Hi,
I am having 5 acres of land I want to grow medicine plants. My farm is located outside n village near tandur can anyone provide me help.
Growing Field and Forest Medicinal Herbs AS A BUSINESS
Difference between Commercial and Personal MAP cultivation :
Growing herbs as a commercial crop is very different from growing them for personal use
In general, big buyers want to purchase large volumes at low prices.
Many people try to grow herbs commercially ,most of them make very little money at it.
But a few do really well with it. So let’s look at what they do.
MAP ( Medicinal & Aromatic Plants ) Botanicals :
MAP can be classified in 4 categories as per domestic market demand
Regular
Prioritized
Endangered
Lesser known
Site Selection :
Some are annual
Some are perennial
Some are tree
All plant species requires Good soil , Good water drainage , Good air movement , Good water and Low weed pressure
Soil fertility :
Soil pH value can have big effect in MAP cultivation
All the MAP can not be grown in same soil pH .
Different MAP species prefers different soil pH
Test soil nutrients, pH and Nematodes
Seed & planting materials :
Planting materials either hybrid or heirloom variety seed / sapling / bulb / graft etc. )
Make sure planting materials ( seed / seedling / bulb / graft ) are authentic
No compromise with quality planting material
Multi layer / Multi crop MAP cultivation :
Weeds not only compete with MAP but their presence is a contaminant in the final product .
Try to plant a diversity of MAP species
Multi layer ( roots /trailing plant / semi dwarf / creeper /large plant ) model plants are grown together at same space to reduce weed growth , maintain diversity and sustainability .
Enrich and protect soil with organic mulch
Good Agricultural Practice ( GAP ) :
Implement GAP ( Organic / Pesticide residue & Heavy metals free ) in your farm land
Processing :
Mechanical drying instead of traditional sun drying in open field
Crude MAP must meet basic specifications of the buyer i.e. Moisture , Foreign matter , Heavy metals , Microbial analysis etc.
The raw crude medicinal herb market is volatile:
Diversity of herbs can help MAP cultivation business successful
Have multiple markets of different kinds.
Have other related income streams ( value addition ) besides selling crude herbs.
Thanks for the detailed and insightful analysis–I have been thinking of Growing Lemon Grass or Aloe Vera–Was looking at a crop which cattle do not eat (Need not spend on expensive Fencing)–Needs less water–Trying to move away from Sugar Cane and Paddy (Paddy I may do organic in 4 Acres only during Monsoon)–And adopt Agroforestry --AI found a person who will give lemon grass slips and take the produce–So his investment is in the activity --Any suggestions–I am from Tamilnadu–My farms are about 100-125 Kms from Chennai
I am also interested in Lemon grass cultivation.
Can you suggest a source for the lemon grass seeds/slips please
R Chandramouli
Palmarosa ( Cymbopogan maritinii ) has two cultivable varieties C. martini var Motia ( Palmarosa ) & C. martini var Sophia ( Ginger grass )
Palmarosa yields an essential oil with 60-90% Geraniol content called East Indian Geranium Oil or Russa Oil .
Ginger grass has lesser Geraniol content and inferior in quality , market rate is also lesser .
Proper identification is very important and expert advice should be taken to avoid post cultivation mess .
Till date 20 + varieties of Lemongrass has been released by different research institutes of India i.e.Jama Rosa , Sugandhi ( OD-19) Pragati ( LS -48 ) Praman ( Clone -29 ) RRL 16, CKP 25 , RRL 39, Kavery, Krishna , Cauvery , Chirharit , SD 68, GRL-1 , SB-9 , RLJ-TC-7, RLJ-TC-8, RLJ-TC-11 etc. and each variety is suitable for a specific agro climatic condition .
Ideal soil is with pH 6-7 . A rise in pH above 8 is found to decrease plant growth and oil yield .
Annual rainfall of 90-130 cm and temp. of 15-35 deg C is ideal climate .
The best commercial propagation method of Lemongrass is through seed raised in nurseries, 2.5 kg. of the fresh seed produces enough seedling for planting one ha. of land.
Vegetative propagation by splitting the clumps into slips.
These are planted at a spacing of 60x80 cm.
About 55,000 slips are required for one ha of planting.
Fresh herbage is approx. 30-40 MT / ha/ year .Approx. Oil yield 70-80 kg / ha / yr is low in first year and increases in 2 nd-4th year and then drops .
Nursery raising : April End- May first ,
Transplanting : June-july
Seed rate : Rs 2000-5000 / kg + GST & shipping
Slips ( Min qty 1000 nos ) : Rs 1-3 each + Moss packing + GST + Shipping
Where do you want to cultivate ? How many Acres ?
P N Subramanian
Global VP-Human Capital Management
Utopia Global
Near tandur ,Telangana state
My farm is near Hosur in Tamilnadu.
I would like to start with 0.5 acres. If successful will expand to 1.5 acres.
R Chandramouli
R Chandramouli
I have 5 acres near vikarabad. Planning to start zbnf farming.
I have 2.5 acre land near korviched, Tandur. Can we meet up? Call 9703016820.