‘Inji gramam’, a new scheme to cultivate ginger in Kulathoor grama panchayat, yields a bumper harvest 

Kulathoor grama panchayat and Kulathoor Krishi Bhavan introduced a scheme to grow ginger in the panchayat for the first time

An agrarian village well known for its paddy and banana, 35 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram, is rooting for ginger. For the first time, VK Girijanadhan Nair had to dig up his fields to harvest the fruits of his labour. After growing plantain, coconut and varieties of vegetables on his two-and-a-half acre plot, this year he added a new crop — ginger.

Although the fire and punch of ginger is widely used in the cuisine of Kerala, it is not a widely cultivated crop in Thiruvananthapuram district. It is mostly grown in Idukki and there are hundreds of farmers in Wayanad, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur who are growing cultivate it on leased lands in Karnataka.

This year, as a pilot project, 250 farmers of Kulathoor grama panchayat, were selected to cultivate ginger. The scheme, ‘Inji gramam’ (Ginger village), was an initiative of the panchayat and Kulathoor Krishi Bhavan. Nearly 10 tonnes (10,000 kilograms) have been harvested from the first crop.

With its long leaves and thin stalks, ginger fields look picturesque. But once the ginger is dug up, the plants die and the cultivation has to begin anew.

At Arivalloor in the panchayat, Girijanadhan’s employee, Thankaraj has piled up the freshly-harvested pungent ginger. “I have been working here for over 20 years now but have never cultivated ginger. Such a good harvest came as a surprise,” says the sexagenarian as he fills baskets with the produce.

Girijanadhan adds: “It didn’t incur any additional cost and has been a hassle-free experience. I planted five kilograms of the seed [rhizomes] in between plantain and coconut trees and harvested over 100 kilograms. I plan to grow it again on a small scale.”

S George, another farmer from the panchayat, is pleased having harvested over 300 kilograms of ginger. “I have grown only kappa pazham (red banana), paddy and vegetables on my two-acre plot. Growing ginger was never in my scheme of things. It fetched me a good price in the market, ₹80 per kilogram. I will be planting the next batch in March-April,” says 65-year-old George.