Nepal is No. 4 in ginger production

POST REPORT
KATHMANDU, OCT 21 -

Nepal has become the world’s fourth largest producer of ginger after India, China and Indonesia.

In fiscal 2007-08, Nepali farmers produced 158,905 tons of ginger worth Rs. 9.2 billion compared to the global output of 1.3 million tons. Exports amounted to Rs. 1.3 billion out of which 99 percent went to India, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.

Ginger is one of the agriculture products identified by Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) 2010 having export potentials. Ginger export from Nepal has been increasing in the past six years. From 2004 to 2008, the export of ginger has increased by 34 percent, according to NTIS.

The NTIS says increased use of ginger by Ayurveda pharmaceutical industries in India and Nepal and high potential for product diversification -jam, jelly, candy, sauces- makes ginger one of the export potential products

The fact that more farmers are in to commercial ginger farming can be gauged by the fact that its farming has spread in to 16,788 hectors of land in 2009-10 from 11,830 hectors of 2003-04. However, its productivity has not increased significantly.

Ginger production has increased to 190,544 tons in 2009-10 from 150,593 tons in 2003-04. Productivity per hectare is 11 tons in comparison to 18 tons in India and 51 tons in the US. "Productivity in our country

is very low due to lack of hybridized seeds, technology and manure," said Dahal.

Although the government has not taken any initiative for commercial farming, farmers have been producing ginger at the local level. Ilam is at the top position in ginger production among two dozen ginger producing districts including Palpa, Salyan, Doti, Morang, Kailali and Syangja.

In fiscal 2007-08, ginger output amounted to 27,675 tons in Ilam, 12,688 tons in Palpa, 12,300 tons in Salyan, 9,300 tons in Doti, 8,400 tons in Morang, 7,500 tons in Kailali and 5,000 tons in Syangja. Dhading, Tanahu and

Bhojpur are also large producers of ginger. Some of the farmers from Palpa have even begun ginger export to Japan.

Though ginger export from Nepal is gradually increasing, Nepal imported ginger worth Rs. 550 million due to lack of access to markets and transportation. About 96 percent of the imports came from China with the rest coming from Hong Kong, Ethiopia, India and Canada. Hari Dahal, spokesperson of the Agriculture Ministry, said that traders were forced to import ginger despite adequate domestic production because of lack of access to markets.

Apart from the use of ginger as a spice, it is also used in medicine and oil processing. Dahal said that export prospects could be expanded by building processing plants and cold stores. The US, Saudi Arabia, England, Japan and Spain are among the largest consumers of ginger.