The Hindu Business Line : Drop in yield seen hitting cardamom production

With drop in yield per acre without any change in production costs, the current average price of cardamom has become unremunerative, according to growers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Heavy winds accompanied by heavy downpour during the monsoon damaged plantations in several parts of Kerala. This has adversely affected the crop leading to a drop of 30 per cent in production. The revival of these plants and maintenance of the plantations involves substantial investment, they claim. Last year, if the average yield per acre was 280 kg, it would be less by at least 30 per cent this year raising the cost of production, they said. Given this scenario, an average price of Rs 400 would be remunerative, Mr T. Ashok Kumar, President, Kerala Cardamom Growers Union. Erratic climate is a major problem.

During December, "we used to get some showers in the cardamom growing tract. But this year it has failed and it would affect water availability for irrigation". If the dry spell continued, then there would be a further drop in the production, he claimed.

Total cardamom output in 2005-06 is estimated at 12,540 tonnes, while that of 2006-07 is projected to be below 10,000 tonnes. The production in 2004-05 was 11,415 tonnes.

Meanwhile, production in Guatemala, which used to be around 23,000-25,000 tonnes, is projected to be around 18,000 tonnes this season.

In fact, 80 per cent of the plantations have got irrigation facilities. But, the current dry spell could dry up the water resources depriving the plants of irrigation. "Then, we will be at the mercy of the summer rains". The bushes are good now and if there were good spell of intermittent showers before the commencement of the next South-East monsoon, the crop next season would be good, he claimed.

Increasing costs

At the same time, the ever-increasing cost of inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and fungicides also play a major role in raising the cost of production. Added to this is the increase in labour costs, he said.

Accepting that the average price this season so far has been good, he said that it was encouraging that there had been a stable market for the past over one month.

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