2. Large Cardamom Value Chain

Large cardamom dried fruit is a high-value, low-volume spice crop grown only in the three eastern Himalayan countries, and is widely used in foods, beverages, perfumes, and medicines. Production is currently declining, and improved post-harvest management would be one way to help ensure the sustainability of this niche crop. The value chain for large cardamom consists largely of traditional practices which should be scientifically refined during a number of post-harvest steps including marketing. The large cardamom post-harvest value chain consists of growers, collectors, traders, and exporters. The primary processing steps required by the present market are curing, tail cutting, and grading. Curing is carried out by the farmers, and the remaining steps are done by wholesalers.

The Indian large cardamom market has a complex structure where the product inflow and outflow takes place simultaneously. However, it is apparent that a large quantity is consumed in the domestic market, as the Indian export volume is comparatively low. The Spices Board of India controls and monitors the spice trade in this country. Local dealers or wholesalers collect dried large cardamom capsules from the farmers, perform minimal quality grading and sell in bulk to exporters.

In India, large cardamom moves through two market channels. In the first, farmers sell cured capsules through aggregators, and in the second, farmers sell them through contractors or bidders in an auction center. In both channels, the capsules then move on to wholesalers, before moving to retailers and then finally to consumers.

3. Issues And Challenges In Large Cardamom Cultivation And Marketing

Challenges in the production of Large Cardamom

Identification and management of insect pest and diseases is a major hurdle that the producers face during production. Foorky disease of large cardamom is a major viral disease that was observed in the fields. However, farmers have no knowledge about the cause and management of the disease. Also, management of viral disease requires incineration of the infected plants and it is difficult to persuade the growers to do that.

1. Lack of knowledge about scientific methods of cultivation

2. Lack of proper trainings in production as well as post-harvest handling if produce.

3. Lack of knowledge about identification and control of pest and diseases.

4. Lack of quality planting materials (HYV, disease and pest resistant varieties)

5. Lack of government support.

6. Lack of availability of FYM.

7. Lack of availability of Funds and capital.

Challenges in the marketing of Large Cardamom

A severe problem faced during the marketing of large cardamom was found to be post-harvest losses. A lack of proper knowledge about curing of the harvested crop and a lack of proper storage facilities often leads to a large quantity of the produce perishing before reaching the market. Significant percentage of the growers faced the problem of lack of awareness about market information. Lack of good transportation facilities, high transportation cost and distance of the market from the farm were the other major problem faced by the farmers.

1. Post-harvest losses due to lack of knowledge about post-harvest handling of produce including cleaning and curing.

2. Lack of good storage facilities.

3. Lack of awareness about market information.

4. Lack of good transportation facilities.

5. Distance of the market from the fields.

4. Project Idea

The project idea is based on sustainable production of large cardamom and set up better market linkages for the farmers for improving farm incomes through increased and better quality production of large cardamom. To ensure effective utilisation of farm land and year round income sources for the farmers, the cardamom cultivation is integrated with dairy and vermi-compost production. The steady flow of harvest ensures year round income for the household. Integration of components such as sale of milk, use of vermi-compost as organic fertilizer for cardamom plantations makes it a sustainable livelihood option for the farmers. The model has huge potential for enhancing production and productivity of high value large cardamoms, contributing towards increasing farmers’ income while ensuring sustainable natural resource management. The model can be replicated in most of the parts of the north eastern states by making requisite changes as per local conditions.

However, the model requires significant investment for working capital for cardamom processing, land development and input costs. In most cases, resource poor farm families, especially in the hilly areas of Himalayan mountain areas inhabited predominantly by tribal families, find it challenging to make such an investment without credit support.

In India, large cardamom moves through two market channels. In the first, farmers sell cured capsules through aggregators, and in the second, farmers sell them through contractors or bidders in an auction center. In both channels, the capsules then move on to wholesalers, then retailers, and finally consumers.

Case example of UPNRM project

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), KfW Development Bank and GIZ India are collectively implementing the Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management (UPNRM). The aim of the project is to promote environmentally sustainable growth by encouraging private investments that are pro- poor. The programme looks at enhancing investments in rural areas, creating business opportunities and enabling rural communities, to sustainably utilise their natural resources. It also provides capacity building support tailored to the specific needs of the rural communities. Innovative and scientific farm practices, increased market linkages, and access to credit that boosts production, and income are some of the concerted efforts under UPNRM. The programme represents a paradigm shift as it moves away from purely grant-based funding to a greater reliance on

loans. This increases the leverage and outreach of investments in rural areas, creating income based on sound business models that ensure the sustainability of natural resources. Since its inception in 2007, the programme’s portfolio has expanded rapidly, ensuring the provision of livelihood opportunities, to India’s rural poor. UPNRM is leading a movement to mainstream Natural Resource Management (NRM) and climate change concerns into the credit financing portfolio of mainstreaming financial institutions in India. More than 130 partners are engaged under the UPNRM, managing nearly 325 projects spread across 22 states and one union territory in India.

UPNRM has supported various business models based on sustainable utilization of natural resources which includes “Integrated Farming System- organic large cardamom cultivation with vermicomposting and dairy “among others. The model has created significant economic and environmental impact at ground level.

