Spice Farming - Ginger

Ginger is used in different forms such as raw ginger, dry ginger, bleached dry ginger, ginger powder, sliced ginger, ginger oil, ginger oleoresin, ginger in brine etc. It has usage in foods, beverages, preservatives, medicines and perfumery industries.

Ginger grows in warm and humid climate. It is mainly cultivated in the tropics from sea level to an altitude of above 1500 MSL. Ginger thrives best in well drained soils like sandy or clay loam, red loam or lateritic loam. Friable loamy soil rich in humus is ideal.

The best time for planting ginger is during the first fortnight of May with the receipt of pre –monsoon showers. Under irrigated conditions, it can be planted well in advance during the middle of February or early March.

The land is ploughed 4-5 times to bring the soil to fine tilth. Weeds, stubbles, roots etc. are removed. Beds of about one metre width, 15 cm height and of convenient length are prepared at a spacing of 50 cm between beds. In case of irrigated crop, the ridges are formed 40 cm apart.

Ginger is always propagated by portions of rhizomes known as seed rhizomes. Carefully preserved seed rhizomes are cut into small pieces of 2.5-5 cm length weighing 20-25 gm each having one or two good buds. The seed rate varies from 1500-1800 kg per hectare and at high altitudes the seed rate varies from 2000-2500 kg per hectare. The seed rhizome bits are put in shallow planting pits prepared with a hand hoe and covered with well rotten farm yard manure and a thin layer of soil and levelled.

At the time of planting, well decomposed and dried cattle manure or compost is applied at the rate of 25-30 tonnes per hectare. Application of neem cake @ 2 tonnes per hectare at the time of planting helps in reducing the incidence of rhizome rot of ginger and increase the yield. The recommended dosage of fertilizer to ginger is 75 kg N, 50 kg P2O5 and 50 kg K2O. P2O5 and K2O are applied as basal dose and N is applied in two split doses, first dose during 40 days after planting and second dose during 90 days after planting.

Mulching the ginger beds with green leaves is essential to enhance germination and to prevent of washing off soil due to soil conservation. The first mulching is done at the time of planting with green leaves @ 10-12 tonnes per hectare. Mulching is repeated @ 5 tonnes of green leaves per hectare at 40th day and 90th day after planting immediately.

Weeding is done just before fertilizer application and mulching. Two to three weedings are required depending upon the intensity of weed growth. Proper drainage channels are to be provided to drain off stagnant water.

Ginger is commonly rotated with other crops such as tapioca, chillies, paddy, gingelly, ragi, ground nut, maize, vegetables, red gram, castor, etc. Ginger is also grown as intercrop in coconut, arecanut, coffee and orange plantations.

Shoot borer, leaf roller and rhizome scale are major pests infesting ginger. Soft rot and bacterial wilt and leaf spot are the major diseases infecting ginger.

The crop is ready for harvest in about eight month’s time when the leaves turn yellow and start drying up gradually. The clumps are lifted carefully, with a spade or digging fork and the rhizomes are separated from the dried up leaves, roots and adhering soil. The average yield of fresh ginger varies from 15-25 tonnes per hectare depending upon the varieties.

For making vegetable ginger, harvesting is done from 6th month onwards. The rhizomes are thoroughly washed in water twice or thrice and sun dried for a day. For preparing dry ginger, the produce is kept soaked in water overnight. The rhizomes are then rubbed well to clean them. After cleaning, the rhizomes are removed from the water and the outer skin is removed with bamboo splinters having pointed ends. While scraping, care must be taken not to rupture oleoresin cells lying just below the outer skin. Iron knives should not be used for peeling as they leave black stains on the peeled surfaces affecting the appearance of rhizomes. The peeled rhizomes are washed and dried in sun uniformly for one week. Ginger should be dried on clean surfaces like clean bamboo mats, cemented / concrete drying yards to ensure that the product does not get contaminated by extraneous matter. Ginger should be dried to a safe moisture level of 8-10 %. The yield of dry ginger is 16-25 % of the fresh ginger depending upon the variety.

Only clean and new gunny bags should be used for packing dried ginger. It is preferable to use polythene laminated gunny bags for packing dried ginger. Dried ginger should be stored ensuring protecting it from dampness. Dunnage of wooden crates should be used to stack the bags to prevent moisture ingress from the floor. Care should be taken to stack the bags 50 – 60 cm away from the walls. No insecticide should be directly used on dried ginger. Insects, rodents and other animals should be effectively prevented from getting access to the premises where ginger is stored. Stored ginger should be periodically exposed to the sun. Prolonged storage of ginger for long time would result in deterioration of its aroma, flavour and pungency.