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1.8Export capability

Southern Australia potentially offers a sizeable market for Fiji ginger (McGregor 2003). In Australia there is an estimated market for around 300 to 400 tonnes of ginger sourced from Pacific Island countries (McGregor 2007).

1.8.1Production statistics

Ginger production in Fiji has fluctuated over time, but in recent years has been affected by the loss of export markets as a result of increased international competition (McGregor 2003), declining profits for growers (Singh 2010) and diseases caused by soil-borne pathogens (Raicola 2010). Available data on production volume does not reveal differences between immature ginger harvested for processing and mature ginger. Figures from the Agriculture Ministry published in the Fiji Times (13 August 2008) indicate that production of mature ginger increased by 31.9 percent between 2006 and 2007, with a corresponding rise in exports of 2.2 percent. However, this was followed by a big decline in production in 2008 (FAO 2011c). Table 3.1 shows production data for the last six years for which data is available.

Table 3.1: Ginger production in Fiji (FAO 2011c)

Year	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Tonnes (t)	3770	3652	3209	3111	2448	3041

1.8.2Export statistics

Fiji exports fresh ginger to the United States and New Zealand (McGregor 2007). Export figures for the last five years for which data is available are shown in Table 3.2. The USA imported 17 475 kg of fresh ginger from Fiji in 2007, and a further 103 357 kg of preserved ginger and 701.4 kg of ground ginger (Morita 2008).

Table 3.2: Ginger exports from Fiji (FAO 2011c)

Year	Tonnes (t)	Value ($Int)	Unit value ($/tonne)
2004	1414	3 980 000	2815
2005	1395	3 898 000	2794
2006	1187	3 283 000	2766
2007	1263	3 474 000	2751
2008	1395	3 671 000