THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If global warming and climate change have been creating havoc across the world, it has made the farmers in Cardamom Hills laughing all the way to the bank.According to a scientific study report published in the Journal of Climatic Change on June 10, the increase in temperature in the area has resulted in a significant increase in cardamom yield.The study on the effects of climate change on crop yield in Cardamom Hills, was conducted by a team of scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kayamkulam, over a period of 17 years.They analysed the climate and crop yield data from the Cardamom Hills over the years to investigate whether there were any major changes in weather elements and if, such changes have significant impact on the production of cardamom, coffee, tea and black pepper.“We observed that the increase in the minimum temperature at night was more than the increase in the maximum temperature at day, keeping the hills warm throughout. This has been found to increase the crop yield in cardamom in a major way and to a slight increase in yield in coffee. For tea and black pepper we have not seen any patterns of improvement of yield but the picture is still unclear and we are still working on it,’’ said KAU Cardamom Research Station assistant professor and head Muthusamy Murugan, who along with P K Shetty, R Ravi, A Anandhi and A J Rajkumar had authored the scientific paper.The scientists said that irrespective of the varieties used, there was manifold increase in cardamom productivity from the beginning of this millennium. What was just 84 kg per hectare in 1990 jumped to 136 kg per hectare in 1994 and a whopping 300 kg per hectare in 2007. The latest variety ‘Njallani’ responded more than the previous cultivated types and PV-1.However, one factor that has played a major role in the increase of yield in cardamom is the change in seasonal flowering habit. The study says that while cardamom used to flower only during June to December up to early 1990s, now it flowers throughout the year, increasing the number of harvests from five to nine a year.Whether this is purely due to climate change or owing to the now rampant use of a cocktail of pesticides, fertilisers and flowering hormones such as nitrobenzene has also been answered in the paper -‘Application of higher levels of fertilisers and manures can increase yield of crops but not the number of harvests of crops’’.The scientists also maintained that the agricultural practises were uniform throughout the study period. Muthusamy Murugan explained: “In a crop, 50 per cent of the yield is based on the genetic factors, 25 percent on climate, 15 per cent on fertilisers and only 10 percent on pesticides, insecticides and so on.”"In order to achieve both agricultural and environmental sustainability of the hills, future studies must focus on the weather pattern changes and how these changes affect crops, insects and relationship among them,’’ said Murugan.
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