KOCHI: The price of cardamom has reached an all time high of Rs 5,000 per kg on Thursday due to the sharp decline in output due to the August 2018 floods followed by the drought in main cardamom growing areas in Idukki district.
The Rs 5,000 per kg at the auction held at South Indian Green Cardamom Company Ltd, Kochi bettered the previous high of Rs 4,503 per kg recorded at MAS Enterprises, Vandanmedu on June 15, 2019.
The cardamom production in the current cropping season is expected to be down by at least 40 per cent on account of adverse weather conditions compared with 20,640 tonnes in 2017-18. A large number of cardamom plants were uprooted in the floods and landslides in Idukki district. The drought has further added to the woes of the growers. Cardamom starts yielding three years after being planted.
The cardamom prices started moving up in April as prices crossed the levels of Rs 3,000 per kg in auction centres in the state. The price then breached the Rs 4,000 mark per kg in the first week of May.
Although cardamom growers are happy about the upward spiral of the price they are not getting the full benefit due to lack of stocks with them. The small growers are the disappointed lot as they don’t have the holding capacity. The average price of cardamom was in the range of Rs 500 per kg in 2016. Fresh cardamom stocks are expected to arrive in the market only after September as the harvest calendar for the crop is from September to January.
