Mullaperiyar dam issue continues to cripple the cardamom trade with small growers, affecting traders and workers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Auctions continued to remain suspended for a fortnight now without any end in sight and it has negatively affected thousands of small and medium growers in Kerala's Idukki district and thousands of workers and taxi operators in Tamil Nadu, depriving them of their daily income.
“The worst hit are the small growers who are finding no buyers and many do not have money even to buy Christmas cakes”, a trader in Vandanmettu said. “Low prices coupled with inability to sell our produce now have put us in serious cash crunch”, some of the growers in Upputhara and Elappara in the district told
Commute problem
Meanwhile, an owner of an estate in the Kumily region and a native of Cumbum told
Above all, nearly 600 tonnes of cardamom at the rate of Rs 500 a kg on an average used to be traded every week. That trade is lost.
“Now our estates remain abandoned as neither owners nor workers are present to do the harvesting and other agricultural activities. As a result, ripe capsules become fruits and a feast for frogs and squirrels,” he said. Consequently, there would be an estimated crop loss of around 1,000 tonnes, he said. On the other hand, our absence also facilitates thieves to cut down trees and take away hard timber from the estates, he alleged.
The total trade and crop loss alone could be put at over Rs100 crore during the past two weeks, he claimed.
There has been good demand from overseas markets so far this year and the non-availability of export quality material due to stoppage of movement of material from Kerala has resulted in the exporters not accepting the overseas orders estimated at around 200 tonnes during the last fortnight, a dealer in Bodinayakannur told Business Line .
Indian exports of cardamom during the current fiscal have shown substantial increase due to attractive price coupled with non-availability of quality material from the lone other source Guatemala. Consequently, 2,300 tonnes of cardamom valued at Rs 195.75 crore at an average unit value of Rs 851.05 a kg were shipped out during April- October, 2011-12 as against 470 tonnes valued at Rs 54.60 crore at the unit value of Rs 1,161.67 a kg in the corresponding period last fiscal.
This year, in fact, the export buying has been helping prices to remain nearly stabilised at around Rs 500 a kg, despite having a good crop.
The auction was last held on December 5, and total arrivals during the current season up to that date stood at 8,255 tonnes and of which 8,033 tonnes were sold. The weighted average price stood at Rs 569.88 a kg. During the corresponding period the previous year, total arrivals were at 4,595 tonnes and the sales out it were at 4,522 tonnes. The weighted average price was at Rs1, 040.79 a kg.
According to the Bodi dealer, traders there were selling whatever stocks they were holding at Rs 40 – Rs 60 a kg above the prices that prevailed a fortnight ago. Prices on December 5 in Kumily were AGEB Rs 700- Rs 710; AGB Rs 600 – Rs 610; AGS Rs 580 – Rs 590; AGS 1 Rs 570 – Rs 580 a kg. He said only inferior quality material is available in the Bodi market as quality capsules are not arriving at all.
The estate owners from Cumbum told Business Line that they were expecting some positive steps from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to resolve the crisis as the current stalemate was seriously affecting thousands of workers, taxi operators, growers and their families.