Spice Crops, Vol. I. Major Spices

Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Black pepper. 3. Cardamom. 4. Ginger. 5. Turmeric. 6. Paprika. 7. Vanilla.

From the preface: "Historically, India is the largest spice producer and besides being a great consumer of spices. Over the years the world trade in spices has made a quantum jump to more than 4.5 million tones valued at US $ 1,500 million. India contributes to about 45-50 per cent of the world demand with a total area of around 2.5 million under spices cultivation. India produces around 2.8 million tones of spices annually, of this 10 per cent of the total produce is exported to over 150 countries. The USA, Europe, Australia, Japan, the middle east and oceanic countries are the major importers of Indian spices. It was on the shores of Calicut, the first European Vasco Da Gama landed. This led a series of historical change with the Dutch, French and English vying with one another to occupy this land of spices. It was the desire to monopolize the spice trade that made many a European traveler to sail to India. Presently, India is not only a leader in production of many spices; the country has one of the world\'s best research institutes doing research on spices.

There are more than 100 spices listed by ISO. India is also endowed with strong research base on spices. The world trade of spices is estimated to be around 4.5 million tones valued at US$ 1,500 million. Considering the importance, the present attempt is to exhaustively review the work done on these crops in 2 volumes.

The book covers exhaustive review on all aspects of spices, namely, cultivation, breeding, biotechnology, pests and diseases and post harvest handling. Very eminent and authoritative scientists have contributed the chapters. The books will be of great use to all the researchers, policy makers, extension workers and students. It will be a great guide to those preparing for ARS examination of ICAR."