New Season, Squatters Harvest & Ginger Discoveries

Following the recent initiative by the Jamaican government to give a boost to the agriculture sector in general and the ginger sector in particular, the Jamaica Information Service has reported that an integral part of the initiative will be for farmers to register for a praedial larceny programme. My first question after reading the report was 'what is praedial larceny?'. Praedial larceny is the theft of agricultural produce or livestock from a farm. To combat this type of crime the police will join forces with the ministry, judiciary and farmers.

Bangladeshi farmers are only a week away from planting a newish variety of ginger. BARI Ada-1 (developed by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute) is due to be planted from the last week of March to the last week of April. This variety is said to be suitable for cultivation anywhere within the country which must be a big selling point. When I read through the specification sheet for this particular variety, I was surprised to see that one of the recommended sources of fertiliser is cow dung. It's nice to see that something natural is being used.

The Gympie Times in Australia carried a story about a topic which we've heard before and I'm sure we will hear again. A dairy farmer from Kia Ora (a small town near Gympie) has decided to sell his cattle because he cannot command a satisfactory price from the supermarkets. He said that he is being paid less from the supermarkets than the cost of production. This is becoming a regular occurrence here in the UK as well. But whereas some farmers in this situation sell up and seek alternative employment, this particular farmer is switching to ginger cultivation. He is in an ideal location in the ginger-growing heartland of South East Queensland and is only 41 miles from Buderim, Australia's largest ginger processing company. I wish him well.

Last November I wrote about a Fijian government scheme to give squatters the opportunity to become ginger farmers. Well, The Jet has reported that a community of 25 ex-squatters in Lomaivuna has started harvesting its first ginger crop with an estimated value of over $30,000. One acre of the harvest will be used for next season's 'seed' stock. The Fijian Local Government minister is now calling for more squatters to join the scheme.

VietnamNet Bridge reported that a team of Vietnamese and international scientists have discovered two new ginger genera in central Vietnam. The plants have been named Newmania serpens N. S. Lý & Skornick and Newmania orthostachys N. S. Lý & Skornick. My feeling is that they are ornamental rather than edible. According to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) the discovery of a new plant genus is unusual whereas the discovery of a new plant species is far more common. The NMNH reported ten years ago about the discovery of a new ginger genus, Smithatris supraneeana, in Thailand.

Back to Jamaica again and a speech given by Roger Clark, the agriculture minister. The government is putting a lot of effort into restoring the Jamaican ginger industry to its former glory and with ginger among the fastest growing spices in international trade, now is the time to do it. Clark said that over the last ten years global ginger imports have increased from 276,000 tonnes to 423,000 tonnes with Jamaica's contribution estimated to be less than four percent. Although domestic production is now increasing, the country is only able to supply 10% of its direct international orders. Jamaican ginger is being grown specifically for niche markets where its high quality can command a premium. The national short-term production target of 21,000 tonnes will require 3,000 acres at an improved target yield of 7 tonnes per acre. One target set for this year is the production of 589 tonnes of disease-free 'seed' stock for open-field cultivation next year. Another target is to allocate 10 acres of covered cultivation which, I imagine, is to protect against the vagaries of the weather.

The Deccan Herald had an interesting feature on how ginger cultivation has changed land-use patterns in the Indian state of Karnataka. Local farmers in the Banavasi region, known in the past for its deep-water paddy fields, switched to ginger after discovering the vast profits to be made when ginger farmers from the neighbouring state of Kerala started renting farmland. Ginger cultivation is very capital intensive as it requires considerable quantities of fertilisers and pesticides to achieve high yields. In this region land had to be drained which must have been expensive.

A Healthy Return, Ginger In Winter & The Rise Of Alcoholic Ginger Beer

Last Monday the Sri Lankan president made another call for the country to become self-sufficient in ginger whilst delivering his 2012 budget to parliament. His vision of "food security" follows an earlier government initiative which offered fertiliser subsidies to ginger farmers.

Back in June I wrote about the Fijian government's plan to offer squatters the opportunity to become ginger farmers. For one community of 25 ex-squatter families, they have just learned of the projected return from next March's harvest - $40,000. The families were previously squatting on the Jittu Estate, a district of the capital Suva known for its links to crime and unemployment. They relocated to Lomaivuna, an area known for its ginger farming, in July last year as the first beneficiaries of the Lomaivuna Integrated Agriculture Rehabilitation programme. Here they planted five acres each of ginger, cassava and dalo. It is hoped that soon the families will move to another 90 acres of farmland in nearby Vanuakula. You can read more about this story in the following two Fiji Times articles "40K from ginger sales" and "Squatters progress under farming scheme".

