (16.5% P 2 O5) per m3 of soil-manure mixture to stimulate root
development Group task c. describe commonly used methods of cof f ee propagation d. explain
propagation of cof f ee by seed e. try propagating a cof f ee plant either in your school or your local farm
Activity 4.4.

Sow the parchment at a depth of 1cm. Finally, provide a shade to control light intensity, temperature
and humidity.

N.B: Lime will increase the pH level of the water, stimulating germination.
Transplanting Transplanting refers to gently moving seedlings from a nursery to chosen site. The
planting holes should be around 10cm deep.

Key terms:

Nursery is places where seedlings are raised for planting purpose Nursing the seedlings refers to taking
care of the plants from the time they are seed to when they are a seedling – for about 1 year.

Field establishment and management practices for Cof f ee

The area to be planted with cof f ee must be prepared at least one year before the small cof f ee trees
are planted. The fi ve procedures to be followed are: land preparation, planting windbreaks, mark out
the rows, establish shade trees and prepare for irrigation.

Planting procedure

Prepare the holes one month before planting. Mark the planting holes, dig holes of 600 x 600 x 600 mm
(Figure4.4), Pile topsoil to one side of the whole, subsoil to other side of hole, Mix in 2 kg of dry
farmyard manure (FYM) + 3 heaped soupspoons (about 85 g) Triple Superphosphate (TSP).

Feel the hole with topsoil; use both the subsoil and topsoil to complete fi lling the hole. Re-mark the
center of the hole with a stick.

Field management of young cof f ee trees

To achieve high yields of quality cof f ee, good fi eld management practices are essential. Poorly
managed cof f ee will take longer to produce a good crop and will suf f er from dieback. Keep the ground
free of weeds and cut short ground covers in the frosty period. This will protect the plant from frost.

Control weeds and mulch plants

Weeds compete for both nutrients and water. It is thus essential to keep the area under the canopy of
trees. Make the area also weed-free. Mulching will reduce the amount of weeding required. Dead or dry
weeds can be used as mulch. Fresh weeds may re-grow, especially in wet weather if they are not dried
properly before being added as mulch.

Water plants

Do not allow the plant root ball to dry out after planting. Irrigate (or hand water where irrigation is not
installed), two to three times per week for the fi rst few weeks. If planted at the recommended time
(June to August), there is a good chance of rain. This keeps the soil moisture maintained.

Harvesting and processing of cof f ee

The color of unripe cof f ee is green.

The color turns bright or dark-red when the cherries ripen. . Cherries ripen faster under lower altitudes
and higher temperatures. Cof f ee can be hand-harvested by people to ensure that only the ripe cherries
are picked. Hand-picking is hard and laborious task. Whether by machines or humans, cof f ee is always
harvested by one of the following two methods:
• Strip picking – The cherries are stripped of f of the branch, either by hand or by machine • Selective
picking – The red cherries are picked and the green ones are left to ripen.

Processing the Cherries Once the cof f ee has been picked, processing must begin as quickly as possible
to prevent fruit spoilage. Depending on location and local resources, cof f ee is processed in one of two
ways:

The Dry processing Method This is the age-old method of processing cof f ee and still used in many
countries where water resources are limited. The freshly picked cherries

The Wet processing Method

This method involves removing the pulp from the cof f ee cherry after harvesting. First, the freshly
harvested cherries are passed through a pulping machine to separate the skin and pulp from the bean.
Then the beans are separated by weight as they pass through water channels. The lighter beans fl oat to
the top, while the heavier ripe beans sink to the bottom. Depending on a combination of factors such as
the condition of the beans, the climate and the altitude, they will remain in these tanks for anywhere
between12 – 48 hours. This removes the slick layer of mucilage (called the parenchyma) that is still
attached to the parchment.

Drying the Beans

If the beans have been processed by the wet method, the pulped and fermented beans must now be
dried to approximately 11% moisture to properly prepare them for storage. The dried beans are known
as parchment cof f ee, and are warehoused in jute or sisal bags until they are readied for export.

Milling the Beans

Before being exported, parchment cof f ee is processed in the following manner:

Hulling: machinery removes the parchment layer (endocarp) from wet processed cof f ee. Hulling dry
processed cof f ee refers to removing the entire dried husk – the mesocarp, monocarp and endocarp of
the dried cherries.

