KOCHI: There’s another enigma wrapped in a dilemma unfolding in Idukki! Cardamom prices are soaring, yet farmers continue to be in deep distress. The wonder spice fetched a high of Rs 2,646 per kg in the Spices Board e-auction on August 17, with the average price touching Rs 2,118. It would have been a moment to cheer for farmers after prices had hit rock bottom at Rs 700 per kg in January 2022. But, as fate would have it, production has plunged 30 per cent from last year.
Cardamom requires good rains and a cool climate to flower and bear fruit. But with monsoon failing (Idukki’s deficit stands at 61 per cent), the plants have started wilting and farmers are struggling to irrigate their crops.
“I cultivate cardamom on 13 acres of land, of which 11 acres are on lease. I have to pay a lease of Rs 1 lakh per acre every year. Last year, the yield was good but the price ranged between Rs 700 and Rs 1,200. Now, the price is soaring and has crossed Rs 2,000. But the yield is only one-fifth of what it was last year. I have also availed a farming loan, but I will not even get the returns to pay the lease amount,” laments Jomon Ozhukayil, a farmer in Vazhavara.
“Even if prices are high, small and marginal farmers will not benefit as market intermediaries call the shots. They will grade the cardamom according to size and reduce prices. Normally a farmer will get only 60 per cent of the wholesale price,” he said. The cardamom crop requires an ambient climate ranging between 18 and 23 degree Celsius. With monsoon failing, the mercury is soaring and humidity is high, due to which the plants are not bearing fruit. Cardamon harvest starts in June, with the arrival of monsoon, and extends up to December.
This is the first time since 2019 that prices have crossed Rs 2,000. It touched an all-time high of Rs 7,000 in 2019, which was also marked by a low harvest. The average price of cardamom was around Rs 4,000 then.
“Last year, my three-acre farm yielded 1,000kg of cardamom. But the average price was Rs 1,000. Now the price is soaring but my yield is only 250kg with which I will not be able to recover the input cost,” said M L Roy, of Kalthotty.
“Farmers are in grave crisis. New beans will not grow in dry conditions. If the dry spell continues, farmers will not be able to replant the crop, which will affect production next season,” said Cardamom Growers Association president Antony Mathew.
The farming sector in Idukki has been passing through hard times since the 2018 floods. Fluctuations in prices and variations in weather have affected livelihoods. Due to lack of rainfall cardamom plants are not bearing fruit. Now it has been drizzling in some areas which can be even more disastrous. It will lead to a rise in temperature and the plants will wilt,” said Reji Joseph Njallani, who in 2021 bagged the Innovative Farmer Award instituted by the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management.