Poor returns from paddy and maize cultivation seem to be pushing farmers to grow ginger in the Malnad region.
While the total area under ginger cultivation was 2,000 acres in 2008, it has now spread to 16,000 acres.
Narendrappa, a farmer from Choradi village, has been cultivating ginger in his three-acre land for the last two years. He said the profit from paddy and maize was less than Rs. 25,000 an acre. With ginger, it was around Rs. 1 lakh with an average yield of 100 quintals and at a modest Rs. 2,000 per quintal, he said.
Earlier, farmers at Ripponpet, Choradi, Esur, and surrounding villages used to rent their land to farmers from Kerala for ginger cultivation. On realising that it was lucrative, they have started cultivating the crop on their own from the past three years.
But not all farmers have profited. Suresh, a marginal farmer from Kalukoppa village, incurred loss as the ginger crop in his two-acre land got infected by fungal wilt last year.
There are also serious environmental concerns about such large-scale ginger cultivation. The soil drenching method is used to control bacterial and fungal wilt and farmers use heavy dose of pesticide in some parts of Malnad region to control the disease.
Owing to excessive use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides for ginger cultivation, the soil turns barren, as shown by scientific studies.
Nagarajappa Adivappar, scientist with Krishi Vignana Kendra of the University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga, told The Hindu that soil fertility gets affected with sequential cultivation of ginger for more than two years. A few farmers indiscriminately use chemical inputs to enhance yield.
They have to use chemical inputs judiciously and go for crop rotation, he said.
Experts express serious environmental concerns over large-scale ginger cultivation
