Spice Crops (Volume I: Major Spices)

India is the land of spices. The flavour and fragrance of Indian species had a magic spell in human civilization and culture since very ancient days. The lure for spices attracted the Greeks, Turks, Arabs, Romans, Chinese and Europeans to India, ultimately leading to colonial rule. The species trading history is thus entwined with world history itself. Annals of history reveal the importance of Indian spices growing at a magnificent pace across the nations. Indian spices have carved out a niche of its own in the spice world, over the years. India has the richest knowledge in cultivation of spices and the Indian Institute of species Research at calicut under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research is the world’s leading institute on spices. India is the largest spice producer and consumer of spices. The USA, Europe, Australia, Japan, the  Middle East and Oceanic Countries are the major importers of India  spices. There are more than 100 spices listed by ISO. India is also endowed with strong research base on spices is estimated to be around 4.5 million tones valued at US$1,500 million. India alone contributes to over 45% of the world demand. Considering the importance, the present attempt is exhaustively review the work done on these crops in 4 volumes as below: Volume 1: Major Spices; Volume 2: Tree Species. Very eminent and authoritative scientists have contributed the chapters. The books will be of great use to all the researcher, policy makers, extension workers and students. It will be a great guide to those preparing for ARS examination of ICAR.