Large Cardamom is cultivated over 3,500 hectares in the districts of Kalimpong and Darjeeling in West Bengal. More than 10000 families in the hills are engaged in cardamom farming. The hills produce 1,043 metric tonnes of cardamom annually. The large cardamoms are mostly exported to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Middle East countries. Due to lack of post-harvest processing practices, lack of skill among the farmers and high competition from the neighboring markets of Nepal, Bhutan and China, the earnings of the families in the hills engaged in the cultivation of large cardamom declined over the years.

The project was implemented by Kalimpong Krishak Kalayan Sangathan (KKKS) in Darjeeling district of West Bengal under UPNRM and was later developed as a Model Scheme by NABARD. The project was implemented with 100 farmers as a pilot project and created large scale impact in generating employment opportunities as an area development scheme. The project addresses the climate resilient agriculture in the hill districts of Darjeeling, West Bengal. Apart from tea, large cardamom is the major cash crop for the tribal farmers of the district. Mostly, the crop is being grown organically in the district. So, Integrated Farming comprising of organic large cardamom cultivation, dairy unit and vermicomposting unit can be one of the efficient way for use of agricultural waste. Further, for better income realization at farmer level from large cardamom cultivation, use of organic input enhances the quality of large cardamom and fetches better export price.

Financial details of UPNRM Project

Project area: Maipatey, Magarjung, Kashyam and Samdung village of Kalimpong district, West Bengal.

5. Key Impact of Large Cardamom Cultivation

Major sources of household income in the region are large cardamom farming, livestock, other cash crops, beekeeping and honey production, and off-farm labour etc. Large cardamom is/the largest contributor to household income in the area. The next most important source of household income was livestock, contributing to the average total household income. Livestock has always been an integral part of traditional farming systems in the hills and is a source of manure, which is used to maintain the soil fertility of crop land. Livestock are also an important source of income through the sale of milk and dairy products, meat, and calves. The remaining sources of income, such as other cash crops, beekeeping and honey production, and agricultural labour under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) together contributed to income.

6. Scope of Financing, Subsidy And Convergence

As a response to the growing need for intervention in the field of large cardamom cultivation the Government at the centre and the state have come up with a variety of schemes and synergies that are commissioned to assist the proliferation of the large cardamom cultivation, ensure better standards of produce and improve the lives of the farmers who are involved with the production of this crop.

Schemes and Programmes

The Spices Board India, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, have designed several schemes to bolster this cause under the ‘Export Orientated Production and Post-Harvest Improvement of Spices’. Under this scheme, the Spices Board of India is responsible for the overall development of cardamom (Small & Large) in terms of improving production, productivity and quality. The Board is also implementing post¬harvest improvement programmes for production of quality spices for export. List of schemes and benefits attached in annexure 1.

Apart from the above conventions, the Spices Board encourages the formation of spice producer’s societies and these societies must function as nodal centers for dissemination of information to farmers, who are members of the society and can act as bridge that links the Board and the farmers and in addition to the training programmes could be arranged through these societies. In addition to the formation of spice producer’s societies (SPS), it is proposed to promote processing and value addition at a primary level for whole spices. The Board claims to provide assistance to registered SPS for drying, cleaning, grading and packing of whole spices - 50% of the cost of the primary processing equipments and basic infrastructure subject to a maximum of Rs. 6 lakhs per SPS will be provided as grant in aid.

Among other initiatives is the Transcriptome Sequencing in small and large cardamom that the Spices Board is carrying out in collaboration with the Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI-ICAR), New Delhi. There are regular efforts made by the Spices Board Regional Office and the Agricultural Office in Kalimpong to foster better cultivation of cardamom by providing assistance to demotivated farmers. For instance in the year 2014-15, the Agricultural Office Kalimpong along with the Gorkhaland Tribal Association distributed 1,80,000 cardamom seedlings to farmers in the vicinity in order to reduce their expenses and motivate to produce effectively. Apart from these, the officials of the Spices Board of India to ensure that operations are running smoothly at cardamom plantations conduct regular field inspections. There are Focused Group Discussions and quality training programmes initiated by officials and other organization in order to carry out this mission of improvement. The Kalimpong Quality Training Programme 2017-18 saw a participation of 418 farmers, of which 375 were male and 43 were female.

It is also interesting to note that alongside boosting the productivity of large cardamom, many state-funded research institutes like the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Kalimpong are also increasingly concerned with the growth of other crops such as the mandarin. The market for mandarin has depleted immensely and this can be attributed to the increasing interest in growing large cardamom in the district.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry are also striving to expand the growth of large cardamom in the North- Eastern Region, in order to ensure demands of the international and domestic market are met. This is being promoted in the form of prizes for productivity where in, a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 15,000 is being offered to farmers who stand 1st and 2nd, along with certificates and citations. Some farmers units that have come up in this region are the All Mizoram Farmers Union in Aizwal, Agro Tech Composite Nursery in Dimapur, Assam and the A.B Tanyam Society, Ziro, Arunanchal Pradesh.

