Agro-Invest Corporation (AIC) — the facilities management and investment promotion arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries — has plans to boost ginger production after years of subdued yield in the subsector due to the spread of the rhizome rot disease.

To achieve this, AIC said it will, under the Ginger Seedling Greenhouse Project, institute “greenhouses across the island to produce planting material which will be marketed to farmers planting in the open field using single bud technology”.

So far, AIC has initiated the project with a 1,500-square-foot greenhouse at the Ebony Agro Park in Clarendon, which it refurbished in May this year in preparation for the launch. Currently, the facility houses 2,000 ginger plants which will in eight months produce planting material to be marketed to farmers who express an interest in planting ginger.

“To ensure success of the greenhouse project, the over 50 participants involved have been trained in several areas such as single bud technology, tissue culture and greenhouse production. In January 2022, all participants will be provided with additional training in field production”, the agricultural agency outlined.

As part of plans to expand the project, AIC will refurbish another two greenhouses at Ebony Agro Park before instituting greenhouses at Plantain Garden River Agro-Park in St Thomas, Amity Hall in St Catherine, New Forrest/Duff House in Manchester, Holland Agro Park in St Elizabeth, Lennox in Portland, and New Pen in St Mary.

“We cannot give a timeline for all the projects but two additional greenhouses should be operational in fiscal year 2022–2023,” AIC said in response to a Jamaica Observer query.

The Ginger Seedling Greenhouse Project is an extension of the Ginger Value Chain Pilot programme that commenced in 2017.

Ginger production began to decline in the late 1990’s due to rhizome rot, which affects the productivity of the plant and resulting in significantly lower yields. Once rhizome rot infects, the ginger contamination occurs, and almost immediately, the disease spreads throughout both soil and water droplets.

As the disease devastated production across Jamaica, many farmers halted planting ginger altogether. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between 2015 and 2018 the island’s ginger production dropped by almost half.

To alleviate the issue of rhizome rot, ginger samples were sent to European labs to be cleaned under the Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Enterprises and Linkages (PROPEL) project with funding from the Government of Canada to the tune of CAD$20 million.

However, when the PROPEL project came to an end last year, AIC saw the need to consolidate all stakeholders under the Ginger Value Chain Pilot Programme. In partnership with Rural Agricultural Development Authority, Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulation Authority, Bodles Research & Development Station, FAO, among others, AIC established the National Tissue Culture Working Committee (NTCWC) to facilitate the continuation of the programme.

Since the set-up of the committee, the Ginger Value Chain Pilot Programme has gone through three stages: cleaning of samples, replication of samples in tissue culture labs, and production of seedlings for multiplication.

With the commissioning of the greenhouse at the Ebony Agro Park in Clarendon, the programme has entered the rapid multiplication phase.

“The greenhouse will be able to produce certified clean-seed ginger for planting. The project is aimed at supporting Jamaica’s economic growth strategy, which highlighted ginger as one of several crops considered to have high potential for contributing to commercial development,” AIC outlined.

The corporation also told the Business Observer that it expects a yield of 8,000 pounds from the ginger plants. At the same, it is in the process of identifying additional farmers, who are interested in planting ginger, to conduct training. In addition, it said it has invested over $2 million into the project, aside from the spend of other agencies.

According to AIC, “Boosting the production of ginger in Jamaica has been identified by the Government as an important means of increasing diversity and creating opportunities for improved livelihoods in rural areas, especially among smallholder farmers. This can contribute to enhancing rural employment, reducing poverty, and increasing food security among a vulnerable segment of the rural population.”

“The potential also exists for expansion to meet new markets, such as export,” it continued.

Previously, AIC had identified the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany as markets with the greatest potential for export of Jamaican ginger. Moreover, the corporation estimated the untapped export potential of ginger stands at US$665.8 million.