Assessing multi-decadal climatic variability and its impact on cardamom cultivation in the Indian Cardamom Hills.

This study examines the multi-decadal variability and trends of surface air temperature and precipitation in the Indian Cardamom Hills (ICH), a degraded tropical rainforest area unique for cardamom cultivation. Utilizing observed long-term climatic data (1958-2017), statistical methods such as the Mann-Kendall test (MKT), Sen's Slope Estimator (SSE), and Incremental Trend Analysis (ITA) were applied to assess the impact of surface air temperature, rainfall, and the number of rainy days on cardamom yield. The analysis revealed a significant decline in annual rainfall by approximately 13.