A threat to cardamon in Kerala
This news is brought from the cardamom auction centres at Puttady in Kerala and Bodinayakanur in Tamil Nadu. The Indian cardamom is mixed with low priced Guatemalan cardamom by the Businessmen and brought for auction. Huge quantity of cardamom from Guatemala had already received in Vandanmedu, the main centre of Indin cardamom.After it was found that some agencies were mixing the low quality Guatemalan cardamom with Indian cardamom for auction, a squad by growers and businessmen was formed to prevent this.
It was difficult to trace each stock arriving at the auction site and confirming whether it was mixed or not.The low quality Guatemalan cardamom arrived through the Kolkota port allegedly for transportation to Nepal. From here, it was being diverted to the above mentioned auction centres after mixing with Indian cardamom.
Customs authorities and the Revenue authorities should take strong measures against such illegal practices