Introduction:
Cardamom is the Queen of Spices. It is one of the most exotic and highly prized spices; Indian cardamom has a history as old as human civilization. Southern India and Sri Lanka are regarded as origin of this spice. Till recently India was the main Producer and exporter of this commodity, but of late Guatemala has emerged as a keen competitor to Indian cardamom in the international spice market. Indian cardamom is slightly smaller, but more aromatic.  As a whole, cardamom is cultivated commercially in India, Sri Lanka, Guatemala and Tanzania.

Cardamom is often named as the third most expensive spice in the world (after saffron and vanilla), and the high price reflects the high reputation of this most pleasantly scented spice.

Cardamom is grown commercially in plantations under the shade of tall forest trees. It is a very labor-intensive crop to produce. The fruits are picked individually by hand before they are fully ripe, over a period of several months.

Growing Areas :
In India, the natural habitat of small cardamom is the evergreen forest of Western-Ghats on the Malabar Coast of South-West India. This area is commonly known as the Cardamom Hills. Kerala is the highest cardamom producing area in India. In Kerala the major cardamom growing zones are (a) Udumbanchola taluka (b) Peeremedu taluka and (c) Devikulam taluka. Karnataka is one of the main areas where cardamom cultivation is seen. Kerala, Karnataka and Tamuil Nadu occupy 57%, 36% and 7% of cardamom cultivable area in India since the year 2000-01 till now.

In Karnataka, Shimoga district is one of the main areas where cardamom cultivation can be found. Koppa, Sringeri, NR Pura, Siddapur, Yellpur, Joida, Sagar, Thirthahalli and Hosanegare are the main areas in the district where large-scale cardamom cultivation can be seen. In Shimoga, approximately 5850 hectares of area is under cardamom cultivation. Of these, yielding area of cardamom comes only 4310 hectares.

Varieties and Grades of Cardamom (small):

1. Bold: It is popular export grade; 90% and above capsules will be having 6.5mm and      
    above diameter, matured and Greenish color. Lt. Wt. will be 415 gms.

2. Super Bold: It is a very special variety. All capsules will be matured greenish and having above 8 mm diameter size. Lt. Wt. will be more than 450 gm.

3. Extra Bold: Best in the Export market. All capsules will be matured, greenish and having
7 mm and above diameter. Lt. Wt. will be 435 gm.

4. Bulk: This is the grade of cardamom produced as it is. This grade will contain all size,
matured and immature capsules, black, yellow and splited cardamom. This is to be graded.

5. Small: Small size cardamom having size between 5.5 mm and 6.5 mm. Cleaned and removed dust, husk and black capsules. Lt. Wt. will be around 385 gms.

6.  Open / Splits: More than 60% capsules will be in open condition and the color may be
partly greenish/pale yellow. All capsules will be matured and the size are 6.5mm and above

7.  Seeds: Black / Brown colour seeds are the original content in every cardamom capsule.
The husks were fully removed. Lt. Wt may be around 550 gm to 600 gm.

8.   Fruit : Fruits are generally over matured capsules with slight yellowish in color and Lt.
     Wt. over 425 gm

Standard Export Grades:-

AGEB Alleppey Green Extra Bold  č Size 7mm above wt/lt 435 gms.
AGB Alleppey Green Bold č Size 6mm above wt/lt 415gms
AGS Alleppey Green Superior č Size 5mm above wt/lt 385 gms
AGS-1 Alleppey Green Shipment Green-1 č Size 4mm above wt/lt 350gms
AGS-2 Alleppey Green Shipment Green-2 č Size 4mm above wt/lt 320gms

Internationally accepted and most commercially imported varieties of Cardamom are Malabar Cardamom, Sri Lankan Cardamom and Cambodian Cardamom.

Harvesting period:

Cardamom plants normally start bearing two years after planting. Throughout the cropping season of cardamom, i.e. from August to March approximately 6 picking is done in each 45 days interval. In most of the areas the peak period of harvest is during October-November. Ripe capsules are harvested in order to get maximum green colour during curing.

The output of cardamom is greatly influenced by climatic conditions. The cardamom plant requires a continuous spell of rain interspersed with periods of good sunshine. The plant is very susceptible to attack by pests and diseases. Besides, the cardamom growing tracts in the country are facing severe ecological degradation over the past two decades due to diminishing forest cover, leaving the region open to devastation by floods and droughts. Cardamom requires tropical forest conditions for growth and a lack of such areas makes very few states in the country suitable for its plantation. 

Area, yield and Production Trend:

Area under Cardamom (small) cultivation was around 91 thousand hectares during 1970-71 and this has went to maximum level of 1 lakh 5 thousand hectares in 1988-89, but since it started deteriorating up to 73237 hectares in 2004-05. The changes in climatic factors, decline in price of cardamom and simultaneously shifting to other economic crops are the major reasons attributed to the decline in cardamom area.

