PRODUCTION AND MARKETING STATUS OF LARGE CARDAMOM IN TEHRATHUM, NEPAL

The survey research entitled “Production and Marketing Status of Large Cardamom in Tehrathum, Nepal” was conducted in Myanglung Municipality, Laligurans Municipality and Menchhayem Rural Municipality with an objective to identify the current status of large cardamom production and marketing in Tehrathum district of Nepal. For the study, 60 households were selected using simple random sampling technique. The data were collected through household survey, key informants interview and direct observation. Data entry and analysis were done by using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. The average land under large cardamom cultivation was 0.64 ha with the average cardamom farming experience of about 12 years. The average production and productivity of large cardamom were 182.15 kg and 284.6kg/ha respectively. Overall, benefit and cost ratio was found to be 1.42. Attack of disease and pest and decreasing market price of cardamom were the major problem in production and marketing of large cardamom respectively. Almost all respondents used traditional smoking dryer (Bhatti) to cure cardamom that makes the dried capsules prone to quality degradation so they expressed the necessity of modern smokeless dryer.