It's been a quiet week on the Crabbie's front. The only thing I found was a press release stating that the drink was being exported to Australia but I had already mentioned that three weeks ago. I expect another company announcement this coming week. Why? Because we didn't have one last week!

I found an interesting statistic the other day on the Waitrose Media Centre site. Waitrose, for those of you who don't know, is an upmarket supermarket chain and the sixth largest grocery retailer in the UK. We've known for a while about the rapid rise in alcoholic ginger beer sales in the UK but I was astounded to read that sales of this type of drink increased by 380pc during 2010 in Waitrose stores. I wouldn't be surprised if the Crabbie's launch the previous year had a lot to do with it.

Unfortunately there have been more suicides amongst ginger farmers in the Indian state of Kerala. A common feature of this crisis seems to be a demand for the farmers to make a loan repayment at the same time as the market price for ginger has plummeted. The fact that rubber farmers further south are still receiving a good price for their product and are exhibiting a lower suicide rate might lend credence, in some people's eyes, to the loan argument. This crisis has now developed enough for a difference of opinion to emerge between the state government and the main opposition party. I'm not going to get involved in that. But I will ask that help, whether from the state, charities or farming organisations, be given to the poor widows who must now contend with managing the business as well running the family home and, of course, grieving.

The Times Of India had a short article extolling the virtues of consuming ginger in winter. I cannot confirm the efficacy of ginger on health but there must be something in it if it has been used for centuries.

Here is a Christmas gift suggestion (and I'm not hinting for me unless you really want to) - The King's Ginger Truffles from Charbonnel et Walker. I will say that I don't earn any commission from this suggestion. In fact, I've never even tried the truffles. But, as I've mentioned before, I do like the drink.

And to finish I think that I may well start a regular section containing the latest ginger products to appear on the market. Last week saw the arrival of a ginger- flavoured Cactus Jack's Schnapps and a white stilton with chocolate and ginger from Long Clawson.

Australian Ginger Future, Squatters, Increasing Production and Antimicrobial Properties

The Fijian government is taking a novel approach to the problem of squatters. The Jet community newspaper has reported that twenty one families with farming backgrounds have been selected to take part in a pilot programme. The government has set aside 30 acres between the families and will provide each with a home. The families will also be provided with seeds for crops such as ginger, given the appropriate training and encouraged to sell the resulting harvest at local markets. I wish the scheme well.

Last week I read how two neighbouring regions are experiencing diametrically opposite views about the ginger industry. First, the Sunshine Coast Daily reported that farmers in the coastal region are seriously considering giving up growing ginger following the second successive poor harvest caused by the dreaded pythium rot disease. And then, on the same day, The Gympie Times reported that the Gympie region, an area immediately to the north of the Sunshine Coast, is the ideal location for growing ginger. To emphasise the point, Gympie was chosen to host last week's inaugural conference of the Australian Ginger Industry Association.

Participants met at last week's Australian Ginger Industry Association conference to discuss a proposed five-year strategic plan to develop the industry. At the moment I don't have any more information about the conference but when I do I will let you know.

The Sri Lankan government is offering ginger farmers subsidised fertiliser in an effort to become self-sufficient in the crop. The country is in a similar situation to India in that it has a thriving export market coupled with increasing demand from the home market. This increase in domestic demand seems to be driven by the popularity of ayurvedic medicine which has forced the Department of Ayurveda to import ginger. This has a consequent effect on the country's balance of payments so it makes sense to increase production.

Browsing through the Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases the other day (I do like to vary my reading material occasionally) I found the results of a Brazilian study into the antimicrobial activities of certain essential oils and propolis. To be honest, I did rather regret varying my reading material so much that day. It was one of those documents that had me posing questions such as what does this mean, what does that mean, and have I already looked up the meaning of this word. Anyway, the conclusion of the report, I think, was that ginger essential oil with propolis (a resinous substance that honey bees collect from some plants) does have an observable effect on microorganisms such Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. If you would like to read the report of the study and let me know what it means, here is the link.