The Hindu Business Line : Traders boycott cardamom auctions

Cardamom traders based at Bodinayakanur, Thevaram, Cumbum and Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu and Kumily in Kerala have decided to boycott the auctions until the concerned authorities address their grievances.

The decision to boycott is understood have emanated following a decision recently by the Spices Board in which it had instructed the auctioneers that no extra collections other than the contribution to Cardamom Development Fund (CDF) and one per cent commission should be made from the farmers.

The decision would deprive the traders of Rs 1.50 per kg on cardamom sold to bidding traders as cleaning and grading charges.

In fact, 80-90 per cent of the total production in the country is from Kerala and Tamil Nadu and of this, about 90 per cent is sold through auctions conducted by seven auctioning companies throughout the week in Vandanmedu, Kumily, Pulianmala, Nedumkandam and Bodinayakannur.

Growers hail move

Welcoming the board's decision on their request at a time when the average prices of cardamom continued to remain far below remunerative levels, officials of the Kerala Cardamom Growers Union, Cumbum and the Cardamom Growers Association, Vandanmedu, told Business Line that they had requested the traders and auctioneers to strictly follow the direction of the board.

Meanwhile, the traders disagreeing with the decision said: "It is an injustice against traders who are playing a vital role in marketing. We are not being considered while taking any decision relevant to the trade."

Allegations

They alleged that the meeting of Cardamom Planters, Auctioneers and Traders (CPAT) had not been conducted properly for a long time.

In the past, "any changes used to take place only after discussion in the CPAT, which was working as the coordinating committee for smooth running of the cardamom industry.

Now, the decisions are taking place by keeping traders in the dark and nobody bothers to inform the changes," they alleged.

As a last resort, "we have decided not to do any trade until our grievances are redressed".

Some of the planters have urged the concerned to come forward to a negotiating table and sort out the issues, as boycotting the trade would have a negative impact on both the growers and the traders.

Spices Board sources said it was looking at the demands of the traders.

Their traders' demands are:

One per cent of sample to be given for each lots purchased in the auctions, which should be shown in the bill towards the husk, dust, moisture, foreign materials and process loss.

Cardamom lots containing moisture of six per cent and below only be pooled and this has to be displayed on board, sample packet and in the lot list. At present, high moisture cardamom pooled in the auctions, causes weight loss, colour loss and in turn we are facing hardship in marketing cardamom and incur loss.

Gunny charges, stitching charges and loading charges must be borne by the sellers only.

Lorry freight charged by the auctioneers is so high and abnormal that it has to be charged at reasonable rate in consultation with the traders.

The bidding rate should be reverted to 50 paise instead of Re 1 since the rates have come down to from Rs 800 a kg to Rs 200.

The display sample must be drawn from the planters at 1.5 kg per lot. At present, display sample is insufficient to evaluate the quality and not reaching the last row buyers.

200 gm of type sample to be given instead of 100 grams if the cardamom lots weighing more than 200 kg, which is required for the trade sample analysis.

The weight shortage and the sample difference must be rectified by the auctioneers immediately as we are facing such problems frequently.

The auctioneers should not participate as a trader in their own auctions so as to create a level-playing field and eliminate unfair advantage.

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