Traders argue that international buyers - the main consumers of the produce - placed low demand over this season and the volume of such demand has only dropped in recent weeks, forcing them to offer lower prices to the farmers. [break]
They have fixed the price of black cardamom -- the prime exports product of the country -- at Rs 975 per kg on Sunday, lower from last week´s Rs 1,075 per kg.
“Price has dropped by Rs 100 per kg over a week´s period. We have been seeing the prices go downward over the past few months,” said Khadga Bahadur Moktan, president of Black Cardamom Traders Association (BCTA), Taplejung.
The drop in prices, meanwhile, has made farmers reluctant to sell their produce to the extent they like. Given that the farmers in the eastern hills have been resorting to a practice of hoarding their produce when prices drop, this has dragged down the overall volume of cardamom transactions as well.
Farmers were getting as much as Rs 1,475 per kg for their produce till mid-January. Though prices fell by Rs 200 per kg in early January, farmers had managed to counter the traders´ low offer and force them pay more by restricting the volume of supply in the market. However, it did not help them control the market for long and prices have consistently dropped since the second half of January.
“Though domestic demand is still strong, the demands from international buyers have dropped leading to drop in prices because international demand plays a big role in setting prices,” added Moktan.
This has forced farmers to face income drop of as much as Rs 500 per kg over the span of two months.
Farmers usually harvest black cardamom from mid-August. They used to get handsome prices for their produce after February when cardamom harvest generally comes to an end. Last year, farmers had received as much as Rs 1,750 per kg in February.
“It has been a completely different situation this time round. The market casts completely dismal look this year,” said Moktan.
Nepal is the largest exporter of black cardamom in the world and the spice, which is one of the major sources of income for the farmers in the eastern hills, is exported to markets in India, Pakistan, Gulf countries and even Europe. However, traders said the demand from those countries have dropped of late.
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