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Varieties

Varieties : 

There are mainly six popular cultivars of large cardamom viz., Ramsey, Ramla, Sawney, Varlangey, Seremna and Golsey. 

Ramsey : It is well suited to high altitudes above 1500 meters above mean sea level and can be cultivated even in steep slopes. The cultivator is identified by the maroonish color of the tiller and narrow leaves. Plants are 1.5 to 2.0 meters tall, robust with large number of tillers. Flowering starts in May and crop is ready for harvest by October-November. Capsules are smaller in size with 25-40 seeds. 

Ramla : Plants are 1.5 to 2 meters tall and vigorous like Ramsey. Color of tillers resembles that of Ramsey and the leaves are broad and long, capsules are dark pinkish in color with 30 - 40 seeds. Cultivation is restricted to few high altitude areas in North Sikkim. Flowering commences in May and the crop is generally ready for harvest in October. 

Sawney : It is a widely adapted cultivar, which is most suited to medium (975 - 1500m amsl) and high ( > 1500 m amsl) altitude areas. Plants are 1.5 to 2.0 meters tall, robust in nature, leaves are ovate and broad and the color of tiller is similar to Ramsey. Capsules are bigger and bold with 35 - 50 seeds. Flowering starts from March to May and harvest begins in September - October, sometimes extends up to November in high altitude areas. 

Varlangey : found to grow in mid and high altitude (> 1500 m amsl) areas. Its yield performance is exceptionally high at high altitudes. Plant height is 1.5 - 2.5 meters, robust type and resembles Ramsey with narrow leaves.having wavy margins. The productive tiller and spike ratio is relatively high in this cultivar. Capsules are bold with 50 - 70 seeds. Flowering starts in May at medium altitudes and during June -July at high altitudes. Consequently, harvesting is delayed up to the end of November in high altitudes. 

Seremna : The cultivator is grown in a small pocket of the Hee-Goan, West Sikkim at low altitude and is known for its high yield potential. Plants are 1.5 to 2.0 meters tall, tillers are green and leaves are mostly drooping type, hence named as "Seremna" On an average 2-3 spike in each productive tiller with average 10 capsules in each spike and 65-70 seeds per capsules are recorded. 

Golsey : It is suitable to areas below 975 m amsl and is very specific in Dongu area of North Sikkim. The plant height is 1.0 to 1.5 meters and not as robust like other cultivars. Unlike Ramsey and Sawney,the tillers are green in color and the leaves are narrow and erect. Capsules are big and bold and contain 50-70 seeds. Flowering starts in March and harvesting is done in September-October. 

High Yielding released varieties: There are two high yielding varieties released by Indian Cardamom Research Institute in the year 2004 for cultivation in Sikkim and Darjeeling. The following are the varieties. 

ICRI Sikkim 1 
ICRI SIKKIM 2 

These varieties are selected from Sawney and now are mostly used in Tissue culture for planting material production.