Description
Pepper harvesting in the Cardamom Hills near Thekkadi, a small town in the south-western Indian state of Kerala. The slopes of these hills are sparsely covered with deciduous trees, their trunks enveloped by the dense foliage of the pepper bushes. Pepper is a climbing plant which – much like wild vines or ivy – grows upwards on trees and rock faces using its tough, supple tendrils and adhesive aerial roots. To harvest the long clusters of pepper berries, the picker uses a sturdy bamboo pole, from which he has trimmed the side shoots to the width of a step, as a ladder. - 1990
