E-Paper
Himachal’s ginger to boost Delhi’s immunity
State govt draws up plan to support growers in Sirmaur district and supply spice to NCR before branching out to other metros
With the demand for ginger produced in Himachal Pradesh increasing during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to its immunity-boosting property, growers in the hill state’s Sirmaur district are hoping for global recognition for the indigenous rhizome cultivars, the main cash crop of the region.
Though the farmers grow ginger in a traditional way in Sirmaur, the district has emerged as the biggest producer of the spice in the state and will be supplying the produce to the National Capital Region (NCR), too.
State agriculture minister Virender Kanwar said the state government will soon sell ginger through Mother Dairy’s Safal outlets that offer fresh food and vegetables in NCR. “We will eventually target the market for spices in the metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru before exploring prospects in the West,” he said.
The state plans to promote Sirmaur’s ginger growers under the Centre’s One District, One Product scheme that will enable them to cultivate products on a large scale and get better prices. “We will support farm producers’ organisations, self-help groups, cottage industries and processing units through a framework for value chain development and alignment of support infrastructure,” Kanwar said.
Increase in domestic demand opens doors
At present, Sirmaur is the largest producer of ginger in the state with the highest area coverage of 1,500 hectares. Himgiri and local varieties of ginger are commercially grown in the district. While ginger is also cultivated in some parts of Solan district, growing the spice is the mainstay of 600 families in Sirmaur with most of the produce coming from Nahan, Paonta Sahib, Pachhad, Rajgarh, Sangrah and Shillai areas. In fact, 55% of the total area under ginger cultivation is in Paonta Sahib and Sangrah.
The annual production of ginger in Sirmaur is 16,650 tonnes and the total cost incurred in cultivating it is about ₹3,60,620 per hectare, while the net income is ₹7,06,880 per hectare.
This year, the pandemic led to an increase in domestic demand for ginger with prices in wholesale and retail markets increasing rapidly as it is considered an immunity booster to fight Covid-19.
Modernising cultivation, processing and marketing
Most ginger growers in Sirmaur lack the technical knowhow and resort to traditional farming. Value addition and processing facilities can boost their prospects.
The state agriculture department has drawn up a mega plan to boost ginger cultivation in the district that includes organising training camps for farmers to encourage them to adopt the latest techniques. State agriculture director Naresh Kumar Badhan says, “We are looking forward to business support for setting up processing plants.”
At present, ginger is grown on hill slopes and most growers practise terrace farming. They sell their produce in the local farm mandi (market) and sell the seed in other districts of the state besides adjoining Uttarakhand and Haryana.