Polishing is an optional process where any silver skin that remains on the beans after hulling is removed
by machine. Grading and Sorting is done by size and weight. Beans are also reviewed for color fl aws or
other imperfections.

Exporting the Beans The milled beans, now referred to as green cof f ee, are loaded onto ships in either
jute or sisal bags loaded in shipping containers, or bulk-shipped inside plastic-lined containers.

Roasting the Cof f ee Roasting transforms green cof f ee into the aromatic brown beans that we
purchase in stores or cafés. Roasting is generally performed in the importing countries because freshly
roasted beans must reach the consumer as quickly as possible.

Grinding Cof f ee The objective of a proper grind is to get the most fl avors in a cup of cof f ee. How
coarse or fi ne the cof f ee ground is, depends on the brewing method.

TEA
The history of tea spreads across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of year. According to
legend, While a Chinese renowned herbalist, Shen Nung, was sitting under a tree and watching his
servant boil drinking water, some leaves from the nearby tree blew into the boiling water. Tea was
originated in southwest China as a medicinal drink most likely in the Yunnan region during the Shang
dynasty .

Tea plant special Camellia Sinensis Tea fi rst came to be known to western civilization through the
Portuguese priests and merchants in the early 16th century. Tea was introduced to Ethiopia and started
operation at small scale in the early 1920s during the time of Empress Zewditu, the fi rst female head of
an internationally recognized country in African continent in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Camellia Sinensis is a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees in the fl owering plant family. It is
evergreen shrub whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. Common names include “tea
plant”, “tea shrub”, or “tea tree.”

Production status and economic importance of Tea

Tea is one of the most important non-alcoholic beverage drinks worldwide.

The total world tea production was estimated to about 2.68 billion Kg of made tea. In 2005 it raised to
about 3.1 billion kg of made tea. In Britain, per individual tea consumption is 1.9kg/yr. (Wikipedia, 2016)
but in Ethiopia it is 70gm/year. Ethiopia has three private estates producing tea is around 7,000 tone.
The economic importance of tea is that it is the source of foreign currency for countries that produce it
abundantly. Tea makes a signif I cant contribution to food security, as the income from tea covers food
import bills.

Tea Moderate-to-high rainfall. Irrigation is used when rainfall less than1200mm 21°C to 29°C is ideal for
the production of tea Good tea soils are those of volcanic origin. The best soil type for tea production is
pH is 4.5 – 5.5.

Propagation, nursery establishment and management of Tea

Tea plants can be raised from seed, cuttings and tissue culture (micro propagation). Tea can be
propagated sexually (by seed) or asexually (by vegetative means). Asexual propagation is commonly
known as propagation by ‘cuttings.’

Propagation of Tea by seed

Seed propagation can be performed by sowing the seeds directly in the plantation or by fi rst growing
them in seed bags in a nursery. Seed bags in a nursery will be transplanted to the plantation at a later
stage.

Vegetative (asexual) propagation

Vegetative propagation, also known as “clonal propagation”, consists of taking a cutting (i.e. a stem or
leaf) from a “mother bush” and growing a tea bush ‘clone’.

Propagation of Tea by stem cutting This involves single node cuttings with one leaf and well-developed
auxiliary bud. Propagating tea by stem cutting involves

1. Cutting from young shoots (only the three upper internodes are rejected).
2. putting the root in plastic bags, under well-shaded nursery at a height of 2m

3. using water bed or polyethylene bag thoroughly but slowly to avoid runof f and soil wash

4. Placing the cutting in the soil, leaving 12mm of stem above the soil Advantages: Vegetative
propagation allows “cloning” of mother bushes with the desirable characteristics. Vegetative
propagation is a fast, easy and cheap method of propagation.

Disadvantages: Cuttings used for vegetative propagation develop fi brous root systems which are less
strong than taproot systems that develop during seed propagation.

Nursery Establishment and Tea Management

Achieving an optimum tea yield requires using a suitable land for tea cultivation. Tea cultivation needs a
strong foundation, unlike short term crops. The cultivation is based on the regular maintenance of the
plant from the nursery stage onwards.

Selecting land for nurseries It is essential to select land with water facilities. A nursery should be a place
where: water fl ows well, there is no wind, there is even landscape or there is a slight slope, there is
mist if water does not exist there are transport facilities

During the site selection, criteria such as climatic condition, edaphic factors (soil), biological factors,
crops grown there previously, availability of labor, market availability for the production, etc. should be
considered.

