Constraints in Production and Post Production Management of Vanilla Crop

An extensive survey was conducted among vanilla growers. The farmers were randomly selected from four districts of Kerala State. This was conducted through personal interviews of the farmers from May 2004 to January 2005. The aim of this study was to identify the constraints in vanilla production and postproduction aspects. The main constraints in cultivation are spread of diseases, high water requirement, pollination and theft. Though vanilla cultivation has been in practice for the last few years, the processing is still in its infancy. The common method of curing the vanilla beans that is being adopted by farmers is Bourbon method. This study revealed that the major processing constraints faced by the farmers are high labour requirement, time consumption, improper storage facilities and fungal infections. Lack of proper processing techniques and marketing facility aggravated their problems.