Gongdu Gewog in Monggar, which is one of the major cardamom-producing gewogs in the district is seeing a decline in the yield of the spice. This is because of fungal diseases and pest attacks. The drop in yield is particularly seen in Dagsa-Kumadzong Chiwog which produces a major share of Gongdu Gewog’s cardamom.
Farmers in Gongdu started cardamom cultivation in 2014. 83 households in the gewog cultivate the spice for commercial purposes, out of which 58 households are from Dagsa. With cardamom plants drying up, villagers say that their income has been affected.
The Agriculture Research and Development Centre, ARDC in Wengkhar and the Agriculture Research and Development Sub-Centre in Lingmithang conducted a joint inspection in June last year to find the cause.
The inspection teams found that the cardamom seedlings were mostly affected by fungal diseases such as Fusarium wilt, Colletotrichum blight and anthracnose. Similarly, some of the seedlings were also affected by insects such as the cardamom stem borer.
The research centres recommended farmers to spray fungicides and systemic insecticides to control the spread of fungal blight and stem borer. The team also advised the affected community to prioritise the removal of diseased plants, clear debris and dispose of dead plants.
“There are three types of diseases, the first turns the plant red and the second makes the plants go dark from the tip to the root before making them dry up. The other one makes the leaves go white but it does not affect the root of the plants. So the plants bear the seeds as usual,” said Namgay Dorji, a resident.
Farmers said if the spread of the disease is not controlled, their income will continue to decline.
“When it was not affected by the diseases, the production was good but this time due to the diseases, the production was not good. Last year, I have earned about Nu 350,000 but this year, I did not get much. I am able to earn only about Nu 30,000 from the sale of cardamom,” said Jampel Lhamo, a resident.
“It is about three years now that we are seeing a decrease in the production. Last year, I was able to earn about Nu 60,000 but this year the income was not even Nu 10,000. We are worried because even after working hard, the production was not good,” said Gyembo Dorji, another resident.
“Since 2021, the yield started decreasing yearly. The production was less this year compared to last year. We are worried that the production will be even lesser next year compared to this year,” said Peldhen from Dagsa.
However, some households whose cardamom plants are not seriously affected by the diseases and pests say that due to good price for the spice this season, the effect of the decline in production was offset to some extent. A kilogram of cardamom was sold at 400 ngultrum last year compared to 1020 ngultrum this year.
“Although the production was less, the income we got was same due to increase in price this year,” added Namgay Dorji.
The gewog agriculture extension officer said his office could not start any intervention measures as the harvest for this season has yet to end in some fields. He said the removal of dried plants and other preventive works will start during the weeding season in April.
Cardamom in Gongdu Gewog accounts for around 48 per cent of Monggar’s total cardamom cultivation. The district produced about 25 metric tonnes of cardamom last year out of which more than six metric tonnes are from Gongdu Gewog. Farmers in Gongdu earned more than Nu 6.6 M last year from the sale of the spice.
Karma Wangdi, Monggar
Edited by Kipchu
