1Indian Institute of Spices Research, Marikunnu Post, Calicut-673 012, Kerala.
2Division of Horticulture & Forestry, Central Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair-744 101, Andamans.
The vegetation cover and forests of our country offer a great diversity of flora, of which the Andaman-Nicobar phytogeographic zone is one, whose flora is interesting and remarkable due to the tropical humid climate and insular nature of the territory. Out of 2,500 species of flowering plants occurring in these islands, about 11 per cent are endemic and another 11 per cent are economically important or useful to mankind. In addition to cultivated spices (black pepper, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, chilli and turmeric), wild relatives of spice crops also exist in the fragile island ecosystem. The important genera include Alpinia, Amomum, Costus, Curcuma, Garcinia, Globba, Hedychium. Kaempferia, Myristica, Piper, Vanilla and Zingiber, of which the maximum diversity is present in the genera Piper, Zingiber. Garcinia and Myristica. Due to over-exploitation of natural resources, some of the endemic species of these islands are under the threat of extinction. Concerted efforts have already been initiated to conserve the valuable genetic resources of spices for posterity.
Bay Islands, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Conservation, Germplasm, Status, Spices
