Cheaper Indian ginger surpasses export target

Shipments of Indian ginger have surpassed the Union Commerce Ministry's and the Spices Board's nine-month target for the current fiscal. Demand for the Indian produce has gone up as it is ruling $500 a tonne below the international price, trade sources said.

Matching demand and supply in the local market is likely to keep prices steady to firm for some time now, they said. The crop during the current season is not double the output of last year as was projected earlier but marginally above it, they added.

During April-December last year, the country shipped out 12,150 tonnes of ginger worth Rs 141.08 crore at a unit value of Rs 116.12 a kg, as against the target of 10,000 tonnes valued at Rs 90 crore, according to the Spices Board. Exports during the same period last fiscal were 10,100 tonnes valued at Rs 54.68 crore at a unit value of Rs 54.4 a kg.

Disappearing varieties

Cultivation of the good variety ginger used for making dry ginger has come down in recent years in the absence of remunerative prices, Mr P.V. Eliyas, a vegetable ginger grower in Karnataka, told Business Line . Hardly 10 per cent of the area under ginger is used for cultivating the dry ginger variety, he said.

Vegetable ginger prices fell sharply this year to Rs 400-500 for a 60-kg bag (Rs 1,200), he said. On the other hand, production cost comes to Rs 900-1,000 for 60 kg, he said.

Many farmers had grown this variety this year encouraged by the higher prices last year, leading to a huge output, Mr Eliyas said.

High-quality fibreless Cochin and Himachal raw ginger, used for drying, have come down to Rs 1,500-1,800 for a 60-kg bag against Rs 2,300-2,500 last year, he said.

“When one tonne of this variety is dried we will get around 300-350 kg of dried ginger.” It is mainly grown in Kerala's Palakkad district and in parts of Ernakulam and Idukki districts and Shimoga and Chickmagalur areas in Karnataka.

Kochi-based ginger traders said non-remunerative prices consequent to increased imports had led to gradual disappearance of cultivation of the well-known Cochin Ginger, popular in the international spices industry.

Cochin ginger is considered one of the best in the world because of “its characteristic lemon-like flavour” and the absence of fibre content, export sources said. It is usually traded at a premium.

Apart from this variety, a high oil content ginger was also grown in the high ranges of Idukki in and around Rajkumari and Kunjithanni areas, popularly known as Ellakalan .

However, ever since extraction units in the country, which were mainly consuming this variety, switched over to imported low-oil content but cheaper Nigerian or Ethiopian ginger, this variety has slowly vanished.

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