Rains may wash off 40% ginger output

The Indian Spice and Foodstuff Exporters Association has predicted a 40 per cent fall in production of ginger due to this year's heavy rains and water logging in ginger growing fields.

In most of the ginger producing states, the harvest begins in December-January. India - one of the major exporters of ginger - produces around 3 lakh tonne every year under favourable weather condition.

Output was expected to be high this year till monsoon, but heavy rains washed away farmers' hopes, said K Sidraju, deputy director, Spices Board. Price of Cochin ginger (dry) rules between Rs 120 and Rs 140 per kg. Almost five kg of fresh ginger makes just one kg of dry ginger. The retail price of fresh ginger is around Rs 30 per kg.

In the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) at Vashi, Mumbai, the wholesale price of Sathara ginger is Rs 200-220 per 10 kg and the Bangalore ginger is quoted at Rs 100-110 per 10 kg. However the retail price of the spice is expected to go up because of the supply-demand disparity.

The crop loss is likely to affect the ginger exports. On an average, about eight per cent of the ginger produced domestically is exported. In 2004-05, the exports were at 13,000 tonne. A short supply in the international market had also pushed up the prices last year to Rs 42.13 a kg.

India registered the highest ginger exports in 1996-97 - 29,737 tonne valued at Rs 59.24 crore. The price then ruled at Rs 19.92 a kg. However, in 2003-04 the unit value had soared to Rs 46.81 a kg.

Ginger is cultivated in almost all Indian states with major producers being Meghalaya, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal. The main overseas markets for ginger are Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the UAE, Morocco, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, the UK and the US.