Cardamom prices unpredictable

By Kabiraj Ghimire,Hile, Jan. 10:  About three decades have passed since farmer Debi Bahadur Adhikari of Pakhribas Municipality-2, Sanne of Dhankuta started cardamom cultivation. During these three decades, Adhikari experienced many ups and downs in this farming.

The cardamom garden of Adhikari, which produced up to 45 man cardamom annually, was suddenly destroyed due to the outbreak of various diseases and insects. Production dropped from 45 man to five. But now, cardamom production has started to increase and reached 15 man annually by planting new saplings.

He sold cardamom at Rs. 120,000 per man in the past. But the price of cardamom decreased with production. Lately, production has increased but the price has not. Adhikari complained that despite the increase in production, prices have not increased.

Many cardamom gardens have been destroyed due to various diseases. The problem of disease in old plantations is still the same. But in places where new plantations have been made by removing the old, this problem has reduced and the production has increased.

The interest of farmers in cardamom cultivation has also started increasing over the years. Farmer Bal Bahadur Adhikari of Sanne said that the production has increased after planting new plants and expanding the new garden.

Cardamom has been cultivated in Dhankuta for about four decades. During the period of four decades, it produced the highest amount of cardamom with the largest expansion in the fiscal year 2017/18.

According to the data provided by Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Dhankuta, around 134 tonnes of cardamom was produced in the fiscal year 2017/18 in 230 hectares of land.

Since then, the production has been continuously decreasing. In the fiscal year 2018/19, a total of 91 tonnes of cardamom was produced in an area of 160 hectares in the district.

Then in the fiscal year 2019/20, the area of cardamom cultivation decreased to 125 hectares and the production also decreased to 62 tonnes. The production was limited to 38 tonnes in the fiscal year 2020/21. But it has increased to 40 tonnes in the fiscal year 2021/22.

The office estimates that cardamom production will increase to 50 tonnes this fiscal year. Nagendra Bahadur Rana, chief of Agricultural Knowledge Centre, Dhankuta, informed that the production has started to increase due to the change in the method of cultivation of new species of plants.

For cardamom cultivation, the Centre has been conducting modern kiln construction, model garden management and various training. On the other hand, the price of cardamom reached up to Rs. 120,000 per man in the year 2015. Since then, the price has decreased by 10 to 20 per cent annually, and now it has dropped to Rs. 25,000, said Shyam Shah, a cardamom trader in Hile.

According to Shah, the price has not remained stable even though it reached Rs. 49,000 per man last year.