Betel Leaf Cultivation - A Potential Crop for Sustainable Income

Piper bettle L., commonly known as betel leaf, commonly known as pan in India,is a perennial, diocious, evergreen creeper, consumed as a chewing stimulant. It belongs to the family Piperaceae, i.e. the Black Pepper family. Betel leaf cultivation and its consumption is a traditional and widespread practice in India where a great deal of medicinal values also attributed to the leaf. It is one of the instances whereas a cash crop is neither dependent on exports nor an urban consumption only and can yet be easily marketed. For the marginal farmers unable and whose labour resources are under employed, betel leaf cultivation on a portion of his holding provides a means to put his under-utilized labour to productive use enabling him to make ends meet. It can be a good supplement to the field crops to take up diversified farming. Keeping this in mind,it is felt necessary to make an in-depth study on the production and marketing of betel leaf. The study has been designed with the broad objectives of examining the feasibility of cultivation and identification of marketing constraints of betel leaf in Nadia, a district popular for Betel leaf Cultivation over the years in West Bengal, India.