Black Pepper

Planted once, harvested year after year.

Check it on your land
Season
Whole year
JJASONDJFMAM
100% of its area.
Water
1,630–1,680 mm
over its season
Temperature
22–35 °C
0° survives 10–40 °C 40°

When to sow and harvest

Planted once at the start of the monsoon. It stays for years and gives a harvest every year.

Will it grow on your land?

Water
Season

Pick your place and water to see:

  • Whether Black Pepper suits your land Good fit, possible or won't work, with the reasons.
  • What it could earn an acre From yields near you and mandi prices.
  • Water and fertiliser it needs Irrigations for your water, and bags for one acre.

What it needs

Temperature

22–35 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 10–40 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

1,630–1,680 mm over its season

Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:

Kodagu Chikkamagaluru Idukki Hassan Visakhapatnam

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 5 to 7.5.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • K Needs plenty of potassium and sulphur
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°).

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
October, ₹59,500
Lowest
July, ₹48,000
₹48,000
₹59,500
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis.

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
2,94,031 ha
2022-23
Average yield
0.4 t/ha
2022-23
Most area
Kodagu
Karnataka
Best yield
Karbi Anglong
3.7 t/ha

States that grow it

Production in each state's latest year with figures (2025-26).

  1. Karnataka 63,387 t
  2. Kerala 21,714 t
  3. Assam 3,010 t
  4. Meghalaya 2,513 t
  5. Tamil Nadu 1,935 t
  6. Maharashtra 550 t
  7. Goa 371 t
  8. Andhra Pradesh 252 t
  9. West Bengal 246 t
  10. Tripura 200 t

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Districts with the most area (recent figures)

The map colours each district by yield, for districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

  1. Kodagu, Karnataka 87,217 ha
  2. Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka 44,418 ha
  3. Idukki, Kerala 41,200 ha
  4. Hassan, Karnataka 31,306 ha
  5. Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka 11,864 ha
  6. Wayanad, Kerala 10,035 ha
  7. Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh 9,030 ha
  8. Shivamogga, Karnataka 5,420 ha
  9. Uttara Kannada, Karnataka 4,636 ha
  10. Kannur, Kerala 4,215 ha

Black Pepper yield

  1. 0.2–0.3 t/ha
  2. 0.3–0.4 t/ha
  3. 0.4–0.6 t/ha
  4. 0.6–1.8 t/ha
  5. 1.8–3.7 t/ha
No data

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2016-17 to 2022-23.

Where yields are highest

  1. Karbi Anglong, Assam 3.7 t/ha
  2. Kokrajhar, Assam 2.8 t/ha
  3. Golaghat, Assam 2.5 t/ha
  4. Goalpara, Assam 2.4 t/ha
  5. Udalguri, Assam 2.1 t/ha
  6. Baksa, Assam 2.0 t/ha
  7. Lakhimpur, Assam 1.9 t/ha
  8. Biswanath, Assam 1.9 t/ha
  9. Sonitpur, Assam 1.8 t/ha
  10. Kamrup, Assam 1.8 t/ha

Only districts growing it on at least 100 ha.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2016-17 to 2022-23.

Across India over the years

Yield (t/ha)

0.4 0.5 0.5
2016-17 2022-23
Latest 0.4 t/ha in 2022-23

Area (ha)

0.0 153K 306K
2016-17 2022-23
Latest 2,94,031 ha in 2022-23

Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.

Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2016-17 to 2022-23.

Soil and yield

How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.

Black Pepper yields tend to be higher in districts with

  • More soil high in nitrogen strong 53 districts
  • More soil medium in nitrogen strong 53 districts
  • More soil short of boron moderate 53 districts

Black Pepper yields tend to be lower in districts with

  • More soil low in nitrogen strong 53 districts
  • More soil short of sulphur strong 53 districts
  • More soil high in potassium strong 53 districts

A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.

Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).