After a fortnight of agitation and boycott of electronic auctions in cardamom, introduced in India last month, traders withdrew their protests on Thursday. They were protesting against the new trading system.

The traders came back to participate in the e-auctions at 4pm at the Bodinaykanur auction centre in Tamil Nadu.

The government trade promotion body, Spices Board of India, which introduced e-auction in August at the Bodinaykanur centre, refused to budge an inch from its tough stance. At a meeting of auctioneers, traders and growers on Wednesday, the board issued an ultimatum saying that if the boycott continued, traditional manual auction at the other auction centres in Kerala would be barred.
Cardamom traders said their two-week long boycott has ended, following discussions with Spices Board officials.
V.J. Kurian, chairman of the Spices Board of India, said the Bodinaykanur centre of the Cardamom Planters Association, where e-auction is held, has computers and servers, which were provided for free.
The centre has received a positive response from cardamom growers, he added.

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Posted: 09|20|07 at 10:12 pm. Filed under: Auction News.