India has the largest area under cardamom in the world but the productivity is poor comparatively. Though the area under cultivation has decreased, the production has increased many folds because the productivity of cardamom (small) has improved a lot in the domestic front i.e. from the low level of 46 Kg/Hectare yield in 1970-71 to 210 Kg/Hectare in 2003-04. Though this data state specific average yield, some of the plantations produce 1000-1500 Kg per hectare regularly. The yield in the recent years, however, has started increasing albeit slowly with increase in use of better planting materials by innovative cardamom growers and installation of drip irrigation systems.

Domestic Consumption of Cardamom (small):

At present, India is the second largest consumer of small cardamom in the world after Saudi Arabia. Global consumption of Cardamom is estimated as 15000 Tonnes to 24000 Tonnes. On the other hand the current domestic demand for small cardamom has been estimated at 11000 MT. The retail market size in South India is estimated at around 30% for small cardamom. The share is the highest in West India (45%) followed by the North India (35%) and lowest in East. Industrial consumption of cardamom particularly by the pharmaceutical / Ayurveda and cosmetics is the highest and accounts for over 45% of the total consumption. A clear regional disparity is visualized in cardamom consumption pattern. Though the urban areas contribute large share of its consumption, in recent years rural market is also gaining importance and growing at a very high rate than the urban market.  Household uses of this spice are very limited mainly due to the high price, but seasonal buying has been increased.

Export:

India exported 1705 MT during 1970-71 which has increased to 3272 MT during 1985-86. But thereafter the cardamom export declined considerably and it reached a rock bottom level of 173 MT during 173 MT during 1989-90. However the present export is in the range of 650-750 MT.

The major reason for decline in the Cardamom export from India is the high cardamom production in Guatemala and it pushing the whole production in to export market at very cheaper rates as their domestic consumption is negligible. Though quality wise Indian Cardamom is superior to that of Guatemala, we cannot compete with them at the price level.

Domestic Market scenario of Cardamom (small):

Major markets of Cardamom in India are Cochin, Thodupuzha-(Kerala); Saklashpur, Mercara, Medikeri, Mangalore-(Karnataka); Bombay-(Maharashtra); Virudhunagar, Cumbum, Bodinayakkanur, Thevaram, Pattiveerampatti-(Tamil Nadu). Major assembling markets of cardamom in Kerala are Kumali (Dist.-Kottayam) and Vandumadu (Dist. Khozikode).

Cardamom auction system is one of the oldest methods of marketing. At present there are six auction centers for Cardamom.

1.         Monday –       Bodinaikannur (Tamilnadu)
2.         Tuesday-        Kumaly (Kerala)
3.         Wednesday - Kumaly (Kerala)
4.         Thursday -      Bodinaikannur (Tamilnadu)
5.         Friday –          Vandanmedu (Kerala)
6.         Saturday –     Vandanmedu (Kerala)

There are 17 firms currently conducting auctions in Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka & Mumbai. About 424 auctions were conducted for small cardamom during the year 2003-04.

Due to continuous harvesting of small cardamom in different production centers in recent years, auction is being conducted throughout the year as desired by the growers. As per the cardamom (Licensing & Marketing) Rules 1987 all the producers of cardamom should sale their produce through a licensed auctioneer / dealer. An auctioneer can conduct more than one auction centre subject to separate license for each functioning. For the service of the auctioneer up to 1% of the sale price is charged as commission.

Distribution Channel of Cardamom market

With the introduction of “Online Futures Trading” in cardamom (small) by NMCE on 11^th February 2004 the traders and growers in the physical market has benefited. More awareness is required among the participants to reap the absolute benefit of price discovery and price risk management by futures market operation. In order to build up a healthy and fair trade practice with the involvement of innumerable anonymous trade participant, futures market is very essential where artificially price rigging in the auction will be absent and also price discovery with proper gradation is possible.

World Scenario:

World production of cardamom is estimated at 30000 MT. Presently major producer is Guatemala recording an average annual production of 18000 to 20000 MT. India is the second largest producer with an average production of 11000 to 12000 MT. Indian cardamom is considered as superior quality but in the international markets, India has always been out priced by Guatemala which has negligible domestic consumption responsible for low pricing.

Despite its numerous applications in the cooking styles of Sri Lanka, India and Iran, 60% of the world production is exported to Arab (South West Asia, North Africa) countries, where the larger part is used to prepare coffee. Cardamom-flavoured coffee is almost a symbol for Arab hospitality.

Cardamom (small) Price trend:

The price of cardamom in recent years has come down to a very lower range mainly because of lower export demand. The normal range price difference in between AGB & AGEB grades remain Rs.60 to Rs.100 under normal circumstances.

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