Spices Board has come out with new schemes for pepper growers to make Indian pepper competitive and to bring in economies of scale in production.
Starting with the popular scheme for installation of pepper threshers for hygienic separation of pepper berries from the spikes, the other components are provision of bamboo mats for drying pepper in hygienic conditions, cleaning and grading units and user friendly ladders for harvesting from the vines.
All the schemes are designed to motivate the growers to produce good quality pepper for exports by ensuring clean and hygienic practices. It is expected to benefit the growers in terms of minimising the operations costs and mitigating the labour shortage problem as it covers all sectors of harvesting, cleaning and drying.
According to Spices Board officials, it is proposed to provide over 1,100 units of pepper threshers during this plan period in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and North Eastern states.
The scheme will enable availability of good quality pepper for exports and will help in showcasing mechanised threshing of pepper from spikes.