Cardamom

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 1,760 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 530 mm it can use in a normal year, and 420 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 22–30 °C on average, and survives 10–35 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

• Jun 39 °C / 28 °C (outside its best range)
• Jul 34 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
• Aug 33 °C / 27 °C
• Sep 33 °C / 26 °C
• Oct 32 °C / 22 °C
• Nov 29 °C / 15 °C
• Dec 25 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 22 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 27 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 34 °C / 18 °C
• Apr 40 °C / 23 °C (outside its best range)
• May 41 °C / 27 °C (outside its best range)
• Jun 39 °C / 28 °C (outside its best range)

Months in orange are outside its best range.

Days in May get hotter than it likes. Young plants need shade and water then.

Soil

Soil for Cardamom: 6 out of 10 (okay).

• Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
• Many fields here are short of sulphur, which it needs a lot.
• Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
• Most fields here are short of phosphorus.

Likes pH 5.5–6.0.

Money

Yield: about 1.6 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state).

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.

Mandi price through the year (December 2025–May 2026, July–October 2026): about ₹2,56,375 a quintal across India's mandis.

Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.

Prices are usually best in October.

Typical costs are about ₹1.7 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.