Pratiksha Kandel

July 16: Black cardamom is one of the top exported items of Nepal. Nepal exported black cardamom worth Rs 7.7 billion to different countries of the world from mid-July to mid- May of the current fiscal year, according to the data of the Department of Customs. But since the market of black cardamom produced in Nepal is concentrated only in India, businessmen have been saying that new destinations should be explored for the market expansion of black cardamom.

According to the department, 9,386 metric tons of black cardamom have been exported from Nepal in the 11 months of the current fiscal year. During the same period last year, 5,500 metric tons of black cardamom worth Rs 4.55 billion were exported. Compared to last year's exports in 11 months, black cardamom exports have increased by 69 percent in terms of monetary value and 85 percent in volume this year.

Nepal has been exporting black cardamom to India, Italy, Pakistan, the USA, Germany and other countries. During the 11 months of the current fiscal year, 9,341 metric tons of black cardamom worth Rs 7.68 billion have been exported to India alone. That is a staggerring 99.52 percent of the total export of black cardamom.

Along with the production of black cardamom in Nepal, the production area is also increasing. According to the National Potato Vegetable and Spice Development Center, 2.5 million metric tons of black cardamom has been produced in Nepal in the last six years.

According to the center, in the fiscal year 2073-74, around 401,000 metric tons of black cardamom were cultivated in 21,562 hectares of land in Nepal.

In the fiscal year 2078-79, the area and output of cardamom production increased to 22,913 hectares and 435,584 metric tons respectively.

Raj Kumar Karki, outgoing president of the Nepal Cardamom Traders Federation, says that India is the main market for black cardamom produced in Nepal and the demand for Nepali black cardamom in India is high. He argues that since the domestic production of black cardamom in India is increasing, Nepal should find a new markets for exporting black cardamom.

After India, Bangladesh is also the next big market for black cardamom produced in Nepal. But due to the compulsion of having to pay 35 percent tax when exporting the products to Bangladesh, black cardamom of Nepal is unable to compete with the black cardamom sent to Bangladesh from other countries, said Karki.

“Bhutan is exporting black cardamom to Bangladesh paying zero percent tax. Therefore, it is necessary for the government to facilitate policy on tax and other matters to export Nepal’s black cardamom to Bangladesh,” says Karki.

He said that Nepal has not been able to increase the export of black cardamom to third countries due to the high cost of air freight.

Karki predicted that the production of black cardamom will decline by 35 to 45 percent this year. According to Karki, the price of cardamom has already reached 1,000 per kg as the production is expected to further decrease in the coming year.