The Hindu Business Line : Adverse conditions may hit cardamom output

Heavy winds that lashed the cardamom-growing tracts in the last week of May, coupled with the absence of adequate summer rains, have damaged standing crops/plants, according to Mr T. Asokkumar, President Kerala Cardamom Growers Union. Besides, the arrival of the southwest monsoon has been delayed.

"As a result there will be a crop loss of 50 per cent in Udumbanchola area and 30 per cent in Vandanmedu region," he told Business Line on Wednesday. Thus, there could be a decline of 20-30 per cent in the overall production this year, he said.

Low price woes

The low cardamom prices at around Rs 200 a kg, on the one hand, and high input costs, on the other, are forcing growers to slow down agricultural operations. This would also adversely affect the plants, he said. The prices of fertilisers and pesticides had risen exorbitantly, he said. The farmers need to spray Bordeaux mixture (copper sulphate with lime) in the first week of June every year to arrest the decaying of stem (azhugal disease). But copper sulphate is priced Rs 200 a kg as against Rs 60 last year. In most areas, the seasonal works have not started for want of funds.

In fact, most of the growers are in debt, forcing them to approach moneylenders, he said.

The average price during the current season was around Rs 200 a kg as against the annual average auction price of Rs 622.87 a kg in 2001-02. Prices had declined since and currently they were non-remunerative, he said.

Debt trap

The cultivation costs per acre in 2004 were estimated at Rs 87,275, excluding capital investments and interest on cultivation costs, he said. In contrast, the yield from one acre of a well-managed plantation would be 400-500 kg. Thus the income would range from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh, which lands many growers in losses.

Due to the non-remunerative prices the farmers' loan liabilities have touched Rs 150 crore, he said. The association has already requested the government to convert short-term loans into long-term loans, besides waiving the interest in commercial banks, he said.

The worst affected are the growers in Kerala's Idukki and Tamil Nadu's Theni districts.

The total area under cardamom in the country is estimated at 73,725 ha, of which 41,378 ha is in Kerala. The total production in 2005-06 is estimated at 12,500 tonnes.

Promotional efforts

The only way to ensure remunerative prices for cardamom growers is to increase the per capita consumption of the aromatic spice both within the country and abroad, he said.

According to him, the Board already has a Cardamom Development Fund of Rs 7 crore, which could be utilised effectively to explore new applications in medicines, cosmetics and so on, besides developing the market for value-added cardamom, he added.

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