Report of the Spices Enquiry Committee

Early in 1951 the Planning Commission brought to the notice of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture that the attetion paid to the development of six important dollar-earning crops of South India viz. [...] During these study tours the committee also considered it important to take evidence of leading cultivators traders representatives of cooperative societies and government officials of the various tracts irrepective of whether they had replied to the questionnaire or not to get a knowledge of the agricultural conditions and problems of the growers of the particular agricultural commodities [...] The committee was particularly impressed by the keen interest taken by officials ' non-officials and Ministers of the different States and their eagerness to bring about improvements in the production and marketing of the agricultural commodities specified importance of which to the agricultural economy of the States concerned has not received proper recognition so far. [...] The large-scale cultivation of the crop is largely cofined to the sub-montane tracts in and below the western ghats of Penninsular India and covers the State of Travancore-Cochin and Malabar and South Kanara districts of Madras. [...] The yield of the pepper gardens varies widely in the different producing areas depending upon the soil fertility cultural practices nature of varities grown and the age of the pepper bushes.