Sigandhini - A new black pepper variety with high yield and disease tolerance

Sigandhini pepper is identified and developed by Sri. Ramakanth Ramachandra Hegde of Hunsekoppa, a small village in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka. 

Progressive farmer Sri. Ramakanth Hegde with his variety Sigandhini

Main features of the variety

• Less occurrence of slow wilt and quick wilt in field and higher tolerance to diseases.
• Early maturity (December-January harvesting) of nearly one month compared to leading hybrid Panniyur-1 which offers more rest period to plant and results in regular and consistent bearing.
• Farmers prefer to cultivate this variety in virus affected plots and virus tolerance is reported by farmers.
• Vine canopy coverage is good with large number of branches.
• Vine is reported to be drought tolerant. Nursery plants developed from single node cuttings are highly vigorous and field establishment is also excellent.
• Highly suitable for arecanut based multi-storeyed cropping systems.

Spikes of Sigandhini variety black pepper

Plant characteristics:

• On an average each spike produces 80 berries.
• Bulk density generally range from 610-640g/L. which is much higher than Panniyur-1
• Plant is rich in essential oil content (3.2%), oleoresin (5.74-6.82%) and piperine (4.32%).
• From a healthy vine grown on arecanut (20-25ft), one can expect a fresh berry yield of 9-10 kg and dry berry yield of around 3.5 kg with a dry recovery: 39%
• Low incidence of foot rot in the field.
• Compact berry setting and pin heads are generally absent.
• Broad leaf with medium length make the efficient use of available space for the canopy.

Dried berries of sigandhini variety

Nursery view of Sigandhini