8/13/2019 Cardamom in Sikkim

1/2

PRIVAT GIRI

The research conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the disease

problem of large cardamom has indeed not helped the farmers in Sikkim to preserve their nativecardamom farm and to overcome their only means of livelihood. The study as carried out ithregard to the problem addressed by the !orticulture "epartment# Sikkim $overnment to the "y

"irector $eneral (!ort.)# ICAR# %e "elhi. The team of e&perts in its report advised the farmers

to avoid the use of infected planting material and also recommended a pesticide to be used as apreliminary solution. !oever# even after the use of uninfected planting materials# the farmers

are not being able to prevent their farm from this fatal unidentified disease. 'n the other hand#

the use of pesticide has not gained ide acceptance among the farmers ho still hold great faithin their traditional techniues of farming. They opine that the pesticide ould pollute their ater

resources and is harmful for their animals ho feed from the same land.

resently# there are appro&imately si&teen thousand groers of large cardamom in Sikkimamong hich thirty percent are totally dependent on this crop. It covers around *+ thousand

hectares of land under cultivation. As per the official figures# the production and e&port had

surpassed a record of five thousand metric tons. The bulk of the produce is e&ported to $ulf andCentral Asian countries and akistan and earns huge foreign e&change for India. ,ainly on this

ground# Sikkim is fondly knon as the -land of spices in the orld arena. /ut in recent times#

the production has been declining drastically though substantive efforts are being undertakenespecially by the farmers to overcome the crisis. The Spices /oard of India is providing financial

assistance for constructing nurseries so that the groers could collect uninfected saplings for

replantation. If the similar trend continues for ne&t couple of decades# it ill have an enormousimpact on the economy of not only Sikkim but also India. /esides the destiny of the thousands of

cardamom groers ill be at stake.

The farmers in the villages of the Ravangla sub0division say that the diseases namely -Chirkey

and -1urkey are common and are not so as destructive as this nely arrived viral disease (thevillagers call it -aheley). !o assuredly the researchers affirm this as a viral disease is

unknon. The condition is so severe that the groers ho ere contributing appro&imately three

hundred kilograms of fruit in the market before 203 years have nothing to sell this year. So as a

final solution# the farmers are presently planning to burn the entire farm# keep it barren for some

http://sikkimtimes.com/?attachment_id=1423

8/13/2019 Cardamom in Sikkim

2/2

years and do replantation.They have no come across a collective conclusion that the problem

lies not ith the planting material but the farm itself. And by burning the farm# they hope to ipe

out hatever viruses present. The successful cultivation of cardamom by some of the farmers intheir normal agricultural farm confirms their assumption.

Therefore# the primary concern is to probe into the variable hich can be held accountable forruining the fate of these cardamom groers. 4eeping all those complicated macro scientific

discourses (eg5 global arming) aside and 6ust evaluating in micro terms# cardamom is bestgron under the shade of forest trees. This is the only reason hy initially hen our ancestors

started Cardamom farming in Sikkim# they opted to cultivate it in the 6ungles. 1orest tree covers

the plant from frost# hail storms and also direct sunlight hich are very in6urious to plants duringfloering. It is eually pertinent to recogni7e that Cardamom thrives in moist soil. Therefore# the

tree shade helps the farm to retain its moisture and protects it from getting dry. !ence

considering all those factors mentioned above hich are very vital for the survival of this plant5Is it reasonable to presume that the falling number of trees (rapid deforestation) in the Cardamom

farms in Sikkim is liable for this entire crisis8 "eforestation minimi7es the ability of the farm to

retain its moisture hich leads to dryness of the land and change in temperature patterns. Changein temperature patterns facilitates change in habitats. lants# animals# birds and insects

previously living there ill seek ne place suitable for their survival and is replaced by other

ne species of living beings. 9ike other species# even the cardamom plant ill not be able resist

the changing climatic conditions and ne varieties of insects ith hich it is not accustomed to.

:nder such circumstances# the fundamental duty of the parties concerned (hether $overnment

or %$'s) is to generate aareness among the farmers about the basic essential reuirements for

cardamom cultivation rather than confusing them by giving comple& scientific term to the

disease(viral)# hich they ill never understand. Cutting of trees covering their farm should bediscouraged. Comprehensive planning should be formulated for re0positioning the already

deteriorating condition of the farm and rehabilitate temporarily those thousands of farmers hoare directly dependent on this profession. ;lse in future# Sikkim not only has to bear the burdenall these si&teen thousand farmers engaged in cardamom farming but also has to part ay ith its

brand image< =The 9and of Spices=.