IDUKKI: T T Thomas, better known as Thomas Thekken, an innovative farmer who is popular for his much acclaimed ‘Pepper Thekken’ in which pepper is produced in bunches just like grapes unlike the ordinary pepper plant where pepper balls are formed in single strand, strikes again with his new invention of potable pepper.
The potable pepper can be grown either in a pot or in a PVC pipe to the much relief of those who do not have enough land to do farming. The bush pepper is also a hit among the farmers not only within the state but also among those abroad. Thomas has even developed varieties of pepper which would produce the yield within six months. Ryots from even Vietnam, Cambodia and Madagascar call up Thomas over phone to clear their doubts and for his guidelines on pepper farming.
His innovations are not limited to high yielding pepper varieties. Thomas was awarded by the National Innovation Foundation for his organic pesticide against nematode attack in cardamom plants besides the recognitions, including the National Award from the President in 2012, for his ‘Pepper Thekken’, a natural mutant of the black pepper identified in the forest area of his native place Kanchiyar.
The speciality of the globally known variety is that it spikes are fully branched unlike ordinary pepper varieties having single spike without branches. Each of the spike of the Pepper Thekken will have 60 to 80 branches and each spike with branches and sub branches will bear about 800 to 1,000 pepper berries as against 60 to 80 pepper balls in the locally grown high yielding pepper varieties.