dang farmers do not harvest ginger as prices drop

By Gokarna Paudel.Tulsipur, Oct. 14: Farmers in Chhillikot, Tulsipur Sub-Metropolitan City-19, have left their ginger crops unharvested due to poor market prices. Around 65 households in the area have been cultivating ginger commercially for years, but this season they say the effort no longer pays off.

According to farmer Parbir Pun of Khani village, Chhillikot, the area produces around 350 to 400 quintals of ginger annually. “Last year, we sold ginger directly from the field at Rs. 12,000 per quintal,” Pun said. “This year, the price has dropped to only Rs. 5,000 per quintal.”

Madhav Ghimire, chairperson of the Tulsipur vegetable and fruit market management ommittee, confirmed the sharp decline, noting that traders had purchased ginger at Rs. 23,000 per quintal from farmers last year.

Bhojraj Pun, another major ginger grower from Khani village, said he has not harvested his crop because of the low market rate. “There’s no market at all. What’s the point of digging it up?” he said. Pun, who has been farming ginger commercially since 1995, estimated this year’s production at around 25 quintals.

To prevent losses, he said farmers often dry and process the ginger into sutho (dried ginger), which fetches a better price, between Rs. 35,000 and Rs. 40,000 per quintal.

Farmer Bikash Khadka, who cultivates ginger on about 12 katthas of land, said the crop thrives particularly well in the sloped terrain of Chhillikot. 

“After Malagiri, this area has become one of the major hubs for commercial ginger farming,” he added.