Suprabha

Suprabha is one of the older Indian improved gingers still in commercial cultivation, released from the High Altitude Research Station at Pottangi in Koraput district, Odisha, under Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology. It is a clonal selection out of the Kunduli local landrace, which means it was picked as a superior individual from a traditional farmer population rather than bred from a cross. Its calling card is high oleoresin at 8.9%, well above the IISR selections, with 1.9% essential oil and a dry recovery around 20.5%. Fresh yield is reported at about 16.6 tonnes per hectare over roughly 218 to 229 days. The plant tillers profusely and carries plumpy fingers with rounded oval tips and a distinctive bright grey skin, and it is grown mainly for dry ginger and extraction rather than fresh market.