The north Bengal zonal council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has taken up the task to help cardamom cultivators across the hills properly merchandise their produce in the regional market.

On Saturday, a buyer-seller meet was hosted by the trade body at a community hall here where prominent cardamom buyers of north Bengal interacted with growers who came from the hills.

“We have been consistently putting in efforts to help hill residents who are into various types of cultivation or produce ranging from handicraft to honey to brooms. The idea is to evolve a mechanism that can facilitate proper merchandising of their produce. Large cardamom is a unique product that has steady demand across the region. That is why the meet was held,” said Sanjay Tibrewal, the chairman of the NB zonal council of the CII.

In the hills, cardamom is cultivated in Bijanbari, Sukhiapokhri, Mirik, Sitong and also in parts of Kalimpong district. It is a cash crop that fetches around Rs 1,000 per kilo. In all, the crop is cultivated over an area of around 3,500 hectares with an annual production of over 1,000 metric tonnes. Almost 10,000 families are engaged in this cultivation.

In the course of the meet, sellers spoke of the need to upgrade the technique of cultivation and harvest.

“Also, there was a proposal to form co-operative societies of (cardamom) cultivators and to open the main wholesale market of Khalpara in Siliguri for the crop. The buyers have also said they want the traditional format of smoky cardamom since its demand is high in the country and across the world. The drying process needs to be systematic for which farmers need training. We are looking into it,” added Tibrewal.