As the harvest season is coming to an end, cardamom prices are on the rise, which is reflected in the high prices at the auction held at the Spices Park at Puttady on Tuesday.
The price reached a high of ₹6,016 a kg at the evening auction held by Idukki District Traditional Cardamom Producer Company Ltd. This is second highest price for the year. The price had touched an all-time record of ₹7,000 a kg in August this year.
The average price at the evening auction was ₹4,804 a kg. A total of 35,663 kg arrived for the auction and 35,317 kg was sold. In the morning auction, 21,371 kg arrived and the entire lot had takers. The highest price was ₹4,182 and the average price, 3,776 per kg.
Drop in production
Market sources said the prices were unlikely to fall as there was a drop in cardamom production this season. In 2018, though floods damaged the plants, production was not considerably affected. The poor arrival of the produce this year was the result of the drop in production.
Lalichan Ayilumaliyil, a farmer in Peerumade, said only two harvests were left now and the quantity would be subsequently less. He said the second and the third crops in a harvest year beginning June/July would provide the maximum yield and there would be a drop in the subsequent harvests. He said the high prices benefited small and medium farmers.
K.S. Mathew, Chairman, Cardamom Producers Company, Vandanmedu, said the price increase at the end of the cop season showed that the production had fallen by over 50% this cropping season.
An average of 25,000 tonnes of cardamom was produced every season in the district. However, it had come down to 12,000 tonnes in the current season.
He said farmers benefited from the rise in prices. “Now, medium farmers can sell their produce in the range of ₹3,500 to ₹4,000 a kg,” he added.
