Rising popularity of artificial vanilla puts Kerala farmers in distress

cover Vanilla is said to be the world's most popular flavour. Its sweet, mildly fruity, spicy and alluring aroma is considered to be both sensual and calming. Aroma analysts call vanilla the smell of love... ARNAB PRATIM DUTTA travels to the farms of Kerala to find out what is rotten in the business of this sweet smelling spice.
story1 BEAN STALK
Trailing the vanilla trade
story2 CHEMICAL VANNILA
Coal tar, paper mill effluent, what else
story3 WHAT'S ON SHOW
Is our ice cream natural or synthetic?
story4 CURE AND SCENT
The technology challenge