Production status, export analysis, and future prospects of ginger in Nepal

Ginger is one of the high-value spices crops of Nepal possessing the huge potential of export to the global market. Among Nepal’s natural gifts are agricultural diversity and varied topography making the land suitable for ginger production. The main aim of this study was to scrutinize the current status of ginger production, annual growth rate, its import and export as well as prospects of the Nepali ginger. Fundamentally, secondary data were collected from authentic sources, and then were assembled in Microsoft Excel, and diagrams were generated. ArcGIS software was used to create the map. Findings revealed that the production of ginger is in an increasing trend with an average annual growth rate of 6.67%. Nepal contributed about 9.2% of the global ginger production, despite its small area. Ginger is exported primarily to India because of the lack of an internationally accredited testing laboratory. From this study, it can be concluded that Nepal has comparative advantages in growing ginger, which is noticeable with the geographical features and well-adapted local varieties. The trend of enormous growth in ginger production and its export indicates that ginger production and trade could be a potential enterprise contributing to the national economy. It is recommended to focus on enhancing ginger productivity by providing training and extension services to farmers, subsidies, establishing ginger processing units, easy and reliable certification within the country, and enhancing diplomatic relations for easy market accessibility for strengthening the ginger sub-sector.