Description:

Pepper,  popularly known as the "King of spices" and it accountsfor  ….occupies largest percentage in the  internationalspice trade. It is most widely used spice all over the world. Black pepper of commerce is the mature dried berries of the woodyperennial  evergreen climbing vine, Piper nigrum.Pepper is cultivated over an area  of 32, 800 ha of Sri Lankaand Matale, Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and  Nuwara Eliya areaccounted as major districts of cultivation.

It canbe grown  either as a mono crop or as a mixed crop in thecoconut and tea plantations  using live and dead standards assupport. Pepper is an ideal crop for home  gardens where itcan be trained on the existing tree species as well.

SriLankan  black pepper has higher piperine content whichconduces to fetch a premium  price in international spicetrade