Ginger (Zingiher officinale Rose.) is an important commercial crop grown for its aromatic rhizomes, which are used both as a spice and a medicine. At present, India is the largest producer of ginger in the world accounting for about one-third of the total world output followed by Thailand and Japan. In India a large portion of the ginger produced is consumed domestically as green ginger or dried ginger in a number of culinary preparations like curried and mixed vegetables, certain curried meats, table sauces, pickles, curry powders, etc. Globally ginger is widely used in the manufacture of ginger oil, ginger essence and gingerin and some alcoholic drink like ginger brandy, ginger wine, ginger beer and ginger ales. In India its use in these products is very limited. In processed ginger, very recently the manufacture of ginger paste has just began on a commercial scale. In the ayurvedic medical system, ginger is used as a carminative and stimulant. It is recommended in dyspepsia and flatulent colic. Ginger oil is used in medicated ointments.

Ginger is cultivated in almost all the tropical and subtropical parts of India, especially in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Ginger is grown in areas where warm and humid climatic conditions with heavy and well-distributed rains are available during the sowing period. The crop is grown from almost the sea-level up to an altitude of 1,500 metres. It thrives well under partial shade, Though it is also grown on a large scale in open areas.

Ginger grows well on a variety of soils, provided sufficiently well-distributed rainfall or irrigation and adequate drainage facilities are available. It thrives best in well drained solid like sandy or clay loam, red loam or laterite loam.

In irrigated lands, ginger is rotated with betel-vine, plantain, turmeric, onion, garlic, chillies, other vegetables, sugarcane, maize, ragi and groundnut. Under rain-fed conditions, it may be grown once in 3 or 4years in rotation with tapioca, sweet-potato, yam, chilli and dry paddy. It may be grown alone or mixed with shade-giving plants, e.g. banana, pigeon-pea, tree castor and cluster been (guar). In coconut, young coffee and orange plantations on the west coast, ginger is grown as an intercrop. At higher altitudes in Himachal Pradesh, tomato and chilli are grown as intercrop with ginger. Latest news reports indicate that many farmers in Karnataka have planted ginger as an inter-crop in their coffee fields and are finding its cultivation more lucrative than coffee.

The land is ploughed 5 of 6 times with the first showers in March-April to obtain a deep fine tilth. For raising a rain fed crop, the land is divided into raised beds 1 metre wide and of convenient length varying from 3 to 6 metres and 15 cm high, with a spacing of 30 cm between the beds for drainage channels. On the hill slopes the beds are to be formed along the contours. Ginger is planted in shallow pits in rows, 25 cm apart, at distances of 15-20 cm within the row. In the case of the irrigated crop ridges are 40-45 cm apart and the planting is done in shallow pits on top of the ridges at distances of 22-30 cm. Bits of seed-rhizomes weighing 20-30 g each and having at least one bud are planted 5 cm deep at the given spacing and covered with soil and smoothed over by hand. About 1,800 kg of seed-rhizomes 2,160-2,640 kg per ha are used for planting at higher altitudes. Sowing is done in April-May in southern and a little later in northern India. Sowing by the middle and April in the south and by the first week of May in the north gives higher yields. The irrigated crop is watered immediately after sowing. The beds of the rain-fed crop are covered with leaf mulch as protection against sun and heavy rains and for the consequent enhancement of organic matter in the soil. In Himachal Pradesh farmyard manure is used as mulch. Seeds of cluster-bean, pigeon-pea or castor are sown on irrigation channels on the corners of the raised beds for shade. The shoots emerge in 10-20 days. Weeding is done 3 of 4 times and plants are earthed cup once or twice. Irrigation is given at varying intervals of 4-10 days, as and when required. The mulching of the beds with green leaves is an important operation for the crop. Two of three mulchings are given first immediately after planting and the second and the third at intervals of about 40-80 days at the time of weeding, hoeing and earthing up.

Ginger requires heavy manuring. In addition to the basal dressing organic manure or farmyard manure 75 kg of N, 50 kg of P₂O₅ 50 kg K₂O/ha is applied. The whole of P₂O₅ and the half of K₂O are applied at the time of planting itself. But the nitrogenous fertilizers are applied as a top-dressing in two equal split doses, the first dose two months after planting in combination with the remaining quantity of K₂O and the second dose a month later. The irrigated crop is given a top-dressing with farmyard manure or oil-cake particularly in northern India. In Maharashtra castor-cake at 3,000-4,000 kg per ha is used in 2-3 top-dressings.

The crop is ready for harvesting in about 8 months. The leaves at this time turn yellow and the pseudo stems begin to dry. Rhizomes are lifted either with a digging-fork or with mammullies. They are cleaned of roots and adhering soil particles. The green ginger is soaked in water to facilitate the removal of the skin. The skin is scraped off with pieces of sharpened bamboo or bits of sea-shells. The scraped produce is washed and dried in the sun for 3 or 4 days and hand-rubbed. It is again steeped in water for two hours, dried and then rubbed to remove all the remaining bits of the skin. Sun-drying also bleaches the produce. Peeling should be done with great care and skill. The essential oil, which gives ginger the aromatic character, is present in the epidermal cells and excessive or careless scraping will result in damaging these cells leading to the loss of essential oils. Steel knives are not used as they are found to stain the produce. In Kerala there is also a practice of soaking the peeled rhizomes in a 2% clear lime water for 6 hours before drying to give the dry ginger a good appearance. The dry ginger prepared in this way is not liked in foreign markets especially in the Middle East.

Seed-ginger has to be stored for about 4 or 5 months from the time of harvesting to planting. Rhizome-rot, dry-rot, sprouting and shrivelling are commonly noticed in storage. Keeping the seed-rhizomes in pits is found to be the best method of storage. Healthy rhizomes are selected at the time of harvesting and are treated with 0.025% solution of Ceresan. Wet for 30 minutes as a prophylactic measure against soft-rot. The treated rhizomes are then dried in shade and stored in pits dug in a cool place and protected from sun and rain. The pits should not be more than 1 metre deep. A layer of sand or sawdust is put at the bottom of the pit before storage. Either the pit is left as such or is covered with a wooden plank leaving some space between the seeds and the plank and plastered with mud. In the latter case a small hole is made in the plank through which a hollow bamboo is inserted to provide aeration for the rhizomes. At higher altitudes – seed-ginger can be stored safely up to the end of May in an underground store. The trials conducted at the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, have shown that a combination-treatment such as a protective skin-coating containing a fungicide and plant-growth inhibitor coupled with packing in polythene bags would be useful in the storage and transport of ginger rhizomes without deterioration.

India is the global leader in value-added product development and exports. Germplasm accessions of ginger were categorized based on levels of essential oil, oleoresins and pungent principles. Major products that have been developed from ginger include ginger oil, oleoresin, candy, preserves, vitaminized effervescent ginger, plain effervescent powder, starch from spent ginger, ginger brandy, wine, beer, medicinal beverages, encapsulated ginger oil, dehydrated ginger