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Large cardamom is one of the most important spices that can significantly contribute to the economical farming in the country of Nepal. It is grown in Nepal and north-eastern states of India which provide suitable agroclimatic growing conditions of high humidity, ambient temperature and high rainfall. Meeting the demand for high quality plants and yield of cardamom is challenging with traditional methods of propagation. The present study has used the plant tissue culture technique to produce high quality plants. In this regard, MS media with three different hormonal combinations were used for the development protocol for 8 weeks. Shoot length, root length, shoot number and root number were assessed at intervals. The best protocol for growth was MS media with 1 mg/L BAP + 0.5 mg/L IBA for the Ramsey variety, with no significant difference for Golsai, Dambarsai, or Sikkimae varieties. Similarly, the acclimatization and field transfer study was done. The use of any substrate composition in ratio of coco peat: soil 1:2; moss: coco peat 1:2 and sawdust: coco peat 1:2 enables transfer of healthy plants to the field. The results indicate that the varieties respond differently to the micropropagation process and to hormone concentrations indicated by differing root and shoot production. The protocol of 1mg/L BAP and 0.5mg/L IBA could be used for the Ramsai while optimal shoot production for Golsai and Sikkimae should be at 0.5mg/L and 5mg/L for shoot production. All varieties showed optimal root production at 0mg/L BAP and 0.5mg/L IBA. This study sheds light on the different responsiveness of varieties to tissue culture and hormone concentrations for both root and shoot development in micropropagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted to analyze growth rates and financial profitability of supply chain actors of Large Cardamom based on a sample survey of randomly selected 90 farmers, 10 input suppliers, and 15 traders. Secondary data of area and production were obtained from Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development whereas price information was acquired from the Federation of Large Cardamom Entreprenuers of Nepal. The area, production and productivity of Large Cardamom in Ilam district was found in decreasing trend. Market data analysis showed that the price was drastically fluctuating but the compound annual growth rate was significantly increasing by 4.48%. Financial analysis indicated that the enterprise with a project life of 10 years was viable and highly profitable with benefit cost ratio of 3.14, payback period 4.09 years, internal rate of return 81.4%, and net present value of NPR 3.58 million per hectare. Four major supply chain actors were involved. The profit margin was found the highest for the producers (45.68%) followed by regional level traders (28.42%), district level traders (16.36%) and least for the village level traders (9.54%). Traditional driers were still used for curing the capsules with a compromise to the quality of the product. The producers were not found doing value addition activities, whereas tail removing, grading, and packaging were done by regional level traders. Training the farmers on value addition and providing them market information can help to scale up large cardamom production enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large cardamom is an important high value cash crop of Himalayan region of India, Nepal, and Bhutan. It is widely used in food industry as spice and as medicine in herbal practices. This rhizomatous perennial plant is one of the main revenue earners of these regions and the livelihood of many people is associated with it. However, due to the various factors such as climate change, emergence of highly virulent diseases, and absence of resistant varieties, the production of large cardamom has declined considerably in the last two decades. The genetic diversity study amongst the cultivar forms the basis of crop improvement to address these problems. Cultivars of large cardamom have only been characterized morphologically till date. The molecular characterization using barcode loci recommended by Consortium for Barcode of Life (CBOL) is not only needed for resolving the different large cardamom cultivars but also to give insight into the understanding of the genetic distance between themselves, which will be helpful in identifying the distantly related cultivars for crop improvement such as in plant breeding. The two barcode loci maturase K (matK) and ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) genes of chloroplast DNA were found to be good candidates for barcoding of large cardamom cultivars. The mutations in these two loci at cultivars level were low but distinctive enough to differentiate and diverse themselves to form the same tree topology by different phylogeny methods, thereby successfully resolving the different cultivars. It was found that the cultivars which share common ancestors in phylogeny also share one or two distinct common genetic sequence mutation patterns in both loci indicative of common origin. The phylogenetic tree construction using two barcode loci i.e., matK, rbcL, and combined genes (matK+rbcL) by three different method viz. unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), Neighbor-joining, and Maximum-likelihood based on Kimura 2-parameters amongst the five large cardamom cultivars successfully resolved the cultivars of large cardamom as they formed same tree topology except by Neighbor-joining method of rbcL gene. Two distinct monophyletic groups were formed by all nine trees constructed by three different methods indicating resolvability of the cultivars. The phylogenetic study shows "Varlangey" and "Seremna" are closely related cultivars and share common ancestor with "Sawney" cultivar. Similarly, "Green Golsey" and "Dzongu" are closely related cultivars and formed distinct cluster. The matK, rbcL, and combined gene loci exhibited highest genetic distance between "Dzongu" and "Seremna"' cultivars. The present study paved the way for barcoding of number of other large cardamom cultivars, which will be helpful not only for inferring evolutionary relationship but also for selection of genetically distant cultivars having desired characteristics to produce hybrid with maximum hybrid vigor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological settings in the Himalayan hills provide a unique opportunity to the farmers in Nepal to sell their large cardamom in the global market. However, little efforts are made about the adoption of profitable large cardamom post-harvest upgrading practices in the country. This paper examines and discusses about the adoption of important post-harvest practices of large cardamom in the Eastern Himalayan road corridor of Nepal. Semi-structured interviews with 300 large cardamom-producing farmers as well as focus group discussions were conducted in Taplejung district in 2019. A SUR logit was used to examine the factors influencing the adoption of five major post-harvest practices, such as, improved method of drying, curing, cleaning, tail cutting and grading based on size and color. The findings revealed that about one-third of the respondents had adopted improved method of drying whereas about three-fifth of the