Cardamom - World Production

World Production

Guatemala is the largest producer of cardamom in the world, with an average annual yield of between 25,000 to 29,000 metric tons. India is the second producer worldwide (formerly the largest), generating approximately 15,000 metric tons annually. Cardamom was first introduced to Guatemala in 1914.

Increased demand since the 1980s, principally from China, for both Amomum villosum and Amomum tsao-ko has provided a key source of income for poor farmers living at higher altitudes in localized areas of China, Laos and Vietnam, people typically isolated from many other markets. Nepal was previously the world's largest producer of large cardamom.

According to estimates of the Asociación de Cardamomeros de Guatemala (Cardegua) the harvest of 2012 will reach to about 29,000 metric tons, 12 percent more than in 2011 when they were 26,000 metric tons.