Due to a shortage of seedlings and other influencing variables, some ginger growers in the Federal Capital Territory’s (FCT) Bwari Area Council have voiced uncertainty about the 2025 ginger growing season.
On Tuesday, 22nd April in Abuja, the farmers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the government and pertinent parties needed to act quickly to remedy the situation.
According to the NAN report, a “fungal disease” caused ginger producers to lose production in 2023, sharply declining the crop’s availability and output.
In 2024, the Federal Government projected that the loss would exceed N12 billion.
Mr Philip Akuso, a ginger farmer in Bwari, said that the uncertainty in the crop, if planted, would yield a good harvest, but it was a 50-50 chance.
Akuso said that many farmers lacked access to quality seedlings to plant due to the devastating disease from the previous farming season.
He said that the inability to get healthy seedlings had affected getting a good harvest, which had significantly increased the price of ginger in the market, due to low supply.
According to him, ginger has been scarce in the market since the 2023 incident, and the price has continued to skyrocket.
“As of December 2024, a bag of ginger was sold for N350,000, but earlier this year, its price ranged between N650,000 and N800,000 at some point, but it has come down to about N700,000 now,” he said.
Akuso also said that the situation had become worrisome to farmers in Bwari, who were not only faced with a lack of good seedlings but also with challenges related to funds and insecurity.
He said that while some farmers could get supplies from the neighbouring producing areas like Kachia and Jaba areas of Southern Kaduna, others could not afford to and were yet to recover from the previous losses.
“If you ask me, I will say only the rich can venture into ginger production presently, because it involves a huge capital, especially having to purchase good seedlings.
“Farmers in neighbouring Kaduna State were successful with the production last year, so they have stored some bags for sale and good seedlings for the next farming season.
“Very few of us in Bwari were successful with our production last year and are willing to try again, but others are afraid to try because they lost so much and have not recovered from the effects of the fungal attacks on the crop.
“However, we are hopeful that we will have a good yield at the end of the year,” the farmer said.
Akuso urged the government to be hasty in their research and find a lasting solution to salvage the situation.
Similarly, Mr Somo Yakubu, another farmer in Bwari, said he was lucky to save at least two bags from the previous year’s harvest, which he hopes to use for the upcoming planting season.
Yakubu said that most farmers in Kawu-Bwari, where he resided, were also lucky with their 2024 harvest, because the disease did not attack the crops early, until they were almost ready for harvesting.
“There was no remedy of any sort; it was just the grace of God, it is a necessary risk to take, who knows, we might get lucky again this year,” he said.
However, Yakubu claimed that the lack of security was another reason why most farmers might not be able to return to their farms for fear of being abducted.
He urged that the pertinent parties address the situation.
Mrs. Phoebe Albert, a customer who also makes and markets “zobo,” a hibiscus flower drink, complained about the exorbitant price of ginger at the marketplace.
According to Albert, she recently paid N1,000 for ginger, but only received four tiny pieces.
“It is not enough for us local consumers yet, and we are still selling across borders and exporting to other countries.
“If it has that much economic value, then it should be the government’s priority to tackle the situation through urgent action,” she said.
Source: NAN
Image Credit: FreePik
