Ten years ago, the price of cardamom reached 1 lakh 20 thousand rupees, then it was less than 1 lakh, this year the price reached 1 lakh 7 thousand.
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The price of cardamom has increased after the production has decreased. This year, the price of cardamom (40 kg) has reached 1 lakh 7 thousand rupees and now it is being traded at 1 lakh 5 thousand rupees, according to the Federation of Nepal Cardamom Traders. Nirmal Bhattarai, president of the Federation, said that the price has increased after 10 years.
"Ten years ago, the compensation reached 120,000, then it was limited to less than 100,000, this year the compensation reached 107,000," he said. He said that last year the transaction was worth 90 thousand rupees. In the last three years, the cardamom production has been decreasing due to various reasons including lack of rain and rain when not needed.
The data of the Ministry of Agriculture also shows that the production of cardamom is decreasing. In the financial year 2076/77, 9 thousand 545 tons of cardamom was produced. Since then, the production has decreased according to the Ministry's data. According to the Ministry, only 8 thousand 289 tons were produced in 2077/78, 8 thousand 714 tons in 2078/79 and 8 thousand 674 tons in 2079/80. Bhattarai said that although the official figures for the financial year 2080/81 are not available, only 5,200 tons were produced.
'This year it has decreased not only in Nepal but also in India and Bhutan,' he said, 'When the production decreased in all three countries, the demand increased and the price also started to increase.' Bhattarai said that because cardamom produced in Nepal is exported more than domestic consumption, emphasis should be placed on increasing production. "Cardamom cultivation is expanding in all the districts, even though the cultivation is expanding, the production is decreasing, the government should pay attention to it," he said.
Although the market of Nepali cardamom is limited to India, the data of the customs department shows that it has been exported to third countries recently. In the first four months of the current financial year, cardamom worth 1 billion 90 million 11 million rupees has been exported. During this period, the department said that 12 lakh 6 thousand 250 kg were exported.
In four months, the most cardamom has been exported to India, and the department says that it has also been exported to France and Australia. India has exported 12 lakh 5 thousand 900 kg of cardamom worth 1 billion 90 crore 2 lakh rupees. Similarly, cardamom worth Rs 720,000 was exported to France and Rs 1 lakh 73,000 to Australia, according to the department.
Compared to the four months of last year, the export of the same period of this year is 250 million 49 lakh 62 thousand rupees less. In the first four months of last year, 2 billion 156 million 95 thousand rupees worth of cardamom was exported. According to the department, 1737 thousand 110 kg of cardamom was exported during that period. Cardamom is the main source of income for farmers in the eastern hilly district.
According to the federation, cardamom is being produced in 43 districts so far. Businessmen say that only 2 percent of the cardamom produced in the country is consumed domestically. The remaining cardamom is exported. In the year 2080/81, 7 billion 94 crore 9 lakhs and in the year 2079/80 8 billion 27 crore 68 lakh rupees were exported.
