Promoting mountain niche crops: large cardamom

Mountains offer economic opportunities in the form of niche products that are low-volume, high-value, and non-perishable. Large cardamom is one such mountain niche crop that offers a comparative advantage to farmers of the eastern Himalaya (i.e., Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills in India, the eastern parts of Nepal, and southern Bhutan), particularly in areas where agroclimatic conditions are conducive. However, in recent years, the production and productivity of large cardamom has declined due to environmental, biological, and socioeconomic factors. Since 2015, a pilot project under ICIMOD’s Himalica initiative has been implemented in Taplejung District, Nepal, with the aim of building the resilience of the cardamom-production system through simple and affordable practices to reduce the effects of climate change, and to achieve income diversification. The early results in crop yield and uptake of demonstrated technologies by the communities are very encouraging.

The issue

The large cardamom, with its attributes of being low-volume, high-value, and non-perishable, is a boon for farmers of the eastern Himalaya. However, extreme climatic events such as droughts, increasing pest or disease infestations, erratic rainfall patterns, and unpredictable hailstorms and snowfall have begun impacting traditional management practices and the crop cycle.

For example, the flowering and harvesting seasons of cardamom have been altered due to rising temperatures. At the same time, the increased dependency of farmers on cardamom poses higher risks because of production fluctuation and price variability. For example, in 2014 the price of cardamom capsules reached USD 28 per kg, and dropped to USD 10 per kg in 2017.

The other issue pertains to lack of knowledge among large-cardamom farmers about the economic gains possible through creating value-added products like cardamom tea or curry powder. Farmers are used to selling cardamom pods (in 40 kg sacks) without proper processing, grading, and packaging to traders who do the primary processing and then export the cardamom to other countries.

The solution

The alder-based cardamom farming system requires more labour, improved water management, quality planting materials, timely soil-nutrient management, appropriate shade management, and integrated pest and disease management practices across the eastern region. By building on lessons learnt from Sikkim, India, and accounting for local knowledge, Himalica developed a Package of Practices (PoP) to reduce the risks of cardamom crop failure. The PoP is complemented with capacity-building strategies for the sustainability of the alder-based cardamom-production system.

The package includes simple and affordable climate-resilient technologies and practices, as well as viable options for reducing risks and diversifying income, e.g., integrating honeybees, horticultural crops (kiwi, shitake mushroom), and livestock in the cardamom farming system. To enhance climate resilience, the package includes weather-smart, soil/nutrient-smart, water-smart, energy- smart, and knowledge-smart practices (as described in Box 1), along with an emphasis on the enhanced conservation of effective pollinator species.

Himalica has showcased climate-resilient practices in 12 demonstration sites managed by farmer groups and facilitated by the partner organization, Environment Conservation and Development Forum (ECDF). In addition, the project has helped bring market actors closer to the producers and in adding value through branding and product diversification. For product development, social enterprises like SABAH (the SAARC Business Association of Home Based Workers) have been brought on board.

Communities are sensitized and trained to make diverse products using cardamom powder as the main ingredient, along with selling cardamom pods. The brand “HIMALICA products from mountain people” has been also created and promoted. In a similar effort, the knowledge and skills of selected community members to produce cardamom fibre-based products for sale as souvenir items have been enhanced. The project is also partnering with ‘ICT for Agriculture Pvt. Ltd’ to provide Short Message Service (SMS) on crop advisories, weather forecasts, and market-price information to cardamom farmers.

Impact and uptake

More than 400 households are now actively engaged in adopting the package of practices on their own initiative in the Himalica pilot site and other villages. Early results indicate that the good practices have improved soil structure, soil water-retention capacity, and air circulation inside the cardamom stands, leading to a better microclimate. Cardamom clumps with manure can withstand heavy hailstones and drought for longer periods compared to non-manure clumps. Farmers are using less fuelwood for drying cardamom capsules because they have improved dryers, thus contributing to lower carbon dioxide emissions. The plots with manure/mulching and other practices have yielded 750 gm dried cardamom capsule per plot, compared to only 350 gm dried capsule from other plots.

Convinced by the pilot, the National Spice Crop Development Programme of the Department of Agriculture, Nepal, joined hands with ICIMOD to co-publish a manual in Nepali, titled “Resource Book for Farmers”. The same has been published in English in partnership with The Mountain Institute, Sikkim, and Sikkim Agriculture Development Bank. Later, the newly elected representatives of Fungling Municipality, in Nepal, invited ICIMOD to support them in developing their plans for sustainable development of agriculture, with a particular focus on cardamom.

Package of practices

Weather-smart practices

• Planting varieties on the basis of altitude
• Keeping weeds intact in the field until the winter is over, to prevent frostbite
• Delaying harvesting by a few days if rainfall is predicted
• Using dried weed and crop traces to protect the tender leaves on top of bushes from frostbite or snow

Soil/nutrient-smart practices

• Using well-decomposed dung
• Planting leguminous trees or shrubs
• Applying cow urine + plant extract based “jholmal” as bio- nutrient fertilizer, as well as bio-pesticide
• Intercropping mitrogen-fixing pulses or beans to enrich soil-nutrient base
• Using thin, old and dense alder trees (>15 years old)
• Using bio-compost and vermi-compost
• Using slashed pseudo-stem, weeds, or leftover fodder residue with dung for mulching to provide additional nutrients and conserve soil moisture
• Planting titepeti in the large cardamom farms to control harmful insects

Water-smart practices

• Digging several pits throughout the plantation stands to store water during the rainy season and increase soil moisture
• Making water ponds above the plantation, which helps to improve the soil moisture status
• Establishing water-harvesting plastic ponds at suitable locations within the plantations to capture rainwater during monsoon, which can be used during the dry season
• Using sprinkler irrigation during dry periods at least twice a week
• Using weeds as mulch around the bushes for soil-moisture retention

Energy-smart practices

• Promoting of an improved dryer that consumes less fuelwood and emits less carbon while saving labour
• Using dry fuelwood of hardwood species such as chilaune and katus that provide enough heat
• Monitoring of fire flames constantly and reshuffling the capsules while drying to maintain consistency

Knowledge-smart practices

• Promoting ICT-based information on market price, weather, and crop advisory services to help producers minimize risks and increase bargaining power
• Creating social capital by encouraging farmers to work in groups and cooperatives
• Facilitating buyer-seller meets and buy-back arrangements
• Engaging producers’ groups in collective business enterprises

Contributors

Surendra Raj Joshi, ICIMOD

Sanjeev Bhuchar, ICIMOD

Min B. Gurung, ICIMOD

Harish Chandra Chilwal, ECDF

Further reading/information

Sharma, G., Joshi, S.R., Gurung, M.B., & Chilwal,

H.C. (2017). Package of practices for promoting climate resilient cardamom value chains in Nepal. ICIMOD Manual 2017/3. Kathmandu: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

Sharma, G., Joshi, S.R., & Gurung, M.B., (2017). Climate-resilient practices for sustainability of large cardamom production systems in Nepal – Resource Book for Farmers. ICIMOD Manual 2017/6. Kathmandu: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.