Cardamom
Holds the land all year
No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across India.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 1,860 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 470 mm it can use in a normal year, and 340 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 34 °C / 24 °C
- Jul 33 °C / 23 °C
- Aug 32 °C / 23 °C
- Sep 32 °C / 23 °C
- Oct 31 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 21 °C
- Dec 29 °C / 19 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 19 °C
- Feb 33 °C / 19 °C
- Mar 36 °C / 22 °C
- Apr 36 °C / 24 °C (outside its best range)
- May 36 °C / 25 °C (outside its best range)
- Jun 34 °C / 24 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Cardamom: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- Soil here is often too alkaline for it.
- Most fields here are short of nitrogen.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.5–6.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 0.4 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).
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.
- ₹2,27,500 2021
- ₹83,750 2022
- ₹1,31,560 2023
- ₹1,93,750 2024
- ₹2,11,880 2025
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.
How to make it work
-
Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.
-
Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Calcium Ammonium Nitrate 100%