This year, the people of Tashithang in Gesarling Gewog in Dagana won’t have to worry about the family expenses and meeting the expenditure for their school-going children. This is because the farmers there not only had a good yield of cardamom but the queen of spices fetched good prices. A kilogram of the priced spice fetched Nu 700 this season.
Apart from a good price for the crop, the marketing didn’t incur them a single penny as vendors took the spice from their doorsteps. While most of them have sold off the crop, some are also waiting for the price to increase further to sell off their leftover.
Cardamom is the main source of income for more than 80 people of Tashithang. Today, they grow the spice in about 200 acres of land.
According to a farmer, Harka Bahadur Subba, compared to the previous season, the yield, as well as the price was better this season.
“Most of us collected three to four sacks more than the previous year,” he said.
From Nu 400 per kilogram in the previous year, the price increased to Nu 700 per kilogram this year. And hoping that the price will increase further, some farmers have also stocked up the crop.
“Last year, I earn only about Nu 40,000 and it didn’t even cover the labour expenses, but this time, I earned more than Nu 250,000,” said another farmer Dorji Lhaden. She said that she is hoping to earn even more next season.
According to farmers, as compared to other crops, growing cardamom doesn’t require much labour and therefore is easier to grow. And today, for the farmers there, the spice has become the main source of income.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Chayku