Selection of a suitable site for tea plant Several criteria are considered in tea cultivation site selection.

Slope The slope of the land for tea plant has to be below 55 percent. However, a 70 per cent slope is
preferred due to high vulnerability of soil erosion in Mid Country.

Soil depth Soil depth should be over 100 cm to support good root system. The land surface should not
have more than 10% gravel and boulders.

Soil prof I le The prof I le of soil for tea plant or soil layer should not be impregnated with more than 10%
gravel.

Land preparation Land preparation involves clearance, adoption of soil conservation and soil
rehabilitation prior to planting tea.

Field establishment and management practices for Tea

Tea plant management is the most important aspect of tea plantation. These involve:

Mulching: Mulching helps

 control soil erosion;

 Increase soil moisture;
 Inhibit weed growth;

2. Weed management Manual methods like cheeling, sickling and mulching are extensively used.

Cheeling removes the above ground weed growth.

3. Pruning is cutting of f branches for more fruitful growth can keep tea plant to a height of 1.5 m
Plant Quality The following factors have a great impact on the quality of the made tea.

These are:

i. Age of the bush,

ii. Standard of plucking
iii. Plucking roundpluckin
iv. A space of time from the previous pruning

Proper tea plant management enhances production. A well-managed young tea plant is an
investment for future. The following are a few important aspects of proper growing of young teas:

I. Density of Population Compact frames allow a planter to plant a total of 15,000 to 16,000
plants per hectare
II. Spacing: The minimum spacing required between plants is 60 cm. The maximum spacing
required between rows is 100 cm.

Harvesting and processing of tea

Plucking or Picking Plucking or harvesting tea is picking fresh tea leaves and fresh young shoots from the
tea tree.

1.Plucking/ Harvesting can be carried out manually or mechanically Plucking tea manually or by hand is a
traditional way of picking tea leaves. Plucking occurs when the tea bush fl ushes or pushes out new leaf
shoots. For a fi ne black or green tea, the pluckers take the fi rst two leaves and one new bud.

Plucking should be done in the morning because the quality (f l avor) of tea is highest in the morning
there is enough time to pluck and process tea the same day there is less soluble sugar and more
catechism in the morning

Mechanical Harvesting

Mechanical harvesting is the removal of tender, growing shoots from the surface of the bush using
machine.

Tea Processing Tea processing is the method where tea plant is transformed to the dried leaves for
brewing. Processing of tea involves plucking, withering, crushing, drying, rolling and shaping of tea
leaves. Shaping makes the leaves ready for brewing.

Withering Withering is the process of placing freshly plucked tea leaves on a long trough to blow air
through the leaves. Withering reduces the moisture content of the leaf (from 80% - 68/70%) and makes
the leaves easier to cut. Withering is used to eliminate excess water from the leaves and allows slight
oxidation. Cold or warm air is blown through the leaf for 12 to 18 hours.

Rolling

Rolling or shaping the leaves by hand or with machine makes compound to be formed between
enzymes and the polyphones. Tearing the leaves and twisting them into thick rolls is important before
putting them in the machine. The main purpose of rolling tea leaves is to damage the cell walls. Tea
leaves are twisted and pressed in order to extract the juices that are held inside. The goal is to distribute
the moisture evenly on the outside of the leaves.

Fermentation

Fermentation is an oxidation and tanning process of the cell fl uids released during rolling. To ferment,
the leaves are spread out on tables in layers of 10 cm. In modern factories, spraying water from rotating
ventilators humidif I es the room in which fermentation takes place. During the fermentation – which
takes 2 – 3 hours – the leaves change their color. The color gradually becomes a copper-red.

Drying

Drying is the method of processing tea to stop the oxidation process and reduce the moisture content
to 2-3%. Drying takes place for only 20min at a temperature of 100 – 150oc. Dried tea is black in color
and mainly has a perfect aroma. Drying involves a heater with forced ventilation

SPICES

Spices are the aromatic parts of tropical plants traditionally used to fl avor food, or the dried seeds or
fruit of temperate plants used in the same way. A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant
substance primarily used for fl avoring or coloring food.

