Bhutan ginger farmers in the district of Sarpang are having trouble with a disease which causes rot in the ginger plants. “The ginger rotted in the field,” a reporter from kuenselonline was told.
Moreover, prices are quite low at the moment. At the Food Corporation of Bhutan Ltd auction on December 7, one farmer’s 150 kg of ginger fetched only 3,375 Nu (44,60 euros). A kg fetched only 22.5 Nu (0,30 euros), while farmers were expecting 40 to 50 Nu a kg.
Indian vendors who bid at the auction yard buy almost all of the ginger grown by Bhutanese farmers. They confirm that the price of ginger is low because the Indian market is already flooded with ginger.
Some Bhutani farmers are considering giving up growing ginger, but it often is the main source of cash income, apart from vegetables such as beans, cabbage, radish and spinach.
