Spices Board Reverts to Old System of One Auction a Day of Cardamom at e-auction Centres

IDUKKI:
Spices Board has decided to revert to the old system of one auction per day of cardamom by the licensed auctioneers at the e-auction centres at Puttady in Kerala’s Idukki district and Bodinayakanur in Theni district of Tamil Nadu. The decision to revert to the old system of e-auction was necessitated in the wake of complaints from the cardamom growers’ organizations that the lots of small growers were pushed back and half-day auctions were getting extended up to late evening and low price due to the present system of half day auction.
Another grouse of the traders was that they were not getting sufficient time to get their cardamom samples evaluated to fix the quality, which resulted in low prices for their produce.
“We have taken note of the issues raised by the growers organizations at the e-auction centres which were adversely impacting the incomes of small cardamom growers. Hence, it has been decided to revert to the old system of one auction per day for better price realization to the growers,” Spices Board Chairman Dr. A. Jayathilak said today.
As per the revised schedule, cardamom auctions by licensed auctioneers would be held at Puttady and Bodinayakanur e-auction centres on specified dates during May 21- June 30, 2018. The auctions would begin at 10 AM and would continue till the completion of the lots. The auction would be held alternately at the two places ie Puttady and Bodinayakanur, except on Sundays. The first auction will take place at Bodinayakanur on May 21 while the second auction will be conducted at Puttady on May 22. The detailed schedule is available in the Board’s website www.indianspices.com.