Spices origin has been known to date back to ancient times in Egypt as recorded in the bible as valuable
trade items. The use of spices moves from Egypt through the Middle East and spread to the
Mediterranean and Europe. For so many years, the Arab middlemen control the spice trade. Spices
trade later spread to India, China and Indonesia and in the 17th century to America. Spices could be of
indigenous or exotic origin. Indigenous species are those that actually originated in a particular region
while exotic are those are imported from other region. Some spices are of temperate plants while from
are from the tropical region.

Production status and Economic importance of spice

The total global spice production was amounted to 12.8 million tons in the year 2018. The top fi ve
spices producer countries in the world are India, China, Turkey, Bangladesh and Indonesia, in that order.
Ethiopia is one of the East African countries that produce and export various spices with production
reaching 244,000 tons per year. In Ethiopia, more than 50 spice crops are grown and a total potential for
growing low-land spices is estimated to be 200,000 hectares. The country mainly produces;

Chilies, turmeric, ginger, cumin, fenugreek, coriander, black and pepper, cardamom. Spice production in
Ethiopia was expanded between 1995 and 2011 from 107,000 to 153,000 tons with annual growth rate
of 9.5%. The total spice production in Ethiopia increased from 234,000 tons in 2013 to 356,000 tons in
2018, while the area under spice cultivation increased from 150,000 ha to 207,000 hectare.

The economic importance of spices is that it can of f er additional opportunities for employment within
the family and income earned can be used as a ‘safety net’ in times of need and/ or used to pay for
medical expenses that the family may require. Spices contribute signif I cantly to the national economy.
Many spices, herbs and essential oils are produced in the tropics providing developing countries export
opportunities. There is also a good potential for small-scale processing on-farm that can provide value-
adding activities and higher income from the sale of processed spices.
Spice Ginger: heavy and well distributed rains.

Turmeric: 1000 to 2000 mm Korerima:>1500mm/ annum, Pepper:, annual rainfall 1250 to 2000mm
Ginger requires 28 –350C.

Turmeric:20 -300 C Korerima: 12-280C.

Pepper:10 0C -40 0C.

Ginger: deep, well drained, humus soil Turmeric: drained, friable, rich sandy or clay loam soils.

Korerima:

Well drained humus rich forest soils with ideal pH are 5.0 to 6.5l.

Pepper:

Requires clay loam, red loam, sandy loam and lateritic soils with a pH of 4.5-6.0.

Processing of Spice

The processing of spices usually involves most of the following stages:

I)Washing II) Grading and cleaning III) Drying IV) Grinding V) Packaging VI)Washing of Spices Washing
most commonly takes place when fresh spices are delivered to the processing unit. Washing the spices
takes place through dipping the nutmegs in water to remove unsound nuts or “f l oaters”, and
cardamom which may receive a sodium bicarbonate dip to preserve its green color.

Drying Various types of dryers are used for processing herbs and spices, ranging from simple sun drying
to gas or kerosene-f I red dryers. The type of dryer that is used and the way in which it is operated may
have a signif I cant in-f l uence on the quality of the fi nished product in the following ways:

Contamination by dust and dirt There is obviously a high risk of contamination occurring if the raw
materials are laid out in the sun. Solar and powered dryers protect against contamination and are thus
strongly recommended.

Drying time and temperature The quicker the drying time the better the fi nal microbial quality of the
product. Drying rates may be increased in two ways: by increasing the air fl ow and by increasing the air
temperature. Spices must be dried to a moisture content that is low enough to prevent the growth of
micro-organisms such as moulds and bacteria.

Storage After drying, the material should be packed quickly into clean heavy-gauge plastic sacks to avoid
any moisture pick-up. It is a good idea to retain sam-ples in airtight bottles for future reference.

Grinding Grinding is normally done using either a hammer mill or a disc mill.

Ground spice should be passed through a fi ne sieve to give a product with a uniform particle size. Finely
ground spices absorb water much more quick-ly than whole spices and it is important that the ground
material is quickly packed into airtight containers.

Packaging The type of packaging needed for spices depends on the product, the in-tended market and
the types of climate that the food will be exposed to.
Spice that is marketed in a cool dry area may only need simple packaging such as paper. Most spices are
packed in plastic fi lm as either large bulk bags or small retail packs.

4.5. Cultivation practices of individual spices Ginger

Ginger is a commercially produced horticultural crop in SNNPR, Ethiopia. The producing areas in
SNNPRS are said to be ginger belts in Ethiopia where much of the country’s ginger production and
marketing activities are located. Ginger is used as a spice. It is used for the preparation of ginger oil and
oleoresin, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages. Green ginger is used in the culinary preparations. Preserved
ginger is used for the manufacture of processed food.