According to the State Focus Paper West Bengal published by NABARD, the average income of farmers in West Bengal is Rs. 4016/- against the Rs. 6900 of farmers in other parts of India. Of this amount only 6% is constituted by livestock rearing and therefore attempts are being made to promote the increase of the same given that West Bengal has the potential to lead in this sector. The National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Devlopement has also partnered with KFW and GIZ India to initiate the Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management, to promote the conservation of natural resources and judicious utilization available material to ensure generation of income at the level of resources for poor communities. NABARD also suggests taking extensive consultations from various stakeholders at both the level of the state and the nation and other climate change adaptive strategies that will be region based such as the National Implementing Entity for Adaptive Fund, the Green Climate Fund and the National Adaptive Fund for Climate Change. These strategies strive to ensure development of irrigation structures for increasing area under irrigation, soil and water conservation techniques, climate resilience for conservation of bio- diversity in climate hotspots and promotion of community based eco-toruism in regions such as Darjeeling.

Stakeholders

From the discussion that has ensued it is evident that the enterprise of cultivating cardamom has a number of stakeholders who are involved driven by various motives and intensities.

All of the above agencies and organizations work as extensions to cultivation of cardamom in Kalimpong. As is apparent from the list, these organizations are linked with different sectors of involvement ranging from finances

to sciences. This is a positive indication for the future of large cardamom plantation farming since it enables the potential to increase the scale and size of the cardamom production and market. However, there are sectors that still indicate a lack of involvement and stakeholders. For instance, compared to Sikkim, that has a large number of

Farmer Producer’s Organizations, Kalimpong is yet to come with up organized efforts by individual farmers on large scale to improve quality of production and also their livelihoods. A lower number of organized farmer associations might lead to an underrepresentation of farmer perspectives in state organizations, which in turn might have adverse effects on the cultivation practices. A higher representation and better organization might also assist the possibility of furthering land holdings with assistance from the state’s sanctioning bodies for cardamom.

Areas of Intervention

There are several areas that require intervention that can be fostered not only by major state-led organizations but also at the level of the individual or smaller independent organizations such as NGO’s. In a recent report, the

ICAR suggested few areas that might require sustained involvement. The report highlights the lack of data on the performance of different cultivars and varieties of large cardamom. It emphasizes on a need to conduct multi-location trials at different elevations to select high yielding and disease tolerant varieties/cultivars.

Among other suggestions it also stresses on the requirement for facilities for virus diagnostics and conservation of water at the farm level. It also, very rightly, proposes the discouragement of production and marketing of smoked cardamom by creating awareness as it contains more carbon, which has infamous health hazards. Please refer to Annexure-2 for details on the area of interventions.

7. Financial Analysis

Costs of Production

The process of estimating the cost of cultivation of cardamom plantation is different from other annual crops. This is largely beacuse cardamom is a perennial crop, which cannot give any yield in the first two years of its growth. It starts bearing fruit in the third year. However, the normal yield is obtained only from the matured plantation in the fourth year of cultivation. Some plants have longer life spans and therefore continue to provide for above 12 years, the economically acceptable yield period is up to 12 years of maturation. So, there is a gestation period of three years on investments in the cardamom plantations. Hence, the expenditure incurred on the plantations during the gestation period of three years are considered while estimating the cost of cultivation of cardamom.

The expenditure incurred for the cultivation of cardamom included not only expenses incurred within the plantations but also outside the plantations. The expenses incurred within the plantations were labour charges, purchase of plant protection materials like fertilizer, pesticide. The tables below details the cost of cultivation for large cardamom as approved by NABARD and published by Spices Board India in 2014. It includes the costs of a span of a gestation period of 3 years and then a financial analysis of 8 years which is the most commonly recorded life span of a cardamom plant.

Income from Large cardamom

Credit potential analysis

8. Recommendations

• Government should provide the growers with the necessary training facilities for scientific cultivation of large cardamom.

• Farmers should be taught to identify and control insect-pest and disease incidence at an early controllable stage and they should be introduced to INM, IPM and IDM.

• Farmers need to be trained in post-harvest handling if produce, like sorting, grading and curing to avoid post- harvest losses.

• Broadcasting of market information in radios and television is an essential step in raising awareness about the up to date market information amongst the growers.

• Construction of durable storage houses that can protect the produce from harsh weather and climate

• The traditional methods of drying the capsules include sun drying and drying over the fire. They both have disadvantages as the produce rots fast during rainy and overcast days when the produce is dried outside in the open. Also, when the crop is dried over the fire, the spice loses some of its flavor and hence the quality islowered. Therefore, it is required that bhattis or other improved dryers be constructed or installed in the villages and the villagers be taught to use them to their advantage.

• Promoting cooperative methods of marketing among the growers is essential in order to reduce marketing cost of the producers.

• Provision of better transportation facilities, better roads and reasonable transportation cost will encourage the growers to strive better and also encourage other farmers to start large cardamom cultivation. It would help the growers to increase the production and productivity of the crop if the Spice Board of India would lend them help in the form of technology and technical knowhow.

Annexure

1. List of Government Schemes in large cardamom sector

2. Critical areas for intervention