By Awyetu Asabe Hope
Nigeria’s ginger farmers have warned that production may decline this year as the price of a 100kg bag of ginger seed has risen by 22% to about N550,000 ahead of the planting season.
Ginger farmers in Kaduna State blamed the increase on the lingering effects of the ginger blight disease that devastated farms across major producing states, leaving many unable to recover from heavy losses.
Some farmers said they had drastically reduced cultivation, while others abandoned ginger farming entirely due to the soaring cost of seeds.
A farmer in Kachia, John Hatan, said many growers lost their harvests to the disease and could no longer afford seeds.
“Before the outbreak, I planted about 150 bags, but this year I planted only 10. Some farmers cannot even afford a single bag,” he said.
Another farmer, Ibrahim Shagbo, said a bag that sold for N450,000 two weeks ago now costs N550,000, forcing many farmers to switch to other crops.
The farmers called on the government to support ginger producers to prevent further decline in cultivation and output.