Nigeria Ginger Processing

I. Ginger Production in Nigeria
Nigeria is one of the largest producers and exporters of ginger in the world, especially the split-dried ginger. Nigeria produced 156,000 MT of ginger in 2012, accounting for 7% in the world and ranking 4th globally. Ginger cultivation in Nigeria started in 1927 in the then southern Zaria (now Southern Kaduna) especially within the then Jemm’a federated districts and neighboring parts of the Plateau. 
Two main varieties of ginger are grown in Nigeria, namely yellow ginger “Tafin Giwa” and black ginger “Yatsun Biri”. Kaduna State is the largest ginger producer while other states include Gombe, Benue, Nassarawa, etc. The crop is locally called Chianti in Hausa language, Oso-ala or Oso-Chikwu in Igbo and Ata’le in Yoruba.

Averagely it takes about nine months from ginger planting to mature. If fresh ginger is required, it is harvested six months after planting. If mature ginger is required, it is harvested nine months after planting. The rhizomes can also be left in the ground for two years for propagation. Ginger harvesting starts from October until May, manually by hand or with machines.

II. Challenges in Ginger Production in Nigeria
1. Poorly developed markets marked by lack of marketing infrastructure like storage facilities, quality testing, packaging and transportation constraints.
2. Insufficient market for produce leading to highly fluctuating prices. 
3. Lack of adequate financial support.
4. High production cost (land preparation, fertilizer procurement, agrochemicals, tractors and labor)
5. Poor quality of processed products arising from poor processing culture.

III. Ginger Processing Technologies in Nigeria

Nigerian ginger, particularly the type A farmed in Kaduna, is the best and in demand throughout the world. In Nigeria, ginger is found in almost all the local markets across the country. Ginger is used as flavoring for recipes such as ginger bread, ginger biscuits, ginger sweets, and ginger tea, ginger ale and ginger beer. It is used as a spice in many local cuisine, and also acts a constituent of herbal medicines. However, despite its many uses in food and beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, little processing is done locally. Meanwhile the mechanism to package the product to meet international standard is lacking. Common processes are as follows:
1. Ginger Washing
Fresh rhizomes should be washed, and cleaned from debris, shoots and roots. After washing, the ginger is lightly dried in the sun before being marketed in this form.
Tips: Ginger spray washing machine is suggested which adopts high-pressure water flow for washing ginger, having high impurities reduction efficiency.
2. Ginger Peeling
Fresh ginger in young form has a pale, thin skin that does not require peeling. Fresh mature ginger is tough, which requires peeling to get to the fibrous flesh. Fresh ginger is either chopped or grated before use. 
Dried gingers are sold with the skin left on or peeled off, while peeling or scraping can reduce drying time. 
Tips: To peel gingers efficiently, brush type ginger washing and peeling machine is suggested, which can clean independently or clean and peel at the same time. 
3. Ginger Splitting
Nigerian ginger is mostly cultivated by peasant farmers and processed by them as whole dry or split dry ginger. Splitting facilitates the drying process. Farmers traditionally use manual method of splitting ginger using a knife, which is slow and labor-intensive, not suitable for large-scale production. Splitting machine is scarce and slicing machine is not attractive. 
Tips: Ginger garlic slicing machine can slice ginger with a capacity of 200 kg/h or 500 kg/h, and the machine is cost-effective.

4. Ginger Bleaching
The peeled/scraped rhizomes may be bleached to improve appearance. Fresh ginger is dipped in a slurry of slaked lime followed by sun drying. When the water dries off, the rhizomes are again dipped in the slurry. This process is repeated until the rhizomes are uniformly white in color. Dry ginger can also be bleached this way. Liming can also protect ginger against pests during storage and shipping.
5. Ginger Drying
Drying should be done to 8-10% moisture, and should not exceed 12%. In most growing areas, the traditional method of drying ginger by sun drying is used. The peeled split/sliced ginger are placed on clean bamboo mats or on a concrete floor and sun-dry for 7 to 14 days. In places where unfavorable seasonal conditions prevail, modern methods using mechanical or solar dryers are also used. 
Tips: Hot air circulation drying oven adopts circulated hot air to dry the ginger, having high efficiency. Equipped with adjustable air divider plate inside the oven, materials can be dried evenly. Different capacities are offered for production of different scales.

6. Ginger Powder Crushing 
Dried ginger can be grinded to produce powder ginger with 50 to 60 mesh size. Pulverization is generally a limiting unit operation in ginger processing. 
Tips: Ginger powder crushing machine gets ginger crushed by the impact & grind function of the relative motion between active and fixed fluted discs, and impact between the materials. Easy operation, adjustable fineness.
7. Ginger Oil and Oleoresin
Ginger oil is obtained by steam distillation of the ground dry ginger, while ginger oleoresin is obtained from the powder by solvent extraction. 
8. Ginger Packing
Bulk ginger rhizomes may be packed in jute sacks, wooden boxes or lined corrugated cardboard boxes for shipping. Dried ginger slices or powder are packaged in kraft multi-wall laminated bags. 
Tips: Vacuum packing machine can pack fresh ginger, whole dry ginger and ginger splits. Various machines are available for packing ginger powder, one of them is automatic powder packing machine.

IV. Favorable Policies for Ginger Industry

A report on Dec 9, 2015 said that the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) was to partner with the National Ginger Association of Nigeria to attract investment into Agro-business through packaging of the product for export.
The Commission would support the Association in processing and packaging to meet the international standard.
Apart from attracting Foreign Direct Investment, the Commission has to promote Local Direct Investment, maintaining that the Country stands to increase its Gross Domestic Product through marketing of Ginger product. 
The Commission welcomes the promotion of Ginger products into the international market, as more revenue could be generated into the nation’s treasury.

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