• A conversation with Janalal Rodrgio on his family’s cultivation

Cardamom, known as the Queen of Spices, has a unique aroma and is used for its flavour in food and its medicinal benefits in Ayurveda. It is also used in the cosmetic industry for the making of perfumes. According to the Export Development Board, Sri Lanka has three types of cardamom: Malabar, Mysore, and Vazhukka. Kandy, Matale, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, and a part of Galle are the major growing districts.

Despite cardamom being a spice we use regularly, whether in biryani, masala tea, or watalappan, the history of this spice, especially in the local context, is not known to most of us. During a chat with Janalal Rodrigo, who owns a family estate in the Mathurata Planting District in the Hanguranketha Electorate, Nuwara Eliya District, The Daily Morning Brunch had the opportunity to learn more about the fragrant cardamom.

From tea to spice

His tale begins 50 years back, when Rodrigo, along with his brother Chitrasena, left school and joined their father’s estate. During the same period, the Land Reform Law was passed in Parliament on 26 August 1972. This restricted private ownership of land to 50 acres per family, with children over the age of 18 years allowed to retain 50 acres as well.

“Subsequently, this law was changed a little when the United National Party (UNP) Government of 1977 came into power, as they allowed children who were below 18 to also retain 50 acres provided compensation was not already paid,” Rodrigo said.

His family’s estate mainly produced tea and had invested heavily in tea, newly planting and replanting 230 acres. Just seven years before the estate takeover, which took place two years after the law was passed, the estate developed the factory at a high cost, investing in various machinery like extractors, a tea roller manufactured in India, and a 47-inch orthodox tea rotorvane.

Despite these investments and a yield of over 1,300 pounds per acre, Rodrigo said they only made a small profit from tea. Parallel to tea, they also grew cardamom, which had an annual expenditure of Rs. 50,000 in the 70s, but had a profit of over Rs. 100,000, which later increased even more.

Cultivation

With cardamom, they had not invested as heavily, nor done as much work, besides planting cardamom wherever there was land available. 

“If you think of the cardamom industry, cardamom prices were quite attractive even at that time and we were making good profits and expanding the cultivation anywhere which was not cultivated on land belonging to us.” The family estate totalled 243 acres after the estate takeover, due to which they lost 1,328 acres consisting of tea, cardamom, and paddy.

In addition to these crops, they also grew tobacco for the Ceylon Tobacco Corporation and seed potato and bean seeds for the Agriculture Department. During the estate takeover, they almost lost the estate bungalow to the State Plantation Corporation. “Ultimately, the bean seeds saved us the bungalow,” Rodrigo said, explaining that the Director of Agriculture at the time, Dr. Ernest Abeyratne, promptly issued a letter stating: “I wish the suitable quarters are given to Wilmot Rodrigo to continue this scheme which is very useful for the country.” According to Rodrigo, the seed produced by them was far superior to the seed imported from Japan.

This letter allowed them to retain the bungalow, as well as around five acres of tea around it, in addition to 250 acres of tea and cardamom.

However, with the Land Reform Act, the family began concentrating more on cardamom, and eventually, a drying shed was built near the bungalow. Rodrigo went on to say that cardamom grows under shade, mainly forest cover, and needs a lot of moisture throughout the year.

Rodrigo explained that it is labour intensive, as the crop has to be replanted once in 15 years and it takes three years for it to be ready for harvest. If this isn’t done, the yield per acre goes down. In addition to this, in order to get a significant yield, a plant needs 15 kg of fertiliser per year.

Finding labour is going to be very difficult in time to come, Rodrigo said, adding that changing weather is also a problem, as well as the increasing cost of production, especially transport due to the cost of fuel. The increasing cost of fertiliser and agro chemicals poses another challenge to the continuance of this crop.

Local production

In the mid-80s, the Government brought in legislation preventing the cultivation of cardamom above 3,500 feet in the Knuckles Forest Reserve, where 60% of cardamom was grown. This had a big impact on local production.

“In the 80s, Sri Lanka was exporting around 500 tonnes of cardamom,” Rodrigo said, adding that C.A.R. Jayamanne was the main broker, selling 75% of cardamom to exporters.

Spices were managed by the Agriculture Department, but since 1972, all spices have been managed by the Department of Minor Export Crops, which later became the Department of Export Agriculture. 

Explaining that pepper is the king of spices, cardamom is the queen of spices, and vanilla is the prince of spices, Rodrigo said the main exporter in the 80s was Akbar Brothers, who is incidentally today the biggest exporter of tea. “They were buying about 70% of cardamoms for the export market.”

In the early 1980s, a separate spice association by the name of Spices and Allied Products Producers and Traders Association (SAPPTA) was formed, and Rodrigo said the public auction, which was held at the Chamber of Commerce, is governed by the rules laid down by SAPPTA, which later became the voice representing spice matters to the Government.

Today, cardamom has three main uses: Food flavouring, perfumes, and Ayurvedic medicine. In Sri Lanka, we mainly sell pods in bulk, but there are some exporters of value addition products, mainly oil. Rodrigo explained that the high retail price pushed by middlemen has killed the local consumption of cardamom in Sri Lanka. “With today’s cost of living, cardamom has become a luxury item.”

According to the 2023 Industry Data Book published for the Spices Sector by the Ministry of Industries, Sri Lanka produces approximately 2,000 metric tonnes of cardamom annually, contributing significantly to the global supply of this spice.

Data published by The Spice Council stated that from August to October 2024, cardamom maintained an average price of Rs. 8,457.40, maintaining its position as a high-value spice throughout the year. “Cardamom consistently commanded higher prices, highlighting their strong market demand and economic significance throughout the year,” The Spice Council said.

Rodrigo pointed out the importance of protecting this spice, emphasising the quality of local cardamom. “The Sri Lankan cardamom – and not only cardamom, but almost all spices – have some superior quality. Take for example an allied product like cashew, in comparison to India, ours is very milky. When it comes to pepper, of the oil extracted, the Sri Lankan pepper has 14% piperine, but the Indian has 8%,” Rodrigo said.