How To Maximise The Goldmine In Ginger Farming

The Nigerian Export Promotion Commission in its Zero Oil Plan had identified ginger as one of the 12 strategic products with high financial value which it is targeting to replace oil.

Other products with high financial value also identified by the NEPC are palm oil, cashew, cocoa, soya beans, rubber, rice, petrochemical, leather, cotton, and Shea butter.

By all standards, ginger is one of the popular agricultural commodities around the world.

The commodity is so popular owing to its numerous uses. Some of them are herbal medicines and to provide spices for bread in bakeries. It is also used in breweries to produce drinks among others.

Going by official statistics, Nigeria is currently the third largest exporter of ginger in the world after China and India.

Experts say that ginger produced in Nigeria is highly regarded in the international market for its quality and highly medicinal value.

Specifically, the aroma, purgency and high oil and aleoresin content is another distinct feature of ginger products from Nigeria.

In the Nigerian market, ginger is not only popular,it is in high demand. At a time when the government is implementing various measures to boost the agricultural sector, experts say this has provided entrepreneurs with a platform to key into the economic diversification policy of government.

For instance, a ginger farmer who have his name as Musa Nurudeen says he left a paid employment to go into the farming of ginger owing to its huge rate of return in investment.

He says for ginger business to thrive, timing is of importance. According to him, planting of ginger starts from March and harvest is ready in November.

Inuwa says that ginger could either be sold in the local and international market as wet ginger and dry split ginger, adding that dry split ginger is of high demand in export trade.

He says in the last five years, ginger has grown to be one of the most important agro commodity after cocoa.

For instance, he said in the international market ginger went from $1,500 per ton in 2011 to about $5,000 per ton.

He explains further, “There are a lot of opportunities in the ginger value chain. From planting to processing, exporting, logistics, extracting and a whole lot of activities.

“Ginger is a hidden goldmine that most people haven’t consider except people that are from ginger producing areas.

“Planting ginger is a serious work as ginger takes between eight to nine months to be ready for harvest, some people even leave the plant for 16 months. But you can outsource the planting by paying the people to plant for you.”

He says if the best agricultural practices are followed, the yields from ginger farm could be between 16 tons to 20 tons per hectare.

“If the best agronomy practice is followed ginger yields 16 ton to 20 tons per hectare. Locally, a ton of dried split ginger is as high as N1.2m” he adds.

Giving a cost estimate of how much would be required to cultivate a hectare of ginger farm, he said that this would require about N1.5m.

Giving a breakdown of this cost, he explains that depending on the location, leasing of land may cost N300,000, while rhizomes and land preparation is expected to cost N420,000, and N180,000, respectively.

In terms of labour for planting, he estimates that this might go for N250,000,while fertilizer/manure/chemical is estimated to cost N170,000. During the period of harvest, he says one may require labourers at the farm which may cost about N160,000.

He says going by the assumption that if a ginger farmer loses 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the tons he harvested as a result of lack of processing and storage facilities, he will still have on the average eight tons to ten tons to sell.

He adds that when this is sold at an average of N800,000 per ton, such farmer would have made profit of between N3.2m to N4.2m which is over 300 per cent returns on investment.

To invest in ginger business, experts say it is important to have a business plan. The plan must cover issues such as soil analysis, price of the commodity and its potential market.

The Executive Director, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Mr Segun Awolowo had said the government is targeting to grow the country’s non-oil export revenue through ginger and other products from $1.2bn in 2016 to $8bn.

This, he stated, would be achieved through the zero to export initiative which is one of the program of the NEPC that focuses on creating a new generation of Nigerian exporters through practical and theoretical training in export business.

He said, “The zero to export program is aimed at achieving specific objectives which include development of new exporters from zero knowledge to a point of export readiness, equipping exporters using practical hand holding approach, field training and mentorship to build a new crop of indigenous exporters.

“The council’s zero oil plan is the flagship program aimed at mobilising public and private resources towards replacing oil as the number one source of foreign exchange

“The program equally has a vision of growing non-oil exports from $1.2bn in 2016 to $8bn in 2019 and eventually $25bn by 2025.”