Despite the government willing to buy unsold cardamom, not many farmers of Sarpang turned up to sell their leftover harvest at the auction yard of Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) in Gelegphu.
The officials say this could be in anticipation of fetching a better price in the coming days. The government initiated a buyback policy for unsold cardamom in December last year to address the issue of poor cardamom export this season.
Agriculture and FCB officials expected to buy around 25 tons of unsold cardamom from the farmers of 12 gewogs in Sarpang. But when they were finally done with the business on April 15, they had only 2.7 tons.
“Majority of the farmers did not come to sell their unsold cardamom. From Chhudzom Gewog, we purchased more than 1,800 kilograms. But from Gelegphu FCB godown, it was only around 800 kilogram,” Dawa Drakpa, the Marketing Manager of Regional Agricultural Marketing and Cooperatives, said.
An official from the FCB said the poor turnover is because farmers are not happy with the prices offered.
The government is buying a kilogram of Grade A cardamom for Nu 470 while for lower quality, the price is Nu 390 per kilogram. Another possible reason, he added, is the late timing for buying the unsold stock.
“The quality of cardamom is better in Sarpang but we could not buy as expected. Farmers said they are keeping their harvest hoping for a better price. They store it for as long as for two years,” Ugyen Choeidup, the Senior Regional Manager of FCBL in Gelegphu, said.
Pradeep Jain, an Indian broker based in Gelegphu said there is a decrease in demand for cardamom from India. Farmers there experienced a bumper harvest affecting the price. The present market rate is Nu 450 per kilogram.
“The price has been fluctuating for the past few days. It started with Nu 510 per kilogram and has been going down. I am hoarding my stock thinking the price will improve soon.”
The purchased cardamoms are sent to Phuentshogling FCB for grading, curing and drying before exporting it to India and the middle-east countries.
For the buyback scheme this season, the government has allocated Nu 50 M.
