The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Nagercoil News : Vanilla intercrop, a boon to farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 29, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Nagercoil

Vanilla intercrop, a boon to farmers

By P. S. Suresh Kumar

NAGERCOIL, MAY 28. The intercrop concept is gaining momentum in Kanyakumari district following the introduction of vanilla plants. It is a boon to small and marginal farmers as the vanilla is an ideal moneymaking plant. Gone are the days when few estate owners, in select areas of the district cultivated vanilla as the intercrop, in their rubber estates and minted money.

Nowadays, thanks to efforts taken by the agriculture department, small and marginal farmers have come forward to raise the vanilla plant as the intercrop in coconut groves, because it gives them an additional income.

Vanilla is a tropical orchid cultivated for its pleasant flavour. The green vanilla beans (pods) contain small amounts of vanillin and are colourless and flavourless. During the drying period, the beans undergo enzymatic reaction, responsible for the characteristic aroma and the flavour of vanilla.

`It is mainly grown in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in an extent of 2545 hectares. In Tamil Nadu, it is grown in Coimbatore and Kanyakumari districts in a larger area than in Thanjavur and Tirunelveli. The district's soil and climatic condition is very conducive to the cultivation of vanilla as the intercrop in coconut groves. The Collector, Rajesh Lakhoni said that, about 50 to 70 small and marginal farmers in different parts of the district have raised this plant as the intercrop in their coconut groves.

The plant requires 50 percent shade, strong wind and protection from the hot sun. Low branching trees with rough bark and small leaves like Glyricidia are preferred as support trees. The plant is propagated by shoot cuttings. Longer cuttings grow faster and usually come to flowering the third year after planting. Partially decomposed organic materials like coconut husk, straw and leaves, should be placed over the newly planted cuttings, at the base of the support tree, to a thickness of 10 to 15 cm or more.

Pollination can be done by holding a toothpick or pointed bamboo splinter in the right hand, to push back the rostellum, and pressing the pollen sac with the left thumb to smear pollen grains to the stigma. Artificial pollination should be done the day the flower opens. A skilled worker can pollinate about 1200 to 1500 flowers per day. Only 10 to 12 inflorescence should be maintained per vine, to get high quality beans and those with the maximum length and girth. Normally, flowering is noticed from December to March. The time taken for initiation of inflorescence to flowering is 45 days. After pollination and fertilisation, the beans develop very quickly and obtain full size in five to six weeks, but it approximately takes nine to eleven months for the beans to mature. About 70 to 80 matured beans of 18 to 20 cm length can make one kg of fresh beans, said the Joint-Director for Agriculture, S. C. Jeya Kumar.

The yield varies depending on the age of the vines and the method of cultivation. The average yield of a middle aged plant will be about 1800 kg of green beans or 300 dried beans per hectare, says C. Ganesan, a farmer belonging to Kaliyal near Kulasekaram. He has raised this plant on over 50 cents.

Natural vanilla essence has not built a domestic market due to its limited availability and high cost. For vanilla flavour, ethyl vanillin, a synthetic product is popularly used in India. Though synthetic vanilla essence is cheaper, vanilla beans yield the most preferred flavour. Farmers can export vanilla beans, as there is a high demand for natural vanilla essence in European countries. The agriculture department indulged in creating awareness, among the farmers, on the cultivation of vanilla plants as intercrops, in their coconut groves, because farmers have raised coconut trees, on over 27,500 hectares, in different parts of the district, said Mr. Jeya Kumar.

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Vanilla intercrop, a boon to farmers