Main content

03/01/2010

Curry will never be the same again for Steve Peacock after visiting a spice farm in the Indian state of Kerala to discover secrets of growing pepper, cardamom, coconut and clove.

When Kerala farmer Jacob Mathew read Rachael Carson's classic Silent Spring, he, like many counterparts in Europe and the USA, decided to turn his back on pesticides. It wasn't an instant success but now he has also embraced a traditional style of farming - tall trees for timber, bamboo to help conserve water and soil and a mix of traditional spices, fruits and vegetables in place of rubber trees - and his business is thriving. Steve Peacock visits him at Haritha Farms' The Pimenta and finds he has another thing in common with European farmers - the need to diversify. So among the tall trees, spices and wildlife is another crop - tourists.

Available now

22 minutes

Last on

Sun 3 Jan 2010 06:35

Broadcast

  • Sun 3 Jan 2010 06:35