SCOPE AND ROLE OF PGPR IN CROPPING SYSTEMS IN PLANTATION CROPS AND SPICES IN RELATION TO THEIR AGRONOMY AND PATHOLOGY

Abstract

In India, Plantation Crops and Spices are grown over an area of 3.2 million ha accounting for 1.82% of the total crop.area contributing to the export earnings of 18% of the agricultural commodities. The diverse agroclimatic situations prevailing in India offer abundant scope for cultivation of these crops. Some crops like Coffee, Tea, Rubber and Cardamom are location specific while others like Coconut, Arecanut, Cocoa and Cashew are adapted to varied climate. Spices specially Black pepper, Cardamom, Vanilla, Tree spices like Clove, Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Allspice generally are mix-cropped in some of the perennial cropping systems even though monocropping is also practiced. Mixed cropping (perennial) and intercropping systems (annuals) are practiced by the farming community to optimise the production per unit area per unit time taking into consideration the optimum utilization of solar energy and water. (Nair, 1979)