Abstract:
Ginger species play an important economic role as medicinal plants, food flavourings,
and dietary supplements. Products from ginger, including oil and fresh and dried rhizomes can be
used to treat malaria, asthma, headaches, and act as anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agents.
The cultivation of wild plant species can alleviate the pressure from harvesting from the wild.
Under cultivation, the major constraints on crop yield and quality are water availability and plant
nutrition. Therefore, the impact of water stress on commercial and African ginger was assessed in the
rain shelter study. Irrigation treatments were based on the maximum allowable depletion (MAD)
levels of plant available water in the root zone (T1: 20–25% MAD, the control; T2: 40–45% MAD; T3:
60–65% MAD; T4: 80–85% MAD). As water stress decreased, the plant height and number of stems
per plant of both plant species were positively affected. The number of open stomata was higher for
well-watered and less stressed treatments in both ginger species. Higher fresh and dry rhizome yields
were recorded for commercial ginger at all water treatments as compared to those from African ginger.
In general, water use efficiency (WUE) of fresh and dry rhizome yield was higher for commercial
ginger as compared to the indigenous African ginger, while moderately stressed treatments generally
resulted in the highest WUE for both species.
