Out of 4000-4500 metric tonne of average yield of large cardamom in India, Sikkim produced 4224 mt and the Darjeeling hills 480 mt this year, a senior official of the Spices Board here said.

This when Sikkim had produced only 2,128 mt and Darjeeling 225 mt last year in the wake of a long drought spell.

The Board set up here in 1979 through its regional office in Gangtok looks after the production of the crop both in Sikkim and Darjeeling areas.

"This time, it is a normal crop, we can say. The growers are by and large satisfied," says the official.

In similar vein, Lobzang Tenzing, whose family reportedly owns nearly 50 hectare of land growing cardamom in North Sikkim, said this time the crop was average. "Neither we are in the red, nor we profit much."

Mr Tenzing, who is also the North district panchayat president, said that last year when the crop was damaged, the price was high. But it went down this time with a high production - thereby fetching almost the same money.

The average price of large cardamom stood at Rs 187 per kg last year with the maximum being Rs 250, while this time the average price hovers around Rs 150 to Rs 160 per kg. But with proper maintenance and hard work, the average production of the large cardamom in Sikkim can go up to at least 500 kg per hectare than the existing figure of below 200, says the Spices Board official.

"Without doing much, a farmer in Sikkim is getting almost Rs 150-200 per kg with his cost of production being Rs 20-30."

The farmers are generally reluctant to work hard and earn more. Whatever they are getting from the field, they are apparently content with that. A lack of motivation, incentives and ambitions among the growers are coming in the way of enhanced production.

The official, however, notes that the farmers were also facing difficulties in bringing the crop to three curing houses, two built by the State and one by the Board, which can increase the quality of the crop.

Sikkim produces large cardamom in as much as 23,484 hectare of land of which North district has maximum 7,373 hectare, followed by east 7,017 hectare.

Parts of Kalimpong and Darjeeling subdivisions of the neighbouring West Bengal grow the crop in about 2,847 ha.

Large Cardamom is also grown in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur. Bhutan and Nepal are also producers of the crop. After consuming almost 70 per cent of the total production internally, India exports large cardamom to Singapore, the UK and Bangladesh. The Spices Board has taken a few `developmental measures'- like providing replantation subsidy of 25 per cent, irrigation equipment and production of saplings at subsidised rate - to improve the quality of the yield.