Mero Alaichi, Mero Dhan: Pioneering Large Cardamom Revival in Sikkim

GANGTOK: Large cardamom is more than just a crop for Sikkim—it is a lifeline for farming households, a cultural emblem, and a key contributor to the state’s agricultural economy. Over the past few decades, the large cardamom crop, a vital source of livelihood for thousands of farmers in Sikkim, has been ravaged by climate-change-induced diseases that have taken the form of an epidemic. This crisis has reduced the productive lifespan of the crop from 30 years to a mere 5-6 years, severely impacting both farmers and the agricultural economy of the region.
In a groundbreaking step to safeguard one of its most iconic crops, the Government of Sikkim has conceived the “Mero Alaichi, Mero Dhan” initiative to revive large cardamom cultivation in the state through cutting-edge scientific and technological interventions.
This initiative proposes innovative biocontrol, biotechnological, and plant breeding approaches to tackle the disease, informs a press release from Science & Technology department.
Moving forward, the Government of Sikkim approached the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.
The DBT responded enthusiastically by convening an expert group of the nation’s leading experts to develop a comprehensive “strategy and action plan” to revive large cardamom in Sikkim.
This group includes premier biotechnology institutes such as the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), and the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) and others.
Eminent plant pathologists, plant geneticists, biotechnology experts, and private firms have also been roped in to share their expertise and insights.
“The Department of Science and Technology, Government of Sikkim, jointly with the Department of Horticulture, is coordinating this collaborative effort. It aims to address the root causes of the large cardamom epidemic, devise innovative solutions, and test them in farmers’ fields,” the release mentions.
Three meetings have been held over the last few months to take this initiative forward in mission mode. The “strategy and action plan” for the crop’s revival is expected to be developed in a month. Following this, field experiments will be initiated to tackle the disease by leveraging cutting-edge biotechnology, genetic diversity, and eco-friendly biocontrol methods.
“The “Mero Alaichi, Mero Dhan” initiative is a testament to the Government of Sikkim’s commitment to preserving the state’s agricultural heritage. This initiative has the potential to help the state’s large cardamom sector reclaim its role as a source of wealth, identity, and resilience for rural communities. It can also significantly contribute to the overall vision of the state government of a Sunaulo, Samriddh, and Samarth Sikkim,” the release informs.