KOCHI: Christmas can never be much merrier than this year to the cardamom farmers of the high ranges in Kerala. The price of the queen of spices has shot up and remains steady at Rs 3,500 per kilogram at the Spices Board’s auction centre, much to the delight of the farmers. Soon after the August floods, the prices were steadily going upward. The average price of a kilogram of small cardamom at the daily auction centre stood at Rs 3510.25 on Monday.
“Soon after the floods, the price of cardamom crossed Rs 4,000 mark. There was shortage of supply at that time as the floods affected cardamom production in many areas, including Nedumkandam. Later it came down to Rs 2,300. However, since mid-November, the prices were steadily going up. The prices crossed Rs 3,500 mark and are now on an upward spiral,” said Sobin Sebastian, a cardamom planter at Chellarkkovil. The cardamom varieties from Idukki like Njallani and Palakkudy have good demand in local as well as international markets. Top quality cardamom from the high ranges of Kerala fetches gold at international markets like Australia and New Zealand. In Idukki region, a farmer will get an average of 400 to 500 kg of cardamom from one acre.
The season begins from September and lasts till December. Kerala had produced 21,503 tonnes of cardamom in 2015-16. However, it came down to 15,650 tonnes in 2016-17. According to the Spices Board, the production of cardamom in Kerala was 18,350 tonnes in 2017-18. This year, the production is likely to go up further, farmers said.
“We hope the prices will remain high for another two more months,” said Sobin.“Soon after the devastating floods, the farmers were in a hurry to clear the stocks. Most of them sold their produce when the price touched Rs 2000 per kilogram. They never expected the prices would touch Rs 4,000 per kg. However, those who did not suffer much loss to the crops during the floods are having a good time as the prices are going up,” said Mathew Sebastian, another farmer from Poonjar.