© 2024 IJNRD | Volume 9, Issue 4 April 2024| ISSN: 2456-4184 | IJNRD.ORG IJNRD2404891 International Journal of Novel Research and Development (www.ijnrd.org) i826 A GLIMPSE IN TO THE BOTANICAL FEATURES OF NUTMEG Dr.Puthuma Joy Assistant Professor,Department of Economics Mar Athanasius College(Autonomous),Kothamangalam Ernakulam District,Kerala,India Abstract Nutmeg, a major tree spice of Kerala, thrives in the wet tropical weather of the state. Its fruit yields two spices, nutmeg, and mace, both commanding high prices in domestic and international markets. Despite substantial domestic demand, India exports approximately 21% of its nutmeg output, with exports witnessing a remarkable 70% increase in the past decade due to unstable international prices. India, contributing over 11% of global nutmeg production, heavily relies on Kerala, which accounts for 96% of its total output. Keywords: Nutmeg,Kerala,Export,Cultivation Introduction Nutmeg is a major tree spice of Kerala. The wet tropical weather of the state is ideally suited to its growth. The tree is important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace. Both nutmeg and mace are currently among the most expensive spices, which are in high demand both domestically and internationally. Actually, it is without even meeting the domestic demand to the full that the country exports around 21 per cent of the output. The exports have also increased by 70 per cent in the past decade, due to their high prices prevailing in the international markets. So, increasing the area and production of the crop will definitely serve as means of gaining the much valued foreign exchange earnings and also saving it by reducing imports. India today accounts for more than 11 per cent of the world output in nutmeg. Ninety six per cent of its total production comes from the state of Kerala. The area of nutmeg plantation in India in the year 2020-21 comes to 22512 hectares, which produces 14342 million tonnes with a yield of 637.08 per hectare (Spices Board 2021). By exporting a quantity of 3280 million tonnes of nutmeg and mace, the country could bring in foreign exchange earnings worth US$ 24.82 million, in 2019. The area cultivated got extended to other states of India, especially Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, may be because of the sudden rise in the price during 1998-99 (Appendix 1). In the subsequent years, gigantic breakthrough in nutmeg cultivation occurred in these states and in Kerala, as the farmers were so attracted to it. However, though the rise in the area of cultivation and production of nutmeg helped increase its export from India, it was not sufficient to meet the growing demand. Such increased demand for nutmeg and the potential for high export earnings from its production has prompted the nutmeg farmers in India to go for the commercialized production of the crop. Apart from this, they do not have to spend much on the tree. The changing lifestyles and food habits have also boosted the demand for nutmeg in the country. Botanical features of the plant Botanically, nutmeg is an evergreen tree with 10-12 metres height. Its branches spread with shiny leaves which are oblong to oval in shape and have dark grey bark. The flowers appear in cymes, and each cyme has several branches on which a number of flowers bloom that hang down. These flowers are small, pale yellow, bell