Pepper has become the new boon of agriculture, a common farmer's discovery and development of the crop. KT Varghese, a farmer from Cheruvallikkulam Kumbukkal home in Idukki district, is the offspring of this new breed. The result is the sum of nearly 30 years of experimental observations.
In the 1980s and 1990s, when more than 200 black pepper plants were infected and destroyed by the rapid-fire disease, Varghese noticed that only one plant remained in good health and good condition. Varghese gained confidence as Bharu Marikutty encouraged him to grow and plant more seedlings from this star.
The most important characteristic of a well-productive Kumbukkal pepper is that pepper growers are able to withstand the rapid disease that afflicts them. The bells are arranged in six columns at each turn, and when the turns are ripe, the bend is twisted and twisted due to the extra bell. The peppermint pepper is also able to withstand the heat of summer.
Pepper grows well in all types of soils, including low-lying areas. The climate in Kerala is perfect. It is noteworthy that the plant saves the crop from the first year of planting. Whereas on an average 2 to 3 kilograms of dry pepper is obtained from normal pepper plants, on average 4 to 6 kilograms of dry pepper is obtained from Kumbukkal pepper.
Production increases year after year and yields continuously for 15 years. Typical pepper plants get 70-90 bells in 4 rows at each turn, while in Kumbukkal pepper plants get 115-120 bells in 6 rows. Pepper growers are resistant to coastal headaches such as waterborne disease, mildew disease, and hollow disease. In the shade, where the ground is not well ground, the peppercorns catch peppers.
The observations of the spices board since 1995 have shown that Varghese is right, and in 2007 he won the President's Award for Agricultural Excellence and the National Innovative Foundation. The Kumbukkal pepper has been recognized and added to the National Register.
Described by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as "an invention of genetics," Kumbukkal came to scientists from countries like Germany to study the pepper. Kumbukkal pepper is effective against rapid gastroenteritis and hollow disease. As more and more peaks suddenly burst, the flag spreads rapidly over the beam.
KT Varghese has patented Kumbukkal pepper. Today, he has an extensive nursery and a large collection. His peppers have demand inside and outside Kerala.
Genesis
In 1989 he had a severe incidence of quick wilt in his pepper crop and to his surprise, only five-eight plants could survive. His wife advised him to plant vegetative propagation (buds) through the remaining plants. Along with them, he cultivated the fresh seeds of Karimunda variety. This was done until 1995, then again there was an attack of rapid wilt in the entire Idukki district. All his plants were lost except the ones, which were the progeny of the previous quick wilt survivors. After a series of propaganda and increased his yield over the years.
In 2001, after a visit from an officer of the Spices Board, a paper on his variety got published in the magazine, Spice India, He gave him much recognition and he got a good demand for his variety in 2002. Anticipating a good demand in 2003, he prepared around one lakh vegetable propagules for sale but that year the demand shifted from pepper to vanilla so not even half of them sold.
During the past fifteen years or so, KT Varghese has had huge financial losses due to the loss of entire crops to wilt twice. Pepper in a way has been quite unreliable for him. His son has also not been able to get a job in spite of an ITI diploma so that he can take on the losses and take on the job of the estate manager elsewhere. KT Varghese has had huge financial losses due to losing entire crops to wilt twice.
Innovation
The use of Shri Varghese after this variety isolated and stabilizing the plantlets post-1995 wilt and since then has yielded a variety of other more popular varieties compared to higher and stable. Drying yields on one kilogram of green pepper and 300 grams of dried pepper can fetch ten per cent higher due to high pungency and oil content. The variety of a highly developed root system makes it easy to resist and resist the wilt and the foot rotation, as well as less soil depth.
The farmer has a variety of local and a large number of farmers who had started cultivating evincing interest. Malabar, Kozhikode, Ernakulum, Punmudi, Trivandrum and parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The media has played a large role in disseminating the merits of the variety. His farm provides for some financial support to start his nursery. His message to fellow agriculturists is that they should not keep switching over to another crop. They would not be able to derive the maximum from the crop in the long run.
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