Cardamom
Planted once, harvested year after year.
Sowing Growing Harvest
When to sow and harvest
Planted once at the start of the monsoon. It stays for years and gives a harvest every year.
Will it grow on your land?
Pick your place and water to see:
- Whether Cardamom suits your land Good fit, possible or won't work, with the reasons.
- What it could earn an acre From yields near you and mandi prices.
- Water and fertiliser it needs Irrigations for your water, and bags for one acre.
What it needs
Temperature
Survives 10–35 °C. Frost hurts it.
Water
Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:
Soil pH
Likes slightly acidic soil. Grows from pH 4.8 to 7.
Soil
- No salty soil
- Ordinary farm soil is fine
- K Needs plenty of potassium and sulphur
Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°).
Fertiliser for one acre
Watch out for
Mandi price, month by month
Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis. Average of 2021–2025.
Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).
Where it grows in India
- Area grown in India
- 1.2 lakh acres
- 2022-23
- Average yield
- 2.0 quintals an acre (0.5 tonnes a hectare)
- 2022-23
- Most area
- Idukki
- Kerala
- Best yield
- Idukki
- 2.1 quintals an acre
States that grow it
Each state's share of India's production, in its latest year with figures (2025-26). Tap a state to open it.
Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).
Where it grows most
The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.
- 1 Idukki Kerala 68% 77,672 acres
- 2 Wayanad Kerala 8.8% 10,148 acres
- 3 Palakkad Kerala 5.9% 6,805 acres
- 4 Theni Tamil Nadu 3.0% 3,431 acres
- 5 Kodagu Karnataka 2.3% 2,668 acres
- 6 Hassan Karnataka 2.2% 2,573 acres
- 7 The Nilgiris Tamil Nadu 1.9% 2,230 acres
- 8 Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 1.7% 2,003 acres
- 9 Pathanamthitta Kerala 1.7% 1,969 acres
- 10 Chikkamagaluru Karnataka 0.8% 967 acres
Cardamom yield
- 0.0–0.1 quintals an acre
- 0.2–0.3 quintals an acre
- 0.4–0.7 quintals an acre
- 0.8–1.0 quintals an acre
- 2.1 quintals an acre
1 Numbers match the list: the districts with the most area.
Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2006-07 to 2022-23.
Where yields are highest
Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.
- Idukki Kerala 2.1 quintals an acre 1.4× India
- Kodagu Karnataka 1.0 quintals an acre 0.6× India
- Uttara Kannada Karnataka 1.0 quintals an acre 0.6× India
- Chikkamagaluru Karnataka 0.8 quintals an acre 0.5× India
- Shivamogga Karnataka 0.7 quintals an acre 0.4× India
- Dindigul Tamil Nadu 0.4 quintals an acre 0.3× India
- Hassan Karnataka 0.4 quintals an acre 0.2× India
- Theni Tamil Nadu 0.4 quintals an acre 0.2× India
- Tirunelveli Tamil Nadu 0.4 quintals an acre 0.2× India
- The Nilgiris Tamil Nadu 0.4 quintals an acre 0.2× India
Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2006-07 to 2022-23.
Across India over the years
Yield across India, quintals an acre
Area sown across India, acres
Years run July to June. Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.
Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 2006-07 to 2022-23.