Abstract

Betelvine or Pan (Piper betle) is a perennial aromatic creeper which is cultivated in certain localities throughout India. According to Burkill (1935) this crop is apparently a native of Central and Eastern Malaysia which became a cultivated plant, spread through tropical Asia and Malaysia and to West Indies. He also claims that the plant seems to be known to North India before 600 A. D. George Watt (1892) indicates that it is highly probable that Java is the native home of betelvine. So it is seen that East Indies is the native home of this crop. Mukherji (1915), Balakrishnan (1930), Kantiraj (1941), Chowdhury (1944), Asthana and Mahmud (1945), Chowdhari (1945), Mahmud (1950 a to f), Malelu et al (1951), Mahmud (1952), Nagabhushanam (1956), Iyyer (1958), Nikam et al (1958) and Randhawa (1958) have detailed the cultiva- tion aspects of betelvine in their respective states. This paper deals with the different states in India.

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