Feb 15: Cardamom-growers in Kerala no longer believe that fame is enough to sell the commodity. With severe price undercutting and rampant smuggling, Guatemalan cardamom has spelt doom for growers in India, especially in Kerala's Idukki district, home to the famous Indian variety of the queen of spices.While growers estimate that about 3,000 tonnes of Guatemalan cardamom is being smuggled into India annually, neither the Spices Board nor the union commerce ministry has any idea of the actual quantum involved in these operations.
Most of the cardamom from Guatemala is smuggled into India via Calcutta port. Nepal requires about 50 tonnes of cardamom annually, and it used to be imported from India.
But with the price of cardamom falling in the international market, Guatemalan cardamom began to make its way to the Himalayan kingdom in a big way.
As of now, most of the consignments of the commodity reaching Calcutta port from Guatemalan centres is marked for Nepal, but a lot of it is actually smuggledinto the Indian market. The Latin American variety, being cheaper, is mixed with Indian cardamom and sold at half the price of Indian cardamom, a slightly superior quality produce.
According to source in Spices Board, the smuggled cardamom is sold mostly in upcountry centres like Delhi, Lucknow and Kanpur where there is a big demand for cardamom, both from domestic users as well as from institutional buyers.
The high ranges in Kerala, accounting for about two-thirds of the total cardamom production in the country, are now reeling with the dwindling fortunes of cardamom cultivators. Growers are unable to cut the cost of production or realise good prices in the face of abundant supply of cheaper cardamom from across the seas.
Cardamom growing is done on a large-scale in Guatemala where level grounds are converted into plantations of enormous sizes. In Kerala and neighbouring states, mountain bellies are converted into uneven fields with no encouragement for mechanisation of operations. Besides, yields arelow in India compared to the Latin American country. On an average, an Indian cardamom hectare yields about 120 kg while in Guatemala the figure is about 300 kg.
This brings down cost of production. As a result, Guatemalan cardamom sells for about $6 to $6.5 a kg in the international market while Indian cardamom is dearer by about $5.
The price of Indian cardamom peaked in 1992-93 when it touched Rs 450-500 a kg. In the following year, however, Guatemalan cardamom began to make its way to the Indian market, dragging down prices by nearly half. Currently, cardamom is being sold for about Rs 250 a kg. In the last auction in January at Kumaly, near Idukki, 37,761 kg of cardamom were sold at an average price of Rs 233.43 a kg. In the same month in 1996, the average price was as high as Rs 432.38 a kg.
Spices Board estimates say that the country will produce 5,560 tonnes of large cardamom in the current year. This is a slight improvement from last year's production of 5,150 tonnes. Nearly 8,000 tonnes ofsmall cardamom is expected to be produced this year. Last year, the production was 6,625 tonnes.
The Spices Board has adopted various measures to stop the smuggling of Guatemalan cardamom and to encourage export. A cardamom development fund, realised from cardamom growers, is being used to provide subsidies for air freight and to encourage packing of cardamom in small consumer packs for the west Asian market.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
