Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Small Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum M.) in India

As part of AICRP on Spices, a total of 200 germplasm accessions of small cardamom are being maintained at Cardamom Research Station Pampadumpara as field gene bank repository. Sixty seven cardamom accessions were studied for genetic diversity by evaluating fourteen characters for three years (2006-2009) continuously. Almost all accessions showed significant variability for the biometric and biotic stress characters. The results indicated a great amount of genetic diversity in small cardamom in the evergreen tropical forest of the Western Ghats.