Technology in Society 63 (2020) 101384 Available online 16 September 2020 0160-791X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Factors affecting adoption of improved method in large cardamom curing and drying and its impact on household income in the Eastern Himalayan road-corridor of Nepal R.R. Kattel * , P.P. Regmi, M.D. Sharma, Y.B. Thapa Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal A R T I C L E INFO JEL Classifcation: Q1 P28 P32 Q130 C4 C5 Keywords: Large cardamom Technology adoption Instrumental variable model Nepal ABSTRACT This paper examines the adoption of an improved method of curing and drying of large cardamom, a technology that has recently been introduced at the farm level in the Eastern Himalayan road corridor of Nepal. A probit model was applied to assess factors infuencing the adoption of an improved method of curing and drying by using household data of 300 farmers in Taplejung district obtained in 2019. Further, the income regression model was used to investigate factors infuencing annual household income from large cardamom. Findings revealed that the adoption of an improved method of large cardamom drying was mostly determined by access to credit from the fnancial institutions while controlling other explanatory variables. Such adoption of an improved method of large cardamom curing and drying resulted in more than twofold increase in household income from large cardamom. An instrumental variable approach was applied to check the robustness of the fndings. The fndings revealed that household income from large cardamom, risk aversion of farmers, age, access to credit, access to technical services, experience of farmers on large cardamom farming signifcantly contributed in the adoption of improved methods in curing and drying; and improved methods of drying and concrete type of houses structure contributed to household income from large cardamom. The impact of the adoption of improved methods of curing and drying boosted the household income by 432% from the large cardamom as compared to traditional methods using instrumental variable model whose contribution was only 34.3% in OLS regression. These fndings suggested that the promotion of an improved method of curing and drying is needed at the farm level for the increment of farmers’ income and development of competitiveness of large cardamom in the global markets. 1. Introduction Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) is the world’s one of the most ancient spices, popularly known as Alainchi in Nepali and renounced as Black Gold, Queen of Spices. It belongs to Zingiberaceae family and is a perennial soft-stemmed low-volume, high-value crop [1]. Originating in the Eastern Himalayan region of Nepal and Sikkim (India), the crop is grown only in eastern Himalayan countries like Nepal, northeast India, and Bhutan (Sharma, Sharma, & Sharma, 2009) at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 2000 m above sea level. According to Timsina, Shrestha, Pandey, and Paudel (2012), the history of large cardamom dates back to 1865 AD in Ilam of Nepal, nearly 143 years ago by Nepalese laborers. However, commercial cultivation started in Ilam much later around 1953 AD. The Government established the Cardamom Development Centre at Ilam district in 1915, which paved ways to develop this crop and its products. Agronomically, large cardamom is cultivated in the marginal, sloppy, and degraded land under the shade of trees, and is considered as an agroforestry practice [2]. According to Indian Spices Exporters from New Delhi [3]; the large cardamom is used as a favoring in dishes such as Pulav, Biriyani, and meat preparations, and as an ingredient in curry powder and spices masala mixtures. It is widely used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. It has applications in favoring cola, biscuits, and beverages. Large cardamom is a high-value cash crop making the main source of cash income for farmers in Eastern Himalaya region. It is one of the highest export-revenue earning products of Nepal. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development [4] reported that over 21960 households are engaged in large cardamom farming in Nepal, * Corresponding author. Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. E-mail address: rrkattel@afu.edu.np (R.R. Kattel). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Technology in Society journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/techsoc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101384 Received 28 October 2019; Received in revised form 27 August 2020; Accepted 4 September 2020