The Hindu Business Line : Farmers begin shelving Cochin ginger cultivation

Kochi, Aug 20 Non-remunerative price consequent to increased imports is leading to the gradual disappearance of cultivation of the well known high quality ‘Cochin ginger’ that is popular in the international spice market.

Cochin ginger is considered as one of the best in the world market because of “its characteristic lemon like flavour” and the absence of fibre content, export sources told Business Line. Hence, the demand is primarily for Kochi/Kozhikode ginger. Cochin ginger usually trades at a premium, they added.

This unique variety having low fibre content, special aroma, and pungency is mainly grown in Kerala and the bordering states. The price has now gone up almost three-fold due to short supply in the country of export quality ginger as farmers have abandoned its cultivation due to price uncertainty and increase in imports.

Ginger exports fell sharply during the first quarter of the current fiscal to 1,050 tonnes valued at Rs 7.43 crore at a unit value of Rs 70.71 a kg against 3,410 tonnes worth Rs 9.28 crore at the unit value of Rs 27.21 a kg.

According to industry sources, processing of raw ginger to convert it into dry ginger has also been taking place in Kerala for decades. Apart from this variety, a high oil content ginger is also grown in the high ranges in the State’s Idukki district, popularly known as ‘Ellakalan’, cultivated in and around Rajkumari, Kunjithanni areas. However, ever since the extraction units in the country, which were mainly consuming this high oil content variety, had switched over to import of low oil content but cheap Nigerian/Ethiopian ginger, cultivation of Ellakalan has slowly vanished, they said.

The domestic market which was also using good quantities of Cochin ginger as well as Calicut ginger had opted for importing Chinese Ginger following the halving of import duty to 35 per cent by the Union Government.

Though the Chinese ginger prices are ruling slightly at premium than Indian ginger, growers allege that the small traders are importing it with high under valuation in line with the prices of Nigerian and Ethiopian Ginger.

Given the above scenario, the farmers and the small traders have urged the State Government and the Union Commerce Ministry to intervene in the matter by introducing tariff value for imported ginger lest those unscrupulous importers will dump the Chinese ginger in the Indian domestic market by evading import duty through heavy under invoicing, harming the interest of indigenous growers and small dealers, who are likely to vanish from the scenario.