The price of ginger rhizomes has reached an all-time high, giving fresh hopes to farmers in South India.
The farm gate price of the old ginger in Wayanad on Tuesday was ₹10,500 a bag (60 kg) as against ₹2,200 a bag during the corresponding period last year. The price of new ginger rhizomes on the day was ₹5,000 a bag as against ₹600 a bag last year.
Low arrival of ginger rhizomes to the market and high demand for the produce in the internal market as well as GCC countries and Bangladesh are the major reasons behind the increase in the price of the commodity, Arun Anto, Brothers ginger traders, a ginger dealer in Chennai, said.
Despite the rise in demand, the availability is restricted to some regions of Karnataka and a few pockets of Wayanad owing to the massive destruction of rhizomes in heavy rain in June and July last year, Mr. Arun said.
The situation in ginger producing States in the north-east is no different, he said.
Moreover, farmers from Karnataka and Kerala are holding the remaining stocks anticipating further increase in prices in the coming months, Mr. Anto added.
More than 50% of ginger rhizomes had been damaged in Karnataka and Kerala owing to rotten diseases affecting rhizomes during monsoon last year.
Nearly 60% of ginger rhizomes produced in the country is in Karnataka and nearly 90% of the rhizomes are being produced by farmers from Kerala on rented land, Navrang Mohanan, general secretary, Kerala Ginger Growers’ Association, said.
The cultivable area shrunk to 50,000 hectares this year as against 1,50,000 hectares two years ago, Mr. Mohanan said.
Most farmers brought down the area of cultivation last year owing to the massive loss in the past two years, he added.
