It is a staple in oriental cooking and food suppliers are wondering if ginger might become a common crop in Ontario.
Research professor John Zandstra at the Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph says Canadians import a lot of ginger and he has been asked to conduct trials to see if it is a viable local crop.
"There is ginger grown in the province, I understand under hoop houses, but they are more interested in larger scale field production," he says. "The approach is if they have to ship it half way across the world, maybe if we can produce it reasonably well here and they don't have that shipping cost. They tell me there is a big demand for ginger."
Zandstra says he got the seeds for the crop in the spring but cool weather delayed production.
And he says weed control could be an issue because there are no chemicals approved for it in Canada.
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Research professor John Zandstra has been asked to conduct trials to see if it's a viable local crop.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Zandstra-GINGER-1.mp3"][/audio]
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He says he's trying to learn how the crop might adapt to Ontario conditions.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Zandstra-GINGER-2.mp3"][/audio]
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Like any new crop, he's not sure yet whether it has any local potential.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Zandstra-Ginger-3.mp3"][/audio]
