How this Goa spice farmer makes Rs 15 lakh/acre from vanilla farming

When Chinmay Tanshikar took over his ancestral farm in Netravali village in Sanguem, Goa, his father grew coconut, cashew, and betel nuts. Having studied commerce, Chinmay was well aware of the business of agriculture. He understood the importance of high-value crops and transformed the land into an organic spice farm of nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla while retaining the old trees.

Today, the biggest revenue-generating spice for his farm is organic vanilla, which Chinmay intercrops with areca nut (supari). While he sold vanilla at Rs12,000 per kg this year, earning around Rs 15 lakh per acre, he sold it at Rs 30,000 per kg in 2020-21 when demand was much higher than supply.

Vanilla is the world’s most popular flavour, and its extract is used in ice creams, chocolates, cigarettes, liqueurs and other food items. Madagascar is the largest vanilla producer in the world. In India, Karnataka tops vanilla cultivation followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other states.

The global vanilla market size was 291.67 billion dollars in 2023 and is expected to reach 436.54 billion dollars by 2031, as per Data Bridge Market Research. 

In 2022, India exported vanilla worth 3.4 million dollars, as per the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).

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Starting organic farming of Vanilla

“In 2004, I bought vanilla cuttings from Karnataka at Rs150 per metre. We can plant around 1000 cuttings of vanilla per acre or less. Initially, I planted 2500 cuttings over 2.5 acres of land,” he says.

Vanilla is a tropical orchid wind that can grow only in shade – either naturally or in a greenhouse. Being a creeper, it also needs support. “Areca nut trees provide both support and shade to vanilla and make for an excellent intercropping option. I planted areca nut at a gap of 8 ft X 8 ft,” Chinmay says. 

The income per acre from areca nut is around Rs2.6 lakh, taking the total to Rs17.6 lakh per acre when cropped along with vanilla.

After three years of plantation, vanilla starts flowering in late January and continues to flower till April-end.

“After flowering, we manually pollinate vanilla bean orchids by delicately pressing the stamen and stigma together. It takes 5 to 7 seconds to pollinate one flower,” the agripreneur explains. 

The bee that kept vanilla in existence for years is now feared to be extinct, making manual pollination necessary. This essential manual process also makes vanilla the second costliest spice in the world after saffron.

“We pollinate only 70 percent of the flowers to get good quality pods. It reduces the burden on the plant and improves the quality of the yield,” he says. His wife and two daughters support him on the farm.

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High yield with low maintenance

Vanilla beans are formed almost ten months after pollination. The harvest season is from December to January. “Once planted, a well-maintained vanilla orchard and give yield for 25 to 30 years without high maintenance costs,” he says.

“One plant can give an average of around three bunches per season. In one bunch, there are typically 12-15 sticks,” Chinmay points out.

After harvest, the sticks are dried for two months. They are spread on sheets and exposed to the sun for many days at a rate of at least three hours per day. The pods are stored in wooden boxes at night. “Drying must be slowed down to prevent the pods from drying out too quickly,” he explains.

The beans are then placed on racks in a shaded and ventilated room for over a month. The chemical and enzymatic reactions continue their development during this slow drying process, leading to a strong aroma. 

“After these processes, we get around 300 sticks in one kilogram and each plant yields around 35-40 sticks. So eight plants will yield around one kilo,” Chimay says.

His farm’s vanilla bean output is around 125 kg per acre. At Rs 12,000 per kg, he had an income of Rs15 lakh per acre in the last season. “I have planted a thousand creepers per acre. But if you plant only 500, then the output and income will be less,” he says, adding that vanilla is an expensive spice and the price fluctuates drastically depending on the demand and supply situation. 

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Irrigation, manuring and marketing

 “Vanilla needs moisture. So one can either use sprinklers or foggers (fog) irrigation system.” Foggers are used in greenhouses to reduce the ambient temperature and increase relative humidity. 

In rain, vanilla can catch fungus. “So I use two bio-pesticides. Trichoderma prevents diseases while promoting plant growth. It improves nutrient utilization and enhances plant resistance. Pseudomonas can also control various fungi that attack crop roots.”

Chinmay uses husk of areca nut for mulching to retain moisture in summer. “To the creepers, I add compost made using leaves, and farm waste including animal waste. I buy cow dung from outside,” he adds.

“Vanilla requires negligible maintenance. The main concern is price fluctuation and second, because of vanilla’s high price, there is almost no demand from small towns and villages unlike pepper, which can be sold anywhere easily,” he says.

However, marketing is not a problem for Chinmay. He runs a farm stay, offering ecotourism cottages. “We have guests from across the world. About 90 percent of our vanilla crop is sold through our counter here. We have bulk buyers like restaurants and super stores who retail it further at higher rates. They sell vanilla pod by pod and buy in bulk from us,” he says.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in business, financial, and socio-economic reporting)

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