Cardamom farmers are excited to get attractive prices at the beginning of the season. In the first season this year, Pratiman has started to be bought and sold at 90 thousand rupees (2 thousand 250 per kg).

Cardamom, the main cash crop of farmers in the hilly district of Koshi province, is being bought and sold at the rate of 90,000 for A class, 89,000 for B class and 88,000 for C class at Fidim, the headquarters of Panchthar, informed businessman Khem Adhikari.

In the past year, the price increased only after the farmers had sold it, but this year the price has started to increase promisingly from the beginning of the season. Last year, cardamom fetched a price of 80,000 rupees in the initial season and ended at 1,700,000 rupees.

"Good demand in the international market, low production is an indicator of the increase in the price of cardamom, while in the past years the price of cardamom increased only from February to March, this year it has started to increase in the beginning of the season, so the farmers have got the reward," said the business officer.

Earlier, in 2075, Pratiman was sold at 1 lakh 5 thousand rupees, and in 2067, it reached 120 thousand rupees, according to the cardamom business association.

Cardamom, which starts production from July, is picked and sold after processing in the first week of November. Cardamom is the main source of income for hill farmers and is called Kholsa gold in Raithane language.

Cardamom farmer Rajendra Bhattarai says that because of the good prices this year, he hopes to set a record by the middle of December. 'In the previous years, the price of cardamom started increasing only after January, this year, since it was 80,000 at the beginning of the season, there is hope that it will reach 130,000 by the end of the season,' he said.

Cardamom is produced in 42 hilly districts of Nepal. Cardamom is the main cash crop of farmers in Panchthar, Taplejung, Ilam, Sankhuwasabha, Khotang, Bhojpur and Tehrathum among the 14 districts of Koshi province.

The cardamom produced in this region passes through the Kakadvitta border of Jhapa and reaches third countries through India. According to the data of Mechi Customs Office Kakdvitta, in the current financial year 2082/83, cardamom worth 321.7 million 61 thousand has been exported so far.  During the last one month, 216.15 metric tons of cardamom has been exported, informed the Information Officer of Mechi Customs Office Ishwar Kumar Humagain.

According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, the annual capacity of cardamom production in Nepal is from 5 thousand metric tons to 10 thousand metric tons. At present, alauchi cultivation has expanded all over Nepal, but most of it is produced in Koshi province.