Cultivation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Recognising that India holds a treasure of roughly 8,000 medicinal and 2,500 aromatic plant species, capable of supplying products with strong national and international demand, the Government of India sees this sector as one where the country could become a genuine global leader in the 21st century. Medicinal plants make this possible through secondary metabolism — the chemical pathways by which they synthesise the pharmacologically active secondary metabolites that traditional and modern (bio)medicine both draw on to treat human and animal disease — yet most of this material is still collected from the wild rather than farmed. The Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) works to change that, developing high-yielding varieties and processing technologies that let entrepreneurs cultivate these plants profitably alongside conventional agriculture and horticulture crops, including as intercrops within existing plantations; the advantages on offer include new employment through ancillary industries, foreign-exchange earnings from exports, freedom from damage by domestic animals or birds (unlike many food crops), and technologies that are both farmer- and eco-friendly. Two worked cultivation case studies illustrate the model. Gloriosa superba (Glory Lily), grown on red loamy soils across roughly 2,000 hectares in Tirupur, Dindigul, Karur and Salem districts of Tamil Nadu, is planted from June-July as tubers spaced 30-45 cm apart in 30-cm trenches after farmyard manure is worked in, trained on supports as it climbs, irrigated immediately after planting and then every five days, and harvested as pods at 160-180 days; its economically useful parts are the seed and rhizome, valued for the alkaloids colchicine (0.5-0.7%) and colchicoside, used to treat gout and as an anti-inflammatory and anticancer agent. Cymbopogon citratus (Lemongrass), a tropical, strongly citrus-flavoured herb whose economic parts are the stem base and leaves, is grown in full sun on rich, well-draining, well-watered soil, planted year-round with composted manure worked into the planting holes and plants spaced about 60 cm apart, watered more frequently in sandy soils than in silty loam, and harvested by cutting stalks at ground level once plants reach 30 cm and stem bases are at least 1.5 cm thick; its major aromatic constituents — citronella, geraniol and citronellol — give it flavouring uses in perfumery, cosmetics, confectionery and beverages, and practical use in mosquito repellents and toilet cleaners. Two supporting initiatives round out this section: the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), set up on 24 November 2000 and now working under the AYUSH ministry, coordinates …