The Hindu Business Line : Cardamom crop may be hit

The situation has been further aggravated with insufficient rains so far this year making the revival of the plants almost unlikely mainly in the un-irrigated areas.

"We received a few showers in April and thereafter the monsoon spell in late May lasted for hardly two days. This was quite inadequate for the plants," Mr T. Ashok Kumar, President, Kerala Cardamom Growers Union, told Business Line.

After May 28, there hasn't been any showers and this has affected the flowering and pollination. Besides, due to the dry spell at present the growers cannot spray the copper sulphate - lime mixture, which is done normally on June 1 to strengthen the plants at the onset of monsoon.

Hence, given the present unfavourable weather conditions, harvestin the next season would be delayed and the first crop might arrive only by August third week, he said.

He said when a delegation of cardamom growers met the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, in New Delhi recently to present their problems, the Minister had advised them to take up measures to harvest rainwater in the cardamom hill areas with support from the Spices Board.

Besides, Idukki district has been included in the purview of the Swaminathan Committee for studying the plight of the cardamom growers, which is expected to visit the area late this month or early next month, he said.

Area under cultivation

According to the Spices Board, the total area under cardamom in the country in 2003-04 was 73,237 hectares and of which the yield area was at 55,221 hectares. Kerala topped with 41,332 ha (with 30,991 ha yielding area) followed by Karnataka with 26,838 ha (20,510 ha) and Tamil Nadu 5,067 ha (3,720 ha). The yield per ha in the three States was very low with 286 kg, 85 kg and 259 kg respectively.

According to Mr Ashok Kumar, because of the unfavourable weather conditions this year, the total output next season in Kerala and Tamil Nadu is likely to fall by 30-40 per cent. The total production during the current season, which has come to an end, is estimated at around 11,000 tonnes from that of last season (Aug - July) provisionally put at 12,540 tonnes.

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