Cardamom

Water

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

Needs about 1,170 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 530 mm it can use in a normal year, and 390 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 27 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)
• Jul 28 °C / 17 °C
• Aug 28 °C / 17 °C
• Sep 25 °C / 13 °C (outside its best range)
• Oct 21 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
• Nov 15 °C / 3 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 10 °C / -1 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 6 °C / -3 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 8 °C / -1 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 14 °C / 2 °C (outside its best range)
• Apr 19 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
• May 23 °C / 12 °C (outside its best range)
• Jun 27 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)

Nights in November can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.

Soil

Soil for Cardamom: 8 out of 10 (good).

• Soil here is often more alkaline than it likes.
• Most fields here are short of iron.
• Most fields here are short of manganese.

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.