Cardamom farmers in Idukki hit as prices crash

Present market trends show that there is no chance for the prices to rise any further this year, industry officials say

The prices of cardamom have remained at a low as the harvest season of the crop nears its end.

The farmers have taken a severe beating as the prices dipped from ₹650 to 700 in the local market. At the auction held at the Spices Park at Puttady on Saturday, the average price was ₹965 per kg. The auction of the 86,512 kg, held by the South Indian Green Cardamom Company Ltd., arrived in 297 lots, and a quantity of 82, 605 kg was sold.

The maximum price was ₹1,600 per kg. At the auction held by the Green Cardamom Company on Saturday, the average price was ₹946 per kg. Of the 47,861 kg arrived in 191 lots, 42,830 kg was sold. The maximum price was ₹1,341 per kg.

K.S. Mathew, chairman of Cardamom Producers Company, said present market trends showed that there was no chance for the prices to rise any further this year. “The main harvesting season is already over but the prices of cardamom remain low in the open market. We have information that there was no proper demand from north India during the Deepavali season,” said Mr. Mathew.

“Before the pandemic, thousands of small roadside shops in north Indian States largely used cardamom and after the pandemic, such shops have not yet opened and it also affected the demand,” said Mr. Mathew.

Thomas Mathai, a farmer from Kattappana, said the continuous dip had prompted the local vendors not to purchase cardamom from the farmers. “Most of the farmers have no facility to grade their product and produce before the auction. The vendors are offering ₹750 to 800 per kilo on average cardamom,” said Mr. Mathai.

According to sources, a ban on Indian cardamom by some foreign countries like Saudi Arabia also affected the price of the product. Since 2018, the country has decided not to buy the cardamom from India due to the pesticide content.

MAS Enterprises limited, one of the major cardamom auctioneers, recently requested the farmers avoid the use of certain pesticides in their cardamom plantations. “Saudi Arabia has limited their restriction only to six pesticides/fungicides and they are ready to buy cardamom from India if the MRL of these six chemicals is within their approved limit,” said MAS enterprises.

Recently, the Spices Board started a trial pesticide-free cardamom auction on October 22. In the auction, the maximum price quoted was ₹1,468 and the average price quoted was ₹1,084. The board has now decided to continue the auction every month.