ABSTRACT
In India, pepper plants start flowering during May-June with the onset of South west monsoon, and the harvesting is usually done in December-January; while in Malaysia and Indonesia the flowering is in September-October and the crops come to harvest in March-April. Variation in maturity pattern depends on factors such as variety, rainfall, altitude, ambient temperature etc. In the plains of Kerala, the early maturity cultivars reach harvesting stage by November and the late ones by December-January. At higher altitudes, the fruit growth and maturity get delayed due to the low winter temperature. Under such conditions the early cultivars reach maturity by December but the late ones comes to harvest only by FebruaryMarch and may even go up to April.
