Back to news
12 Oct 2015 | News

Team visits climate smart Indian cardamom farms

1 min Read

70% Complete

 

Wanting to know more about sustainable management practices of cardamom produc-tion, a team of six from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development’s (ICIMOD) Himalica programme, and two Taplejung groups, Environment Conservation and Development Forum and the Cardamom Producer Groups, visited Hee-Gaun, Sik-kim, Gumba-Danda, Kalimpong and Himalica pilot villages in Taplejung, Nepal in 20 September through 1 October. The group’s aim was to develop a package of practices to demonstrate in pilot villages across the region.

Cardamom growers in Taplejung have been facing drastic yield reduction in recent years due to disease and poor soil condition. Practices on sustainable production of cardamom were demonstrated in small plots of land. One demonstration plot covered at least 25 households in the pilot villages. With  up to 12 demonstration plots established in pilot site in Taplejung, around 300 cardamom-growing households are targeted for the Himalica iniative.

Many climate smart practices were observed during the visit: shifting cardamom cultiva-tion to new areas; adopting a sound agro-forestry system; applying compost prepared locally from cow dung and leaf litter; using gap filling between plants through regular re-planting;  preparing land through planting in rows for easy weeding and mulching; planting disease resistant and high yielding varieties of cardamom; cultivating different vegetables and legumes crops in the first and second year of the cardamom cultivation; diversifying income for risk management by integrating beekeeping, mushroom cultivation and pig raising; and encouraging auction culture for selling their cardamom on a competitive basis.

A select a number of climate smart practices technologies related to sustainable carda-mom production will be selected and demonstrated in pilot villages, which will increase income of target communities, and maintain  an ecologically sound production system.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Contents

Continue exploring this topic

10 Feb 2015 News
Climate Change in Downstream Areas of the Indus River Basin: Local Perceptions and Adaptation Measures

Likewise, indirect impacts like losses to agriculture and livelihoods due to erratic rains in high altitudes may result in increased ...

20 Dec 2015 News
Building Capacity for Implementing Community Forestry in Afghanistan

  From 14–18 December 2015, a team of Afghani officials participated in a study visit to Nepal to learn about community-based ...

10 Jun 2020 Cryosphere
Ice-dammed lake in Hunza created by Shisper Glacier surge breached for the second time in 2020

Clearly reinforcing the critical importance of glacier monitoring, an ice-dammed lake formed by the surging of Shisper Glacier breached for ...

6 Jul 2016 News
Partnership Brokering Training at ICIMOD

Practice-based learnings for effective partnership brokering develops robust, efficient and innovative partnerships. Offered as an open call ...

Taungya System Workshop in Chin, Myanmar

Taungya, or shifting cultivation system, is a major food and income production system for the majority of farmers in Chin ...

18 Jul 2019 News
Combining top–down and bottom–up: Designing a watershed management plan for Dhankuta Municipality

In the first consultation meeting with the vice mayor, there was a consensus that the conservation of water sources is ...

14 Dec 2015 News
Bhutan – On the Road to Complete its National Level Data for Forest

  Bhutan is a landlocked kingdom characterised by high mountainous terrain and extensive forest cover. Over seventy percent of the country ...

Haa Summer Festival Showcases Local Culture for Tourism Promotion

Haa Valley is a pilot site of the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KLCDI) of the International Centre for ...