ABSTRACT
For Indonesia, pepper had been an important commodity ever since it was introduced, long-long time ago. Pepper was the first spice that Indonesia traded to Europe through Persia and Arabia. Now its value from export ranks fifth in Indonesia, after rubber, oil palm, coffee and tea. Before World War II Indonesia shared about 80 per cent of the total world pepper production. But after the war, production and share of Indonesia’s pepper decreased much. During the Japanese occupation (1942-1945) many plantations in main producing areas were left uncultivated, in Bangka for example, only about 100,000 vines left in 1950 compared to 20 million in 1941.
