A STEADY rise in the price of cardamom in India has prompted some farmers to apply steroids and allopathic medicines to the plants to increase production, a report in The Hindu newspaper has observed. The report noted that Indian cardamom has been free from pricing fluctuations at the auction centres for the past two years. The Hindu said that a team of scientists from the Spices Board of India found a few such instances in a field study in some areas of Vandanmedu and Kumily after collecting evidence of the use of harmful substances