The Black Gold League (BGL), a pepper growers’ training institute, has organised a three-day global pepper conference in Chikkamagaluru, beginning Friday. Delegates from across the world will take part in the conference, which includes field visits and technical sessions on pepper growing. Pepper growers and traders from Greece, Netherland, Srilanka and Micronesia are participating in the event.
The BGL was set up in 2012. So far, it has trained hundreds of people in pepper cultivation.
K.R. Keshava, president, BGL, told The Hindu, “We have been training people in growing pepper. For the first time, we are organising a global conference to bring experts and traders in the field on one platform.”
The theme of the conference is ‘Showcasing the intrinsic value of shade grown, eco-friendly and sustainable pepper production with traceability’. The delegates will be taken to shade grown pepper fields in three different locations on Friday and shown how pepper is grown in areca farms and coffee estates. On the second day, Minister for Commerce Nirmala Sitaraman, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar, and other people’s representatives will take part in the conference at AIT Auditorium. On the third day, a grower trader meeting has been convened at a hotel.
Pepper park
Mr. Keshava said the KGL had been demanding a pepper park in Chikkamagaluru. “The park will include a development centre, laboratory and an auction centre. This will help pepper growers of Karnataka. We have already placed this demand before the Centre. We will reiterate this in the conference,” he said. The organisers are expecting more than 6,000 delegates to attend on the second day.
