Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.); Zingiberaceae
Varieties – Rio de Janeiro, Maran, Nadan, Suruchi, Suravi, Suprabha, IISR Varada, IISR Rejatha, IISR Mahima, Athira, Karthika
Soil and Climate – A friable well drained loamy soil rich in humus with warm and humid conditions with 150cm of annual rainfall are preferable. The optimum soil pH is 5.0 to 6.5. It can be grown as an irrigated crop in humid zones under tropics. Ginger can be grown from sea level to an altitude of 1500m.
Planting Season – May – June.
Field preparation – Minimum tillage operations may be adopted. 15 cm raised bed of 1.0 m width having suitable length with provision of 40 cm channel in between two beds.
Spacing & Seed rate – A seed rate of 1500 – 2000kg of rhizome/ha. (each pieces of 15-20 g with 2-3 buds) is considered to be optimum with spacing of 30 cm between rows and 25 cm between plants
Seed treatment
50 kg of rhizome should be treated with the preparation of the slurry of 3kg cow dung. 50ml neem oil, 1kg Trichoderma viride/T. harzianum and 1kg Pseudomonas fluorescence, 500g jaggery and 250g besan (gram flour) in 10 litre of water for 30m and dry it in shade.
Manures & Bio-fertilizer
FYM @10 t/ha or vermicompost @ 2 t/ha with neem cake @ 2.5 q/ha and apply 10kg Trichoderma viride, 10kg pseudomonas fluorescence, 10kg Bio NPK, 10 kg Azotobacter, 10kg PSB, 10Kg Potash mobilizing bacteria, 10kg Bio NPK, 10kg Bio Zinc with FYM at basal, 45 and 90 DAS.
Mulching – Dry leaves or straw mulch just after planting @ 15t/ha, 2 nd mulching at 45 days after planting @ 5 t/ha and 3rd mulching at 90 days after planting @ 5 t/ha.
Intercultural Operation – Operations like light hoeing and weeding at 45 and 90 DSP.
Diseases
Soft rot
- Provide adequate drainage facilities
- Select healthy and disease – free seed rhizomes
- In the field, drench the beds with 1% Bordeaux mixture
Rhizome rot
Rhizome treatment with P. fluorescens @ 20 g/kg of rhizome
Soil application @ 2.5 kg P. fluorescens/ha at the time of planting and 45 days after planting
Leaf spot – Spray with 1 % bordeaux mixture
Pests
Shoot borer and leaf roller are the major pests. The shoots infested by the borer are cut open and the caterpillars are handpicked and destroyed. Spray neem oil (0.5%) at fortnightly intervals if found necessary. Light traps will be useful in attracting and collecting the adult moths
Harvest – The crop can be harvested after 8 – 9 months when leaves start yellowing and drying.
Drying – After harvesting, clean and wash the rhizome by dipping it in water for 6 hours. Peel the skin lightly from the rhizome by using a bamboo knife. Dry it for 8-10 days till the moisture content reduces to 11%. Polish the dry ginger by rubbing on a rough surface.
Yield – 12 – 15 t/ha.
Grade Designation
- Garbled Non-bleached Calicut Ginger
- Ungarbled Non-bleached Calicut Ginger
- Garbled Non-bleached Cochin Ginger
- Ungarbled Non-bleached Cochin Ginger
- Garbled Bleached Cochin Ginger
- Ungarbled Bleached Cochin Ginger
- Garbled Bleached Calicut Ginger and
- Ungarbled Bleached Calicut Ginger