Cardamom Replanting Subsidy Scheme (KERA / Spices Board)

Why it matters

Replace your old, uneconomic cardamom plants with new ones and get up to ₹70,000 per hectare to cover the cost.

What you get

This scheme supports small cardamom growers in Kerala's Idukki district — home to the largest cardamom plantations in the country, producing around 6,000 tonnes annually — to replant ageing, disease-affected or uneconomic cardamom plants with healthier, more productive ones. Registered growers with landholdings between 0.10 and 8 hectares (owned land only) can receive replanting assistance of up to ₹70,000 per hectare, with a cap of 2 hectares per year and 8 hectares over the 2024-2029 scheme period. Only replanting after removal of uneconomic plants is covered — fresh new planting on virgin land is not eligible. A related, newer KERA project initiative (launched in coordination with the Rubber and Spices Boards) extends support of about ₹1 lakh per hectare to an estimated 15,000 cardamom growers in the district for climate-resilient cultivation practices. Separately, the Spices Board also assists growers with up to 25% of cost for pump sets/irrigation equipment, up to 50% for water storage structures, and up to 25% for soil conservation works.

Eligibility criteria

• Registered cardamom grower from Idukki district, Kerala, with own (not leased) land
• Landholding between 0.10 hectares and 8 hectares
• Only replanting of removed uneconomic/diseased cardamom plants is eligible — not fresh new planting
• Maximum assistance for 2 hectares per year and 8 hectares cumulatively over the 2024-2029 period

How to apply

1. 1

   Register as a cardamom grower with the Kerala State Cardamom Co-operative Society or Spices Board regional office in Idukki

2. 2

   Submit replanting proposal with land and old-plantation removal details for verification

3. 3

   Field inspection by Spices Board/KERA officials before and after replanting; subsidy released in instalments against verified replanting progress

Documents required

• Aadhaar card
• Land ownership documents (own land only)
• Spices Board grower registration
• Bank passbook