Ginger production in Bangladesh has been low compared to its rising demand, which forces the country to import the spice putting pressure on its foreign currency reserves.

The production also dropped in the last fiscal year from the previous year.

In FY 2021-22, Bangladesh had a demand of 0.5-0.6 million tonnes of ginger.

The production of the spice was 60,000 tonnes in FY 2018-19, dropping from 77,052 tonnes in FY 2013-14 and 83,004 tonnes in FY 2014-15, according to the data.

The demand for ginger reached 0.15 million tonnes in FY 2019-10 after increasing manifold over the past decade, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The country has to spend around Tk 25-40 billion annually to import ginger from India, China and some other countries, according to the ministry.

 Agro-economist and researcher Dr Jahangir Alam Khan told Daily Sun that the import dependency increases due to the lower production against the rising demand.

 Higher import dependency also increases the price of the essentials in the country amid instability in the international market, he added.

 The price of ginger has increased in the country while the import of most of the essential products has fallen in the last two months due to the increase in the US dollar rate and the complexity of opening letters of credit (LCs).

The impact of the lower import has already started to appear in the local market, driving up the prices of the spices.

Farmers gradually shifted to cultivating summer vegetables, Aman and other profitable crops instead of ginger due to low-profit margins, according to the sources familiar with local farming.