Incidence of hailstorms damage and strategies to minimize its effects on large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxburgh) plantations in Sikkim, North East India

Among the extreme weather events, hailstorms in the recent past caused significant damage to large cardamom crops in Sikkim. In the high-altitude area of Sikkim, hailstorms generally occur in March and April and caused severe damage to large cardamom plantations. In this paper, a detailed account of the incidence of hailstorm damage and strategies to minimize its effects on large cardamom plantations are discussed. The frequency distribution of hailstorms showed that during the last eight years' hailstorms in the Pangthang area of Sikkim occurred between 1427 to 1532 hrs and continued for around 37 minutes on average. However, in the Kabi area of North Sikkim, hailstorm generally occurs from 1621 to 1628 hrs and continues for around 21.25 minutes. Hailstorms varied in size from 0.5 to 1.0 cm in diameter. Damage caused by hailstorms on plant tissue depends mainly on its size, the duration of the storm event, and the condition of the plant tissue when the injury occurs. Hail storms ruptured the lamina of leaves parallel to veins in large cardamom. Physical damage to floral parts of large cardamom plants due to hailstorms occurred at the flowering stage and depending on the extent of damage the yield of the plant was also affected in the subsequent crop season. Frequent hail episodes are identified and measures to minimize the damage to large cardamom plantations are discussed. The information generated in this study was found to be very useful in minimizing large cardamom crop loss through operational Agromet services launched by the India Meteorological Department/Ministry of Earth Sciences in collaboration with the Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at Gangtok and ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Sikkim Centre, Tadong through Krishi Vigyan Kendra-East Sikkim, Rani pool.