Business   

Wrong practices affect Cardamom Hill Reserve

KOCHI: Intensified production practices and excessive use of chemicals over the past 15 years have adversely impacted the ecology, production cost, soil health and sustainability of production in the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) forest area of Idukki, according to the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.

This observation was made in a report submitted by the foundation to the Union government.

Farmers are allowed to grow only small cardamom in CHR while in the region demarcated as tea plantations, only tea could be grown. Currently, cardamom is grown on about 33,000 hectares in the CHR spread across Devikulam, Udumbanchola and Peerumedu taluks.

While the high-yielding varieties opened new opportunities to increase yield, new production management demanded higher plant nutrients and increased use of fungicides and pesticides. Many farmers applied nutrients in excess, taking advantage of the nutrient responsiveness of new varieties. Increased nutrient supply led to increased vulnerability to pests and diseases, which triggered increased applications of fungicides and pesticides. The recommended 8-round-limit for soil and plant applications of fungicides and pesticides a year were frequently ignored.

There is also a notable impact of the intensification of production practices on the forest cover and canopy of the CHR area. The tree density got reduced and the canopy cut down up to 25 per cent.

When the cardamom yield moved to the unprecedented level of 600 kg per hectare , the productive life of clump declined by almost one-third, the report pointed out.

Post-harvest processing is vital to fetching a good price. Idukki cardamom is reputed for its capsule size and green colour.

Harvesting at the right time and following specific curing processes using fuel wood, electricity, diesel or LPG and grading the dried capsules are essential to achieving the reputed green quality.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Sovereign wealth fund for India? financial scene
Bureaucratic bottlenecks come in way of projects
Failure to deduct tax on disallowance of expenditure
Changes in procedural law
Charities put on the grind
MAT gets more matted
Reliefs extended in Finance Bill, 2008
Wrong practices affect Cardamom Hill Reserve

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu