fter tomato, ginger prices have also skyrocketed in the State capital with the produce sold at Rs 300 per kg in markets.
The unavailability of ginger in godowns is said to be the reason behind its soaring price.
The consumers are also facing a tough situation as prices of almost all vegetables have shot up in a past few days.
According to reports, farmers in Koraput district sell ginger to traders at between Rs 8 and Rs 10 a kg throughout the year. However, the traders sold the produce to Uttar Pradesh for use as seeds.
As per Aiginia Wholesale Traders’ Association president Shakti Mishra, Odisha needs 1 lakh MT ginger per year. The ginger produced in Koraput district has demand among consumers in terms of quality. However, the produce from the district is not available in market now. Instead, the ginger is being imported from Siliguri. The demand is greater than the supply.
According to a report from the State’s Agriculture Department, total 39,000 MT ginger is produced in 11,000-hectare area across Odisha.
Farmers said the government claims giving an incentive amount of Rs 2.50 lakh per hectare to increase ginger production. This policy is on records only. In reality, of Rs 2.50 lakh, about Rs 2.15 lakh is spent on only seeds that the government provides to farmers. Though Koraput and Rayagada districts have the infrastructure for production of ginger seeds, it is not produced there. The seeds come from Uttar Pradesh.
This year again, the ginger cultivation was hampered as the government could not supply seeds to the farmers as required. Secondly, ginger is a seasonal crop. Even though it is produced in winter, farmers can store it in the soil until summer days. Farmers depend on the government for its storage and marketing during monsoon. The demand for ginger from Odisha is increasing across the country. Instead of taking advantage of it and adopting a concrete policy for more production in Odisha, the government is creating a situation where both farmers and consumers are affected, farmers said.