According to sources in the Cardamom Marketing Corporation (CMC) at Vandanmedu, there is a sharp fall in the price because most of the arrivals comprise rejects from the first pickings.

The Kerala Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company (KCPMC) cancelled an auction on Wednesday apparently because of Ramzan, but sources claimed that there was not enough stock of cardamom to be put up for auctions. On Monday KCPMC had put up for auctions only 13,500 kgs of cardamom and on the following day Cardamom Producers' Association auctions saw only 7 tonnes arriving for auctions.

As a result of the poor arrivals and poor quality of the cardamom arrivals, prices are ruling low. However, "there is no threat of a big decline in price for quality cardamom," said sources in the Spices Board. As the third and fourth round of cardamom pickings have juststarted, prices touched about Rs 500 per kg compared to the Rs 700-750 per kg four weeks back.

Indian cardamom growers have also been helped by the increasing demand for the local products in the domestic market. Sources in the Spices Board said that traders in Kanpur, Delhi and Calcutta have begun to push Indian cardamom in a big way. Besides, about 250 tonnes of cardamom has already been exported so far this season, sources said.

Meanwhile, the poor arrivals at Kerala's cardamom auctions centres have reiterated claims made by a vast majority of cardamom growers in Kerala that the volatility of cardamom prices do not entice more and more and farmers to take up the crop in a major way. It has also been reported that cardamom yields this season in the state will not be more than 4,000. At the national level, production is expected to be about 5,600 tonnes.

Cardamom growers in India feel that they do not have a voice at the national level to assert their demands and put forward their grievances. Thevolatility in prices has been attributed to this. There are about 2,000-odd cardamom growers in the state who have leased forest land from the government exclusively for cardamom cultivation.