Editing Cardamom (section)

=== Cultivation ===
[[File:Cardamom plants, India.jpg|thumb|Terraced cardamom plants in India]]
[[File:Cardamom (5193854049).jpg|thumb|Labeled varieties of cardamom in storage containers]]
In 1873 and 1874, [[Ceylon]] (now [[Sri Lanka]]) exported about {{convert|9000|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}} each year. In 1877, Ceylon exported {{convert|11108|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}}, in 1879, {{convert|17732|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}}, and in the 1881–82 season, {{convert|23127|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}}{{sfn|Owen|1883|p=1}} In 1903, {{convert|4000|acre|ha|order=flip}} of cardamom growing areas were owned by European planters. The produce of the [[Travancore]] plantations was given as {{convert|650000|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}}, or just a little under that of Ceylon. The yield of the [[Mysore]] plantations was approximately {{convert|200000|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}}, and the cultivation was mainly in [[Kadur district]]. The volume{{clarify|date=August 2022}} for 1903–04 stated the value of the cardamoms exported to have been Rs. 3,37,000 as compared with Rs. 4,16,000 the previous year.{{sfn|Watt|1908|p=516}} India, which ranks second in world production, recorded a decline of 6.7 percent in cardamom production for 2012–13,<ref name="Kulkarni2013">{{cite news|last1=Kulkarni|first1=Mahesh|date=2 September 2013|title=Cardamom output to fall for second year in a row|work=[[Business Standard]]|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/cardamom-output-to-fall-for-second-year-in-a-row-113090200103_1.html|access-date=14 November 2014|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012314/http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/cardamom-output-to-fall-for-second-year-in-a-row-113090200103_1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and projected a production decline of 30–40% in 2013–14, compared with the previous year due to unfavorable weather.<ref name="Krishnakumar2014">{{cite news|last1=Krishnakumar|first1=P. K.|date=6 August 2014|title=Cardamom production set to fall 40%|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-06/news/52514668_1_guatemalan-production-indian-cardamom-pc-punnoose|access-date=14 November 2014|archive-date=18 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218030727/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-06/news/52514668_1_guatemalan-production-indian-cardamom-pc-punnoose|url-status=dead}}</ref> In India, the state of [[Kerala]] is by far the most productive producer, with the districts of [[Idukki district|Idukki]], [[Palakkad district|Palakkad]] and [[Wynad district|Wynad]] being the principal producing areas.{{sfn|Cumo|2013|p=216}} Given that a number of bureaucrats have personal interests in the industry,{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} in India, several organisations have been set up to protect cardamom producers such as the Cardamom Growers Association (est. 1992) and the Kerala Cardamom Growers Association (est. 1974). Research in India's cardamom plantations began in the 1970s while [[Kizhekethil Chandy]] held the office of Chairman of the Cardamom Board.<ref name="rajbhavan.gujarat.gov.in">{{cite web|title=Prof. K.M. Chandy &ndash; Governor of Gujarat|url=http://www.rajbhavan.gujarat.gov.in/uniquepage.asp?id_pk=65|access-date=15 November 2014|publisher=Raj Bhavan, Gujarat Government|archive-date=25 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425123726/http://www.rajbhavan.gujarat.gov.in/uniquepage.asp?id_pk=65|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Kerala Land Reforms Act imposed restrictions on the size of certain agricultural holdings per household to the benefit of cardamom producers.{{sfn|Kusters|Belcher|2004|p=136&ndash;46}}

In 1979–1980, [[Guatemala]] surpassed India in worldwide production.{{sfn|Nair|2011|p=267}} Guatemala cultivates ''[[Elettaria cardamomum]]'', which is native to the [[Malabar Coast]] of India.<ref name="Milian2014">{{cite web|last1=Milian|first1=Spencer L.|date=29 June 2014|title=Cardamom &ndash; The 3Gs &ndash; Green Gold of Guatemala|url=http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Cardamom%20-%20The%203Gs%20--%20Green%20Gold%20of%20Guatemala_Guatemala_Guatemala_7-11-2014.pdf|access-date=15 November 2014|publisher=[[USDA]] [[Foreign Agricultural Service]]|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023401/http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Cardamom%20-%20The%203Gs%20--%20Green%20Gold%20of%20Guatemala_Guatemala_Guatemala_7-11-2014.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Alta Verapaz Department]] produces 70 percent of Guatemala's cardamom.<ref name="Milian2014" /> Cardamom was introduced to Guatemala before World War I by the German coffee planter Oscar Majus Kloeffer.<ref name="Karun2014">{{cite news|last1=Karun|first1=Shenoy|date=21 April 2014|title=Kerala cardamom trying to fight off its Guatemalan cousin|work=[[The Times of India]]|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Kerala-cardamom-trying-to-fight-off-its-Guatemalan-cousin/articleshow/34016620.cms|access-date=14 November 2014|archive-date=8 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308062306/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Kerala-cardamom-trying-to-fight-off-its-Guatemalan-cousin/articleshow/34016620.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> After World War II, production was increased to 13,000 to 14,000 tons annually.{{sfn|Cumo|2013|p=216}}

The average annual income for a plantation-owning household in 1998 was US$3,408.{{sfn|Kusters|Belcher|2004|p=136&ndash;46}} Although the typical harvest requires over 210 days of labor per year, most cardamom farmers are better off than many other agricultural workers, and there are a significant number of those from the upper strata of society involved in the cultivation process.{{sfn|Kusters|Belcher|2004|p=136&ndash;46}} Increased demand since the 1980s, principally from China, for both ''[[Amomum villosum|Wurfbainia villosa]]'' and ''[[Amomum tsao-ko|Lanxangia tsao-ko]]'', has provided a key source of income for poor farmers living at higher altitudes in localized areas of China, Laos, and Vietnam, people typically isolated from many other markets. Laos exports about 400 tonnes annually through Thailand according to the [[FAO]].<ref>{{cite web|title=5.4 Edible plant products|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/v0782e/v0782e07.htm|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=FAO|archive-date=27 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127161903/http://www.fao.org/docrep/v0782e/v0782e07.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>