**Abstract**

Cumin is a seed spice which finds its place in variety of global cuisines, especially in Indian context. India leads in the world in production of cumin with 70% of world's production and consumes 90% of this produce. It is a high potential crop with great demand around the world due to changing food consumption behavior, and increasing demand for value-added products such as oil and powder. Cumin has a distinct flavor and aroma owing to presence of essential oils. Cumin has different biological and biomedical properties and finds use in various ayurvedic preparations in different forms. Cumin has been found in three types of colours: amber, white, and black. Among this amber is widely accepted and black also have unique flavor. Cumin is a crop of tropical and subtropical regions and suitable for cultivation on wide variety of soils. Cumin production can be easily done with very few hindrances such as frost injury, wilt and powdery mildew. There is a lot of scope and prospectus regarding its cultivation which can be exploited in other cumin suitable regions of the world through various agronomical innervations, crop improvement programs and biotechnological tools.

**Keywords:** cumin, seed, spice, climate, soil
