Violet cardamom grown on the jungle floor of Vinh Son (Vinh Thanh District).

After 3 experimental cultivation years, 75% of cardamom plants grown on the jungle floor of natural forest yields flowers and fruits. However, because of uneven coverage of the artificial forest, the violet cardamom plants have unequal increment while the plants on the  jungle floor of artificial forest have better growth.

According to inspective quality results of the violet cardamom grown in Binh Dinh, cardamom fruits contain 3-4% of an essential oil, higher than normal standard (1.5%). The research on the plants’ natural production, reserves of standard nurseries, propagated process by sowing seeds or seedlings in plastis pots improvement of technical procedures of planting, harvesting, processing and preserving is kept on. This experimental cultivation is a scientific basis of the transfer large-scale cultivation techniques of the violet cardamom on the jungle floor of the natural forests in provincial mountainous regions to farmers.

Vinh Son’s forest soil is mainly basalt, 700 metres above sea. According to several scientific documents, cardamom plants can grow on the jungle floor of natural forest or fruit orchards. Spring is the main crop. The plants are multiplicated from underground stems or seeds. Growing density is 300 trees/hectare. After 3 years, the cardamom plants will yield fruits. Their productivity is about 100-200 kg dry fruit/hectare/year. 10 kgs of fresh fruits often equals to 1.5-1.8 kgs of dry fruits or 0.7-0.8 kgs of seeds. At present, price of dry violet cardamom is VND70.000/kg.

• Reported by Hoang Lan
• Translated by Hong Ha