Black cardamom growers told to diversifiy crops

KOLKATA: Black cardamom growers, who are facing an income slump due to declining productivity, are being advised by the Spices Board to go for diversification.

As they are not yet enamoured by the idea of experimenting with other spices, the board has kicked off a campaign to make them aware about better land utilisation through the new process.

The move has been initiated as part of the total package to revive large cardamom plantation. The package, among others, includes a hike in the incentives for replantation and modernisation of processing the spice.

For starters, the campaign will be intensified in Sikkim, the largest producer of black cardamom in the country.

Accordingly, the regional office of the Spices Board based in Sikkim has reoriented its extension services to advise farmers to start cultivating a host of spices in their lands that remain vacant after cardamom plantation.

This apart, the board will educate farmers on diversification through a series of training programmes.

To help large cardamom growers increase their income through raising a variety of crops, they will be advised to introduce inter-cropping their land with other spices like ginger, turmeric, garlic, chillies, bay leaf, cinnamon and pepper, said a senior board official. The campaign is to be undertaken in association with the Sikkim government.

The board in its drive towards crop diversification has already prepared a list spices for their introduction in the unused land of large cardamom fields. It has been suggested that cultivation of spices like ginger, turmeric, garlic and chillies be introduced in open, flat or wastelands within the cardamom plantation area.

Other crop cultivation like that of bay leaf, cinnamon, cassia, curry leaf, pepper and vanilla can be taken up around the fence and in those lands within the cardamom field that fall by the road side.

The latter group of spices can be planted within the cardamom stretch as these crops are grown in this region. The planting materials of all these spices are available at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute at Mohitnagar in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, said the official.

In Sikkim, over 26,000 hectares are recorded to be under large cardamom plantation, 40% of which are not fully utilised. Due to erratic rainfall, the spice production in the state is estimated to fall 14% to 3,850 tonnes in ’06-07 as against last year’s production of 4,477 tonnes.

Notwithstanding the decline, the state will continue to contribute 70% of total large cardamom production. Due to erosion in its production in Sikkim, total spice output is expected to drop 20% to 5,500 tonnes in the current year.