Constraints in cardamom cultivation in post disaster scenario: A study in Idukki District of Kerala

Abstract

The extreme weather event in the form of heavy rains, floods and landslides had severely affected the Kerala state in 2018. Kerala, known as the land of spices accounts for 87 per cent of cardamom production in India. Idukki district is the leading producer of cardamom in Kerala and it is one of the major crops grown by the farmers here. The extreme weather event had severely affected the district causing much damage to agriculture. To study the constraints faced by the farmers in post flood scenario, a survey was conducted among the cardamom farmers of Idukki. The study was based on the primary data collected from 25 cardamom farmers each from Santhanpara and Senapathy gramapanchayats of Idukki district. The major constraints in production, marketing and adaptation were ranked by the farmers and analysed using Garrett’s ranking technique. The major production constraints were high cost of plant protection chemicals and the high incidence of pests and diseases. The fluctuation in the market price of cardamom and delay in payment of sale proceeds were the marketing constraints. Major barriers to adaptation were lack of knowledge about proper adaptation strategies and lack of disease resistant varieties in cardamom.