Spices Board concerned over sharp fall in cardamom prices

The Spices Board has warned the various stakeholders including farmers about the recent sharp fall in the prices of cardamom which is not consistent the prevailing market conditions in India and abroad.

In a statement, the board clarified that the auction prices of cardamom had shown a decline in the last few days without sufficient reasons. The prevalent market conditions do not warrant any such decline, it said.

The auction arrivals in the current crop season, from July 2010 to the first week of May 2011, is 9,461 tonnes against 8,975 tonnes in the same period of the last crop season. The increase in arrivals is only five percent. 

For the last two years, import of cardamom from Guatemala is not significant. In 2010-11, the import is around 75 tonnes and it was 95 tonnes in 2009-10. The production of cardamom in Guatemala is also reported to be around 20,000 tonnes against their normal production figure of 27,000 to 30,000 tonnes.