"I got to learn from the radio program that land like ours is good for cardamom farming and that cardamoms could be sold at good prices in the market. I decided to give it a try. When I started, it was tough, but then, things later went on pretty well," he said reflecting his family's initiation into the cardamom farming.
In the beginning, he spent Rs 10,000 for procuring cardamom seeds. However, to his utter disappointment, no more than two plants grew from those seeds.
"I had bought one kg of cardamom seeds. I was expecting at least 20,000 plants from that. But I was able to grow just two," Lok Prasad reminisced adding that the result put him in great dilemma whether or not to continue with the farming.
His wife Kamala turned out to even smarter. She looked out for the availability of professional trainings for cardamom farming. And when she came to know such training is provided by the Ilam based Cardamom Development Center (CDC), she enrolled for training with no further delays. "In 2011, I received week -long training from CDC in Fikkal, Ilam. The lessons that I learned from this training helped me boosting the growth of cardamom plants. I was able to 25,000 cardamom plants," Kamala said.
The couple has not looked back since then. With their daily experience of growing the cardamom and trading them, they are now able to grow it, and sell it at better rates.
"We came to know that the seeds bought from others do not work well. So we let the cardamom in our own farm ripe well and collected the seeds," Kamala said elaborating on the reason for being able to grow two plants from the seeds that his husband had purchased from the market. "As our home grown seeds were of good quality, we were able to 400,000 cardamom plants in the second year," Kamala informed.
Cardamom farming is not for the people who lack patience, the couple says. It needs three years to grow the seeds and the farming has to be quite systematic.
They plant seeds in two ropanis of land and grow plants in other five ropanis of land. This year, their nursery has grown 700,000 cardamom plants and these have already been booked. Until last year, they sold a cardamom plant for eight rupees. This year they have increased its price by one rupee. Their customer now includes cardamom farmers from over 25 districts.
The couple solely works on the cardamom farms. "We two give all our time to the nursery. We hire people during the plantation of seeds and while transferring the plants," Lok Prasad said.
Along with growing and selling cardamom plants, the couple has also been providing guidance to farmers on cardamom farming. These technical advises, they feel, ensures that the buyers will not the mistakes they have committed and will be able to earn from successful farming of the plant.
"The plants we grow and sell are free of pests. However, if they are not handled well after being plucked out from the nursery, they might not survive. So, we teach the farmers the ways to take care of the plants along the journey to their respective farms and how to take care of them later," said Kamala.
According to her, the seeds have to be washed with water and dried for seven to 10 days before planting. And during planting the mixture of sand and soil must be even she say. "When it starts to grow, the plant can be transferred to the area where it is to be planted," she explained.
Lok Prasad informed that the seed and plant of cardamom cannot be grown fast like maize or rice. It takes nine months to a year just for the seeds of cardamom to grow. In the second year, the seeds are grown in nursery for a year and only in the third year the cardamom saplings become ready for planting. "So, those who do not have enough patience should not get into cardamom farming," remarked Kamala.
Encouraged by their huge success, the couple is thinking to expand cardamom farming. "There are different types of cardamom. We want to give a try to other kinds as well," said Lok Prasad.
In the initial days, finding buyers for their cardamom plants was difficult. Later, Senior Cardamom Development Officer, Padamprasad Adhikari, established linkages for them, Lok Prasad informed. "His support in establishing trade links helped in ending our struggle to sell cardamom plants. He built our contacts and we now receive more orders than we are able to grow," he said. Kamala added that Adhikari has always been very encouraging and still keeps visiting their farm.
The couple's cardamom plants are demanded in several districts including Panchthar, Ilam, Tehrathum, Dhankuta, Solukhumbu, Lamjung, Gorkha, Dolakha, Rolpa, Achham and Sindhupalchowk.
"The demand is always growing and we are happy that it's going on so well," Kamala said.
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