Ecological farming practices of Ginger in my Edible Food Forests

                                                                                                                        

Ginger is a herbaceous plant belonging to the family Zingiberaceae and the rhizomes of the plant is used as spice. Ginger originated in the tropical rain forest from Indian sub-continent to Southern Asia. Numerous wild relatives of this crop are found in this region. The growing period of the crop is 8 to 9 months. It grows well under the shade of the trees and is suited to grow wild in the forest.  It’s an integral part of my way of farming inside the forest which I term as an Edible Food Forest. In the present era we have to go back to the roots and must think about joint management of the Forest with the food crops. We cannot take the risk of clearing jungles to grow food crops and also cannot burn forest every year to grow them. We have to pay back more in terms of shortage of water, oxygen, climate change and many more in lieu of our food. 

My experience of growing food crops inside the food forest that we have created in Sonapur at SPREAD NE Farm learning Centre is beautiful where we get tasty food with least management of insects and diseases. I can notice a beautiful synergy between the plants in the forest. Some providing the required shade, bananas storing the water in no water zones, bamboos shredding leaves and mulching the area with dry leaves to suppress growth of other plants near the food crop and also harvesting the dew drops and keeping the soil moist. Few practices that I follow growing ginger in the forest through my ecological farming practices are as follows: 

When to sow: 

For the plants to grow well in the initial stage and establish itself as a forest crop, a moderate rainfall at sowing time till the rhizome sprout is good. During the growing period we should have a well distributed showers and weather should be dry one month before harvesting. Thus it should be planted in the beginning of the rainy season. 

Varieties: 

For growing them in Edible Food Forest, we should grow the local varieties. Maran, Bhola , Nadia are good varieties to grow along with the forest. 

Land Preparation: 

Ginger grows in well-drained soil. Water stagnation should not be there. It should be grown in the highlands and slopes of the forest. In pit method, we make pits of size 1 feet x 1 feet x 1 feet. Take out the soil from the pit and loosen the bottom of the soil. Fill up 5 cm layer of the pit with dry leaves and then fill up the soil of the pit. Apply 50 grams wood ash and 30 grams of bamboo bio char per pit. In furrow method, make raised beds which are about 6 inches high. Trench Composting in between the furrows is important in this method. 

Trench Composting: 

Make trenches 30 cm wide and 30 cm deep in between the rows of the crop. Place the dry leaves as bottom layer of the trench. Above that put a layer of green grasses removed during making the furrows. Sprinkle a slurry made of 3 kgs cow dung, 3 litres cow urine and 1 litre rice gruel in 50 litres of water. Cow dung can be replaced by top soil found under trees in the jungle. In place of the green grasses, fresh kitchen wastes can also be used. Cover up the trench with the top soil. 

Seed Rhizome treatment: 

Mix 250 grams of raw turmeric paste and 100 grams of bamboo bio char and 100 grams of wood ash in 10 litres of water. Tie up the rhizomes in a soft cotton cloth and dip in the extract for 20 minutes. Shade dry and plant. 

Planting: 

In pits, place the small treated 2 to 5 cm long rhizomes weighing about 20-25 grams having one or two good buds should be placed on the centre of the pit. After planting do not press the soil and just keep it loose to facilitate aeration.  In furrows, Place the rhizomes in rows planted 20-25 cm apart from each other. Application of compost and dry leaves as mulch is an important step in planting. Seed Balls with Arahar or Pea or Beans seed inside can be placed on the compost trenches after one month of planting Ginger. Seed Balls with Pumpkin seeds should be thrown all over the area in the ginger area of the forest. 

SEED BALLS: 

Mix same amount of compost and top soil and make them into balls of a cricket ball size and insert a seed 1 cm deep in the ball. Shade dry and throw in the forest (Seed Bombing).

  After Care: 

For Growth and Development: 

•  Release long and big size earthworms in the whole area.  
• Mix 2 Kgs termite hill soil (ensure removal of termites. There are lots of hills in the forest which the termites leave after a certain period) in 50 litres water and sprinkle all over the land.  
• Make Bamboo bio char and mix 1 kg in 50 litres water and sprinkle time to time.  

For soft rot and rhizome rot: 

It is the most destructive disease of Ginger caused by fungi Pythium aphanidarmatum, P. vexans and P. myriotylum. The infection starts at the collar region of the pseudostem and progresses upward and downward. The collar region becomes water soaked and later the rhizome rots. Roots are also infected later on. On the leaf you can see symptoms like light yellowing of the tips of the lower leaves and the leaf blades. Seed Treatment as mentioned above is very important to control this disease. Applying vermicompost mixed with mustard oil cake helps to control this disease. 

Bacterial Wilt: 

Water soaked spots appear at the collar of the pseudostem and mild drooping and curling of leaf margins of the lower leaves which later spreads upward. Yellowing starts from the lower most leaves. Severe wilting and yellowing at the later stage. Bacterial ooze comes out of the pseudostem if you cut it and notice under a plain glass of water. Seed treatment and removing water stagnation at the base are important for control. Once the disease is noticed mix 10 grams of asafoetida(Hing), 200 grams of Calotropis leaves, 100 grams of Bamboo bio char in 10 litres of water and sprinkle above the plants.  Shoot borer: 

The shoot borer( Conogethes punctiferalis) larvae bores into the pseudostem and feed in the internal tissues resulting in yellowing and drying of leaves. This can be controlled by light traps by lighting with fire in a tin near the Ginger plants for one hour from the dusk. Mix five kind of leaves which are not eaten by cow, goats and deers and boil them in 5 litres water and cool and sprinkle the extract on the plants. Take 500 grams of each kind of leaves. Sprinkle wood ash above the leaves time to time. To sum up, these challenges are very less and also absent when we grow ecologically in the food forest. Keep the forest and grow your food and livelihood.