Land preparation

The land should be well prepared to a fi ne soil and loose. Fine tilt helps development and expansion of
the rhizomes

Planting

Ginger is always propagated by portion of seed rhizomes. Rhizomes are cut into small pieces (setts) of
2.5 to 5.0 cm. They may weigh about 15 – 20 grams having one or two buds. Planting time/Season
March -April and Seed rate: 1500 – 1800 kg per ha. Spacing: 15 x 30 cm 20x 30 cm Figure 4.22.

Spacing: varies with the cropping system 15 x 30 cm / 20x 30 cm

Manures and fertilizers since the crops are heavy feeder, the adequate manuring is essential in Ethiopia.
There is no fertilizer recommendation. Mulching: In ginger cultivation, mulching the fi eld is an
important operation. Mulching has several advantages such as source of organic manure, prevents
washing of soil and conserves soil moisture.

Irrigation:

Irrigate at 4-10 day interval. During mid-September to 3rd week of December irrigate at fortnightly
interval.

Turmeric Curcuma longa is an erect herbaceous perennial 60-100 cm rhizome with fi ngers. Rhizome is
brown on outside and dull orange colored inside.

Leaves are broadly lanceolate with long leaf stalk.

Preparation of land Plough land 4-6 deep to get fi ne tilth up to 20 -25 cm depth. Field is laid out into
beds or ridges and furrows. Beds of 1 m width and convenient length with a spacing of 40 to 50 cm
between beds where natural drainage does not exist, ridges and furrows are prepared at 45 to 60 cm
spacing.

Seed rate: mother rhizomes 2000 – 2500 kg per ha. Primary fi ngers 1500 to 2000 kg per ha Spacing: Red
loamy soils – 30 x 15cm and Black heavy soils – 46 x 23 cm Mulching: Mulch with dry leaves thickly on
which a layer of cow dung is spread. Second mulching is done after weeding and application of
fertilizers, after 50 -60 days of sowing Korerima (Aframomum corrorima) Aframomum korrorima is a
species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae.
The spice, known as Korerima, Ethiopian cardamom, or false cardamom, is obtained from the plant’s
seeds (usually dried), and is extensively used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine.

Land preparation and planting Prepare a hole with the size of 45-60cm and a depth of about 60-75cm at
spacing of 3m × 3 m. After a week ref I ll the hole with top soil and farmyard manure. The time for
planting in south west Ethiopia is on June to August.

Korerima can be intercropped with some perennial crops like cof f ee, black pepper and others.

Weed management: weeds grow comfortably between plants till the crop cover the area. Frequent
weeding is necessary.

Cardamom (Elitaria cardamomum) It is known as the Queen of Spices and also Green Gold. Cardamom is
an herbaceous perennial plant.

Nursery site and planting: Seedlings are normally raised in primary and secondary nurseries.

Dig the land to a depth of 30-45 cm. The beds of 1 m width and of convenient length raised to a height
of about 30 cm are prepared.

Seed rate: 10 g per m2 of nursery bed area.

Manuring at the rate of 90 g N, 60 g of P, and 120 g of K per bed of 5 x 1 m size in 3 equal split doses at
an interval of 45 days is recommended to produce healthier seedlings.

Planting:

The best season of planting seedlings or suckers is May- June after the receipt of monsoon showers. The
seedlings or suckers are planted in the pits up to collar region for better growth. Cloudy days with light
drizzle are ideal for panting.

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) Pepper is the most important of all spices and popularly known as the ‘king
of spices’. Black pepper is a dried mature fruit of perennial ever green climbing woody vine.

Selection of site: Well drained leveled land and hill slopes are suitable for growing pepper

Planting Can be planted directly to permanent fi eld or raised in the nursery for further rooting For rising
of rooted cuttings, the following points should be considered polythene bags Rooting media (forest
soil (3): Sand (1) After fi lling the polythene bags, each cutting is planted at an angel of 450, 3-4 nodes
deep.

Field planting Select appropriate size clear the land Make holes/pit about 45x45cm deep usually 15-
30cm away from the support Fill in the holes with mixture of top soil +farm yard manure Transplant
the rooted cuttings during the onset of the rainy season Spacing: usually 3m X 3m or 3m X 2m (on sloppy
areas).