respondents (62%) adopted curing. Nearly three-fourth (73.3%) of them had followed the practice of cleaning cardamom. On the other hand only less than 5% of respondents reported that they had been adopting the practice of tail (calyx) cutting. The findings also revealed that the adoption of improved method of large cardamom drying was mostly driven by access to credit. Results from an adoption models identified experience, household income from large cardamom, commercial scale of production, risk averse, access to credit, and access to technical services as of positive contributors (p < 0.05) to the adoption of major post-harvest practices of large cardamom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large cardamom is a high-value spice crop grown commonly in mid-hills of Nepal. Price disparity coupled with production challenges are major immersing concerns in growth and development of this sub-sector. The study was designed in January 2019 to assess production scenario and marketing of large cardamom in Bhojpur district of Nepal. Altogether, 120 large cardamom growers and 20 traders were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data were analysed using SPSS and Ms-Excel. Cobb-Douglas production function was used to estimate the factor share to the total output production. Findings revealed that more than 45% of total annual household income was attributed by cardamom itself. Overall benefit and cost ratio was found greater than unity (1.467). Cobb-Douglas production function showed that all cardamom-growing farmers were experiencing increasing returns to scale. Higher producer's share (90.32%) was found when farmer sell their large cardamom directly to the exporter while least producer's share (69.21%) was found in domestic market channel with large number of intermediaries. Increase in marketing margin, marketing costs and decrease in marketing efficiency and producers' share were observed with increase in number of marketing intermediaries and vice-versa. About 55% of the large cardamom exporters believed that the Indian market was the most responsible factor for export price determination. From study, it is recommended to strengthen market or price intervention by concerned authority and also it is high time to identify possible routes to potential international markets (besides India) to receive competitive higher price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Spring 2015, a series of earthquakes and aftershocks struck Nepal. The earthquakes caused significant changes in labor and land availability, cash income needs, and land quality. We examine how these post-earthquake impacts converged with ongoing agricultural shifts. Earthquake-related socio-economic and landscape changes specifically motivate the adoption of cardamom, Amomum subulatum, a high-value ecologically beneficial, and low labor commercial crop. We investigate reasons for the increased interest in cardamom post-earthquake, and challenges associated with it. We find that adopting cardamom serves as an important post-disaster adaptation. However, more broadly, unevenly distributed interventions coupled with the high capital costs of agricultural transition exacerbate social differentiation in communities after the disaster. Adoption is often limited to economically better off smallholder farmers. This paper extends previous research on disasters and smallholder farming by highlighting the specific potential of disasters to accelerate agricultural transitions and resulting inequality from the changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the adoption of an improved method of curing and drying of large cardamom, a technology that has recently been introduced at the farm level in the Eastern Himalayan road corridor of Nepal. A probit model was applied to assess factors influencing the adoption of an improved method of curing and drying by using household data of 300 farmers in Taplejung district obtained in 2019. Further, the income regression model was used to investigate factors influencing annual household income from large cardamom. Findings revealed that the adoption of an improved method of large cardamom drying was mostly determined by access to credit from the financial institutions while controlling other explanatory variables. Such adoption of an improved method of large cardamom curing and drying resulted in more than twofold increase in household income from large cardamom. An instrumental variable approach was applied to check the robustness of the findings. The findings revealed that household income from large cardamom, risk aversion of farmers, age, access to credit, access to technical services, experience of farmers on large cardamom farming significantly contributed in the adoption of improved methods in curing and drying; and improved methods of drying and concrete type of houses structure contributed to household income from large cardamom. The impact of the adoption of improved methods of curing and drying boosted the household income by 432% from the large cardamom as compared to traditional methods using instrumental variable model whose contribution was only 34.3% in OLS regression. These findings suggested that the promotion of an improved method of curing and drying is needed at the farm level for the increment of farmers' income and development of competitiveness of large cardamom in the global markets. • Nepal is the largest producer of large cardamom with a 68% share in the global market. • Adoption of improved method was mostly driven by access to credit while controlling for other explanatory variables. • An adoption of improved method resulted more than twofold increase in household income from large cardamom. • The impact of adoption of improved method increased 432% farm income as compared to tradition method using IV model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large Cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) is one of the most valuable cash crop of the Himalayan mountain region including Nepal, India, and Bhutan. Nepal is the world's largest producer of the crop while the Taplejung district contributes a 30%–40% share in Nepal's total production. Large cardamom is an herbaceous perennial crop usually grown under the shade of the Uttis tree in very specialized bioclimatic conditions. In recent years, a decline in cardamom production has been observed which is being attributed to climate-related indicators. To understand the current dynamics of this under-canopy herbaceous crop distribution and its future potential under climate change, a combination of modelling, remote sensing, and expert knowledge is applied for the assessment. The results suggest that currently, Uttis tree cover is 10,735 ha in the district, while 50% (5198 ha) of this cover has a large cardamom crop underneath. When existing cultivation is compared with modelled suitable areas, it is observed that the cultivatable area has not yet reached its full potential. In a future climate scenario, the current habitat will be negatively affected, where mid elevations will remain stable while lower and higher elevation will become infeasible for the crop. Future changes are closely related to temperature and precipitation which are steadily changing in Nepal over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]