Farmers in Samdrup Jongkhar which is the largest ginger-growing district in the country are not able to take advantage of the recent surge in ginger prices. The decline in ginger production over the years has left many farmers unable to capitalise on this lucrative opportunity. The continuous decline in prices over the past few years has discouraged farmers from investing in ginger cultivation.
As ginger prices soar in the market, farmers in Samdrup Jongkhar find themselves in a precarious position. The district, once renowned for its thriving ginger production, is now grappling with a decline in crop yield.
Farmers say they lost interest in growing ginger since they hardly fetched Nu 20 for a kilogram of the spice during the pandemic. The rotting of the rhizome was also one of the reasons.
As of yesterday, villagers fetched Nu 70 or a kilogram of ginger when sold to Indian buyers. And it is one of the highest in recent years.
“I have cultivated less ginger since the price of ginger went down during the pandemic, so villagers out here lost interest in cultivating it. Before the pandemic, I used to produce a Bolero truck full of ginger but now I only cultivate a few sacks of it,“ said Karma Tenzin, a farmer.
“In recent years, gingers started decaying and even then we continued cultivation in the hope of better yield. However, they keep on decaying, so people lose interest in cultivating them,” said Sonam, another farmer.
“I don’t have a lot of helping hands to do ginger cultivation. My children are not here, and it is difficult for me to work, so I cultivated less ginger. This year also I cultivated only 240 kilograms of ginger,” said Pelzom, a farmer.
“Villagers do not cultivate ginger when they fetch less price, and even when we cultivate more, there are risks of decaying,” said Rinchen Wangdi, a farmer.
According to the Integrated Agriculture and Livestock Census of Bhutan, 2022, Samdrup Jongkhar produced over 950 metric tons of ginger in 2022. This is a decrease of more than 1,200 metric tons compared to 2021.
Ginger production data for this year is currently unavailable, however, according to Samdrup Jongkhar’s agriculture office, more than 500 acres of land are cultivated with ginger this year. This is expected to produce more than 1,000 tones of ginger.
Agriculture officials advise farmers to cultivate gingers on land where gingers were not affected by diseases in the past. People are also advised to use clean seeds that are free of diseases.
Kinley Wangchuk, Samdrup Jongkhar
Edited by Kipchu
