5 new ginger varieties underway – Research institute

Dr. Eddy Nwaogu is the Head of Nyanya outstation of the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike. In this interview with Daily Trust, he explains the advances made in ginger researches in the institute. Excerpt: Currently, do you have new varieties of ginger that your institute has developed? Ginger has narrow genetic base in Nigeria. […]

Dr. Eddy Nwaogu is the Head of Nyanya outstation of the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike. In this interview with Daily Trust, he explains the advances made in ginger researches in the institute. Excerpt:

Currently, do you have new varieties of ginger that your institute has developed?
Ginger has narrow genetic base in Nigeria. As far as Nigeria is concerned, we have two major varieties – the yellow ginger (also called UG 1) and the black ginger (also called UG 11). The yellow ginger is the one that has yellow coloration when you open it; it is bigger in terms of the rhizome finger sizes while the black ginger is hotter and with smaller rhizome finger sizes. These two ginger varieties are the only ones available to farmers in Nigeria. In fact, in the international market, Nigerian ginger is rated as the best because of its pungency and high level of oleoresin oil, which is the active ingredient most people look for in the ginger industry.
In our institute, these two ginger varieties mentioned earlier are available and have been co-named as Umudike ginger I (yellow ginger) and Umudike ginger II (black ginger). The constraint in breeding of improved varieties of the crop is that ginger does not produce viable seeds that can form the template on which further breeding research activities are built.
Recently, in order to increase the genetic base of ginger in Nigeria, my institute was able to import, using approved government institutions and agencies, five additional ginger varieties from Brazil, India and West Indies. These varieties are Himachel Pradesh, Rio de Janeiro, Wynad Local, Maran and St Vincent.  As I talk with you now, research activities are ongoing to characterise these varieties to evaluate their ecological adaptation, yield potentials and chemical compositions and to determine their ability to adapt to our soils and environments in Nigeria.
Apart from the ginger varieties mentioned earlier, which one is available to farmers from your institute at the moment?
The yellow and black gingers are basically the varieties presently available to farmers in Nigeria. We cannot release the other five varieties imported recently until field calibration and characterisation work on them is completed.
What is the yield per hectare in terms of both the black and the yellow ginger?
 The yellow ginger yields 15 tons per hectare while the black ginger yields about 11-12 tons per hectare on farmer’s field. But on the researcher-managed fields, the yields are 35 and 25 t/ha for the yellow and black ginger respectively.  It is obvious that the yellow ginger is relatively higher yielding than the black ginger.
If farmers want to get these ginger varieties, do you, as an institute, give it directly to them or do you have off-takers who multiply this technology and give it to the farmers?
Oftentimes, we arrange training for farmer groups, agencies and ADP staff on improved and better ways of doing farming activities for sustainable yields of root and tuber crops generally. At the end of such training, we normally empower the trained farmer groups and ADP staff with some rhizome seedlings to take home. This has been the tradition for over 12 years now.  But most times, demands are so much and we do not have enough funds to extend this form of training to all deserving farmer groups in the country.
Can farmers grow ginger everywhere in Nigeria?
Ginger is a tropical tuber crop. Most people have always thought that ginger can only be cultivated in Kaduna State. They tend to hold this erroneous view because a great number of farmers that are involved in ginger production come from the state. But contrary to this belief, in 1987, research work started at the National Root Crop Research Institute on ginger. The aim of the research then was to develop its genetic potential capacity and extend its production coverage to other areas within Nigeria.
The reality on ground is that today studies have shown that ginger can grow not only in Kaduna State but also in other parts of Nigeria such Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra, Cross River, Benue, Nasarawa and Abuja.