KATHMANDU : At a time when Nepal has been exporting huge quantities of its cardamom production, the post-harvest processing of the spice is likely to begin in the country.
Nepal’s cardamom would partly be processed in the country from coming November. A processing industry has been set up at Arjundhara of Jhapa at the cost of Rs 30 million.
The centre is planning to purchase four categories of cardamom – large, middle, small and general for commercial processing, shared its proprietor Nirmal Bhattarai. Until date, cardamom was being exported to international markets in a sack without packaging. This trend has created trouble from international export to price fluctuation.
Entrepreneurs involved in cardamom trade in Nepal have believed that such problems would be reduced following the setup of the processing industry within the country. “Our capacity is not enough to process all cardamom produce in Nepal at once and this is not possible through an industry,” Bhattarai said, adding that “We are planning to establish a model industry.”
Nepal’s cardamom is mainly being exported to India, Pakistan, UAE, European countries and the United States although a huge market is in Nepal itself. “Our industry has obtained a certificate, which would level up the standards of foreign countries in processing,” Bhattarai shared.
He claimed that the industry could process only 15 percent of the country’s total production of cardamom. He also expressed his belief that almost all the processed quantity of cardamom would be supplied within the country. —
