At a time when many farmers are simply walking away from their pepper fields in frustration, Big Tree Farms has created a new opportunity by reawakening the past. Big Tree Farms is working with producer groups in a small region called Kota Bumi or “Center of the Earth”.
Here farmers still use the traditional system of shade-growing peppercorns. Glossy leaved vines meander naturally up the trunks of tropical shade trees providing protection from heat and harsh sunlight. On the forest floor, nitrogen-fixing legumes are planted in rings around the pepper vines, offering a constant source of nutrients and safe harbor for beneficial insects that protect the vines from disease. The pepper berries themselves are incredibly pungent when grown in this system, having an almost chile pepper like heat.
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