Cardamom auctions, suspended over the Mullaperiyar dam row, will resume from December 26. A meeting of traders, auctioneers and growers will be held on Friday at the Spices Park in Puttady, Idukki district, to take a final decision on resuming auctions both in Bodinayakkanur in Tamil Nadu and in Puttady, the Spices Board informed.
The last auctions were on December 5 and trading has since come to a standstill. Due to tensions at the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, cargo movement was affected.
Lots purchased in auctions in Kerala could not be transported to Tamil Nadu and no trader came from Tamil Nadu in the auctions.
The price of cardamom has dropped due to large stocks piled with growers and traders. It is reported this is worth Rs 100 crore. In a couple of weeks, the price fell to Rs 300-350a kg from Rs 450.
Plucking of cardamom has also been affected for want of labour, which normally comes to Kerala from across the border. Roughly 20,000 Tamil workers are engaged in cardamom plantations of Idukki district. Roy K Poulose, vice Chairman of the Board requested all sections of the cardamom fraternity to join hands to resume trading of the spice.
Road traffic between the two states was stalled completely on Wednesday by protesters over the dam row.