Cauvery Sene successfully gets a GI ( Geographical Indication) certification for Coorg  Green Cardamon.

The Cauvery Sene has done what the Spices Board should have done long ago, The cauvery sene filed an application before the Asst. Director (dev) of the Spices Board Madikeri regarding  the propagation and preservation

The NGO Cauvery Sene & its convenor Ravi Chengappa have been instrumental in protecting Coorg Cardamom by getting GI certification for the same.

of a cardamom variety with coorg origin called the Manjarabad variety and locally known as the “MALAY YALAKKI”., this was in the year 2006, with the Spices Board obsessed with promoting alien strains of cardamom over the indigenous strain,this was easier said than done. The Spices Board  has over the past couple of decades preferred to propagate alien strains like Nalyani gold ,clone # 36 etc. at the cost of the Malay Yalakki. The import of the bold varieties of cardamom like the Guatemalan variety also spelt the doom of the Malay strain which was all but abandoned by the growers in favour of the quick growing and high yielding alien strains.

The Cauvery Sene spearheaded by its convenor, Ravi Chengappa, did not lose heart, instead he took the fight to the Spices Board, and a meeting was convened in Chennai to make the top brass of the Spices Board see sense , which they did  after a lot of acrimony resulting in the Controller General of Designs and Trade Marks New Delhi, issuing the all important Geographical Indicator (some thing like a patent) to the Manjarabad variety of Cardamom henceforth registered as “Coorg Green Cardamom” on 11/11/2009.

The Cauvery Sene hopes that with the patent awarded to the Cardamom of Coorg origin the Spices Board would  propagate this particular variety over the alien species, and as a beginning make available the saplings of this variety in all their nurseries in coorg .The Malay variety of cardamom is still grown in certain areas of coorg like Kaloor, Betahoor, Madenad, Monnangeri, and Bhagamandala, the Cauvery Sene convenor, Ravi Chengappa has warned that if in spite of all these efforts the Spices Board continues to ignore the indigenous species in order to propagate the alien species his organization would not hesitate to seek judicial intervention to protect the local species.

What is GI ?

A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g. a town, region, or country). The use of a GI may act as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its geographical origin.

For more on GI visit:

1. http://www.wipo.int/geo_indications/en/about.html
2. http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/gi_e.htm