With the major harvesting season coming to a close, cardamom arrivals in the market is seen shorter by almost 50% of previous year?s figures, traders said. Traders are of the view that production could be much lower than anticipated earlier and the new estimate puts it at 5,500-6,000 tonne.
Arrivals at the major auction centres in Tamil Nadu and Kerala till date is seen lower by almost 50% and officials don?t see a major revival as they feel that picking is over in most of the farms. After the fourth round of picking, arrivals at Bodinayakkanur in Tamil Nadu is lower by 50-60%, says SVC Subramanian, president of Cardamom Planters Association. ?Farmers may be holding back some stock in anticipation of higher prices but we feel that most of the stock has already arrived in the market,? he said. Arrivals peak by the third and fourth round and then taper down to small quantities, he added. Prices have also touched new highs at the last round of auctions with average price realised being Rs 600, he said.
?Cardamom plantations in Idukki were severely affected by the six months of drought and heavy rains that followed it in July,? PC Punnoose of Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company (CPMC), Kumily said. ?Usually the harvesting stretches to seven months after the monsoon, but in this season arrivals began to taper down after four months,? he said. Harvesting was also delayed in the current season by almost 40 days, he added.
Auctions at CPMC are lower by 50% compared to the previous season. While 3,200 tonne of cardamom was auctioned through CPMC during July-December 2006, the corresponding figures for 2007 stands at 1,600 tonne. The remaining season is likely to see arrivals only in trickles, he said.
Punnoose guess-estimates the production to be around 6,000 tonne as against 11,000 tonne in the previous season.
KK Devassia of the Cardamom Growers Association confirms that major picking is over in most parts of Idukki and does not see huge quantities of cardamom arriving in the market.