ILAM, Dec 30: Ginger production has witnessed a loss in Ilam due to disease.

Ginger farmers here have been hit hard with the rise in the cases of ginger tuber rotting and then the plant drying-up. Most of the farmers in Ilam have given up cultivating ginger after the ginger plants started dying due to the disease.

Ginger is a quick source of livelihood for the people of Ilam. Milan Khadka, a farmer of Maijogmai rural municipality-3, said that farmers have stopped cultivating ginger due to the disease.

Khadka said farmers have increasingly stopped cultivating ginger in their farms due to the prevalence of diseases.

"Ginger is the main source of income for the farmers of Ilam. We have been managing household expenses from its income. But, lately, the invasion of disease in ginger farming has troubled us a lot," he said, adding, "Livelihood of most of the farmers has turned problematic."

Raghunath Aryal, a farmer, said that ginger has been infected with diseases that cause the tube to rot and the leaves to dry up. "At first, the plants get rotten and then the plants die gradually," he said. The disease is considered to be the most harmful for ginger. 

The local, provincial and federal governments should identify the problems of ginger farmers and explore possibilities to resolve them, said the farmers, demanding arrangement for grants as incentives.

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