Sikkim growers tour Large Cardamom plantations in Lava

GANGTOK, 21 March [IPR]: Eighty farmers elected from all four Districts of the State were taken on a tour of Lava in Algarah Block of Kalimpong Sub-division in Darjeeling District of West Bengal in February-March 2012 as part of an exposure tour to areas where significant success has been achieved in large cardamom farming. The group visited large cardamom plantations at Gitbeong village and learnt of the different management practices adopted by the farmers there.
The farmers were escorted by Deputy Director of the Department and accompanied by Horticulture Development Officers along with Assistant Director, Mr. Ramalingam and Mr. Pradhan, Senior Farm Manager of Spices Board Office, Kalimpong, the organization instrumental in supporting the efforts of the large cardamom farmers of Darjeeling District.
Lava was selected for the visit as the region shared close similarity in terms of agro-climate and edaphic conditions including altitudinal aspects which was comparable with the large cardamom growing regions in Sikkim. Gitbeong village in Algarah Block is flanked on either side by Kalimpong Block and Gorubathan Block which includes Today, an important large cardamom growing belt in the region.
The main aim behind organising the tour was to provide Sikkim farmers an opportunity of informal learning through interactions and exchange of knowledge, information, views and idea.
“A very well maintained plot. We should also adopt the same method of planting,” exclaimed the jubilant farmers, T. Laripa and ST Bhutia, from Pelling.
Karma Bhutia and Nakul Rai from Assam Lingzey remarked that it was possible to maintain the same type of crop in Sikkim as well if the practices followed in Lava were adopted in earnest. Naku Lepcha of Lingi, South District, turned nostalgic upon finding himself at the same plantation from where he had procured the large cardamom suckers for his field six years ago and where it was still performing satisfactorily.
Lakpa Tarbu Sherpa, Panchayat President of Kewzing Bakhim GPU of South District and Khimu Lepcha, ex-Zilla Panchayat member of North District, expressed gratitude towards the Department for the opportunity provided to farmers through the exposure tour.
The agronomic practices followed for growing the crop at Lava are completely traditional in nature without use of any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. The crop is grown under totally organic conditions with use of organic Farm Yard Manure along with provision of irrigation water during the lean winter season using indigenous methods and resources.
Harvesting is followed by intensive care of the plot through application of organic manure to replenish the soil nutrients. The care extended to each plant after harvest was a critical factor determining further growth and development including yield of the crop in the ensuing season and neglect was something unheard of in the region.
In addition, the harvested culms are all collected, heaped and burnt, thereby helping in effective management of the disease inoculum in field, a farmer practice worth emulating and often neglected by farmers.
Phurba Sherpa, an organic farmer, maintains yielding plots as old as sixteen years which were well managed, healthy and free from pests and diseases. With large cardamom being a cross pollinated crop, a few plants of the Churmpa variety, a wild cultivar of large cardamom which was maintained by each farmer on his plot helped in imparting host plant resistance to the cultivated species.
The itinerary also included visits to the Indian Agriculture Research Institute where farmers of South District interacted with the scientists and observed the pot experiments aimed at managing the viral diseases inlcuding greening disease of mandarin orages being undertaken at Institute.