Cultivation of ekangi (Kaempferia galanga), a medicinal crop of the ginger family, is spreading in Meherpur. The district has long grown spices, but ekangi has recently gone commercial and covers 11 hectares this season. Growers say demand and prices are good because it is a raw material for medicines and cosmetics.
Ishtiaque Ahmed of Debipur village in Gangni upazila tried it on one bigha last year. He spent Tk 1.5 lakh and made a profit of about Tk 4 lakh, so this season he has planted three bighas. He reckons that at Tk 90,000 to Tk 1.5 lakh a bigha in costs, a profit of more than Tk 4 lakh is possible in nine months.
It is not a cheap crop. Masud, a farmer in Jhorpara village, said a field needs 15-20 labourers a day, regular pesticide and constant care, and that rot is hard to stop when rain is heavy.
Monirul Islam of Gangni has about 15 bighas under ekangi. Leaf and root rot appeared in his fields after continuous rain, and regular care and spraying have not brought them back. His advice is that anyone who takes up the crop only for the profit, without understanding it, risks a loss.
Besides medicines and cosmetics, ekangi is valued as an aromatic spice in cooking and as fishing bait. Kazi Shahnewaz, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Meherpur, said ekangi is a high-value medicinal crop whose demand and price stay good, and that with proper care a profit of up to Tk 6 lakh can be made from a bigha costing Tk 1.5 lakh.
The figures are drawing farmers in, but the labour bill and the monsoon rot risk suggest that newcomers do best on well-drained land and by starting small, as Ishtiaque Ahmed did.
The report was filed by Krishi Shomoy's Meherpur correspondent.
Photo: Kaempferia galanga plant, Hariadhi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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