From the archive record
Karnataka is the highest producer of pepper in India. Pepper is also known as "King of Spices". This spice botanical name is "piper nigrum". As the pepper berry in cluster shows scarlet red, it gets picked after six or seven months of planting in the main filed. Even as pepper harvesting has started in several growing areas, the real picture of the crop size has begun to emerge. The output is likely to drop in 2016-17. Failure of both the South-West and the North-East monsoons this year has badly hit the crop, bringing down output, contrary to earlier expectations, said growers in Kerala and Karnataka. In many districts of Kerala, flowering has taken place in pepper vines following the first showers but the pollination process did not happen properly for want of rains. The scenario in Karn