Effects of climatic variability and soil quality on the production of large cardamom in Dhankuta

This research was objectively carried out to assess the current status of large cardamom production, major climatic induced impact on production and challenges faced by farmers of Dhankuta district and soil fertility status. The local farmers were categorized as large, medium and small. The farmers of Majhgaun-4 of Pakhribas municipality and Namjang-6 of Chhattar Jorpati municipality growing large cardamom were selected for this study. The field work was conducted applying stratified random sampling between July to August, 2019.Total 90 questionnaire survey and 2 key informant interview were organized to collect the primary data. Total 20 soil samples were collected from 0-30 cm depth. Besides, monthly data of temperature and rainfall were collected from Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. The result showed that the average household production of large, medium and small farmers of Majhgaun-4 has been decreasing with an average rate of 0.363 ton/ha, 0.088 ton/ha 0.078 ton/ha per year respectively. Mann Kendall’s tau correlation showed that there was a significant relationship of average annual temperature and average temperature of critical season of Pakhribas and Dhankuta station having R values 0.733 and 0.643 respectively. The rainfall in both the station Pakhribas and Dhankuta , was decreasing with the rate of -2.696 and -8.618 mm/year. The relation between average household production and average temperature of critical season of Majhgaun was significant. The soil fertility of Majhgaun was the best. The principal component analysis showed that the highest challenges faced by farmers was disease and followed by drought. This research will be useful for large cardamom experts.Keywords: Climate change, large cardamom, productivity, soil fertility status