P. K. Venugopalan Nambiar

P. K. Venugopalan Nambiar (1924–1996) was an Indian agricultural scientist credited with the development of the first hybrid variety of black pepper in the world, Panniyur-1. As the Head of Pepper Research Station, Panniyur in Kerala, he developed and released Panniyur-1 for commercial cultivation in 1971.

Venugopalan Nambiar devoted his life for improvement of black pepper to increase the productivity of the crop. He also assembled a large germ plasm collection of black pepper and developed infrastructure of Pepper Research Station in Panniyur. Besides being a scientist, Venugopalan Nambiar was cherished and adored as a leader of the farming community especially in Kerala