Ginger is the hot and happening commodity now. In fact, the National Multi-Commodity Exchange is mulling expansion of its futures basket and launch of trade in dried ginger and cashew.
The 'live healthy' trend catching up with the world has added to the demand for ginger. Moreover, the medicinal qualities of ginger have attracted many people to this hot commodity.
During the last decade, ginger's popularity has grown manifold with millions of people across the globe opting for alternative medicines, in which ginger plays a major role. According to ayurveda sources, there is hardly any ayurvedic potion which does not have dried ginger as an ingredient.India should take full advantage of this situation and dominate the world market if Indian farmers want to cash in on the big boom waiting to happen.
While Indian farmers go all out to make the most of global ginger demand, it will serve them good if they try to learn a few lessons from Jaimaica's sad story of ginger trade.
Till recently, in quality and quantity, Jamaican ginger was ruling the roost. However, Jamaican ginger industry is in a very sorry state now. Pests, high labour cost at least in relation to dried peeled ginger and foreign competition have already done in the ginger business in Jamaica.
Again, much to Jamaica's chagrin, recently shipments of dried ginger were rejected by several importing nations due to fungal contamination.
In fact, the sorry story of Jamaica's ginger trade began much earlier and the situation now is something which was waiting to happen.
The fame of Jamaican ginger notwithstanding, it was not an indigenous crop for the country. Ginger is one of a botanical family originating in the Indo-Malaysian region. The plant was given the scientific name Zingiber officinale in 1807.
The plant is a perennial, growing to about one metre. What is used commercially are rhizomes, or underground stems, which are reaped after about 10 months of growth, or when the foliage starts to fade off. Traditional propagation is by cutting short pieces of the rhizomes and replanting at a time when the season ensures adequate soil moisture.
It was greatly prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans, who obtained supplies from Arab traders. It was introduced to England before the Norman Conquest in 1066, and became the second most popular spice after black pepper.
At present, cultivation is done in most tropical countries, with the Indo-China region, Japan, other East Asian countries, Australia, some African and Latin American countries, and Hawaii as major producers.
In 1970s there was a resurgence of interest in the use of fresh ginger, mainly caused by the aftermath of the Vietnam War when a wave of immigrants from southeast Asia to the USA and from India, Pakistan and other countries of the region migrated to Europe and the UK, bringing with them the taste of fresh ginger. This trend was further increased by the interest of food and travel writers in international cuisine.
By 1996, America consumed 38 million pounds of ginger per annum, mostly grown in Hawaii, Indonesia, Fiji, Thailand, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and China.
The Spanish were said to have introduced ginger to Jamaica around 1525. In 20 or so years, export was reported to be some 1.2 million kg cumulatively. Following its introduction to St Ann, the Christiana area was found to be ideal for ginger-growing and has remained the area associated with the crop.
So successful was the cultivation, and with the reputation gained for superior culinary attributes that Jamaica was listed as one of the major ginger producers in the world in early and mid 19th