New Delhi, June 8 -- Cardamom has always belonged to the rainforest ecology of the Western Ghats. Long before plantation agriculture transformed the hills of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the spice grew naturally beneath dense evergreen canopies where moisture, shade, forest humus, insects, birds, fungi, and microorganisms together sustained a delicate ecological balance. In its earliest phase, cardamom was not even a plantation crop. Until the nineteenth century, much of the world's supply came from wild and semi-wild forest landscapes where people harvested it with minimal disturbance to nature.
This older system was fundamentally different from present cultivation practices. Traditional cardamom cultivation functioned as an agroecological system rooted in the rainforest itself. Farmers depended on existing forest cover rather than clearing it. Partial clearing of the undergrowth allowed access to the plants, but the towering evergreen trees remained intact. Shade trees were not obstacles to production. They were essential partners that protected humidity, regulated temperature, enriched soil fertility through leaf litter, and maintained water retention in fragile mountain ecosystems.
Today, however, large parts of the cardamom hills are witnessing ecological stress due to intensive plantation practices. Modern commercial cultivation often involves repeated shade lopping to increase sunlight exposure for higher yields. This directly alters the fragile microclimate that once kept plantation temperatures three to five degrees centigrade lower than outside areas. When the evergreen canopy is heavily reduced, plantations become hotter and drier, humidity declines sharply, and the natural ecological balance weakens. In many plantations, this has severely altered forest structure. Native evergreen species such as Cullenia Exarillata and Palaquium Ellipticum are rapidly disappearing; only a few tree species such as Vernonia Arborea, Artocarpus Heterophyllus, and Toona Ciliata now dominate large sections of shade cover. Epiphytes and moisture-dependent organisms that once thrived in these forests are vanishing. Continuous disturbance has weakened the rainforest's natural ability to regulate temperature, conserve water, and sustain biodiversity.
The consequences are now visible across the Western Ghats. Soil erosion has intensified. Humidity levels inside plantations have fallen. Temperatures have risen. Pest attacks have increased sharply. Farmers who once used only a few rounds of pesticide applications in a year now often resort to fifteen to eighteen rounds. High-yielding varieties with succulent tillers are particularly vulnerable to pests and diseases, pushing cultivators towards excessive chemical dependence. Long-term application of synthetic fertilisers has also altered soil chemistry, reducing soil health and increasing acidity.
Ironically, the traditional agroecology of cardamom already offered solutions that modern agriculture is struggling to rediscover.
One of the most important among them is microclimate management. Traditional growers understood that cardamom survives best under carefully maintained forest shade. Thick canopy cover keeps plantation temperatures several degrees lower than outside areas while preserving atmospheric humidity. Research has repeatedly shown that plantations with higher shade levels maintain healthier moisture conditions and lower disease incidence. In contrast, excessive exposure to sunlight weakens the crop and creates favourable conditions for pests.
Traditional practices also protected soil health through natural recycling. Leaf litter, pruned materials, weeds, and forest biomass acted as mulch that conserved moisture and gradually turned into organic matter. Farmers used cattle manure, compost, neem cake, bone meal, and green manure crops instead of depending entirely on synthetic fertilisers. Soil disturbance was minimal. In several successful organic plantations, thick mulch cover and zero tillage practices have significantly reduced clump rot and pest outbreaks while improving soil texture.
Modern organic farming methods can strengthen these older ecological principles. Beneficial fungi and biological agents are already proving effective in disease management. Trichoderma viride and Trichoderma harzianum are now widely recognised for controlling rhizome rot and capsule rot in environmentally safe ways. Entomopathogenic fungi such as Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae help manage root grub infestations without poisoning the soil. Biofertilizers like Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria improve nutrient availability naturally. Neem-based formulations and botanical extracts can further reduce chemical dependence.
Equally important is biological pest control through beekeeping. Honey bees are the principal pollinators of cardamom, and healthy bee activity directly improves capsule formation and yield. Organic plantations with diverse shade trees support bee colonies far more effectively than chemically treated plantations. Farmers have repeatedly observed that pesticide-intensive cultivation destroys bee populations through poisoning. Beekeeping therefore serves not only as a pollination strategy but also as an ecological indicator of a healthy plantation ecosystem.
The Western Ghats have also produced remarkable farmer innovators who demonstrated that productivity and ecological thinking can coexist. Sebastian Joseph of Idukki developed the famous Njallani variety through careful farmer selection and controlled pollination using beehives inside mosquito net enclosures. His plants produced dramatically larger and more numerous capsules while reducing the waiting period for yield through shoot propagation techniques. Joy Peter's Panikulangara Green Bold No. 1 (PGB 1) emerged from close observation of naturally vigorous plants and became known for retention of green colour, drought tolerance and lower susceptibility to pests and diseases. Organic farming activist Raju Joseph developed a thrips-tolerant Malabar selection by conserving and improving traditional cultivars instead of abandoning them for chemically dependent hybrids.
These innovations reveal an important lesson. Sustainable cardamom cultivation does not lie in rejecting science or romanticising the past. The future depends on intelligently combining traditional rainforest agroecology with modern organic farming knowledge.
Reforestation of evergreen tree species in cardamom landscapes is therefore no longer optional. It is essential for restoring ecosystem health, biodiversity, water conservation, soil fertility, and climatic stability in the Western Ghats. Shade regulation must shift from ruthless lopping to ecological canopy management. The reintroduction of indigenous rainforest species of the Western Ghats such as Acrocarpus Fraxinifolius, Actinodaphne Malabarica, Bischofia Javanica, Canarium Strictum, Mesopsis Eminii, Mesua Ferrea, Myristica Attenuata, Vateria Indica, Vernonia Arborea, and Zedrella Toona is essential for recreating healthier agroforestry conditions, including the ideal microclimate required for cardamom cultivation, while supporting pollinators, soil moisture, and biodiversity. Chemical-intensive farming must give way to integrated organic systems rooted in biological control, mulching, composting, pollinator protection, and microclimate conservation.
Cardamom flourished for centuries because it grew with the forest, not against it. The survival of both the spice and the Western Ghats now depends on remembering that relationship.
Views expressed are personal. The writer is a Senior Research Fellow at Bharat Ki Soch
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.