Sunday, 02 May 2021 | PNS | Roorkee
Though agriculture is considered to be the most important sector of the Indian economy, the farmers continue to face various issues related to quality of seeds, irrigation and selling the produce among others. However, with the assistance of some governmental agencies and departments, farmers are not only overcoming such issues but also progressing financially.
One such example is seen in Bhagwanpur block of Haridwar district due to the involvement of the Centre for Aromatic Plants (CAP). Set up at Selaqui in Dehradun in 2003, CAP is involved with farmers in various parts of the state, encouraging and assisting them to venture into the cultivation of aromatic plants. Farmers struggling to survive with traditional agriculture are taking up the cultivation of aromatic crops with the help of CAP. The condition of farmers who were facing various problems in the field and then struggling to get proper rates for their produce are in a different situation now after coming into contact with the centre. The CAP provided these farmers lemongrass to cultivate and this alone has brought about a major change for the better in their lives.
At the Bhagwanpur office of the centre, its sales supervisor Narendra Kumar Sharma explained that lemongrass contains iron, calcium, vitamin C, antioxidants, flavonoids and phenolic. It is also an antibacterial and antifungal agent. He said that farmers have been cultivating lemongrass for about 10 years now. The cultivation of lemongrass was linked to MNREGA. This way, the activity facilitates labourers for the cultivation while the farmers do not incur the labour cost. A cluster of 20 farmers was formed and 20 such clusters have been formed in this area. Members of clusters undertake only organic farming. The CAP helps the farmers set up mini manufacturing units for lemon grass. About six to seven kilogrammes of unrefined oil is produced from one bigha under lemongrass cultivation. The MSP of the oil is Rs 1100 per kilogramme. The farmers do not need to search for a buyer as the CAP purchases the oil from them in addition to providing 50 per cent subsidy to farmers for setting up manufacturing units. A total of 18 such units have been set up in Bhagwanpur block. While CAP provides free saplings to farmers, they are provided Rs 3,000 per bigha by the government if they wish to buy saplings from a private supplier.
Farmer Sandeep Saini who cultivates lemongrass on 15 bigha land said that he is very happy cultivating this aromatic and medicinal grass. He said, “CAP provides labour and the saplings. We do not need to plant every year as lemongrass is planted once for five years and cut thrice a year after which it grows back again. This crop does not need any pesticides.”
Priyanshu Kumar has degrees including BPharma, MBA and LLB but has been farming for the past three years now. He said he was first informed about lemongrass by the CAP director Nripendra Chauhan. Kumar said that cultivating lemongrass does away with the human-wildlife conflict as this crop is not damaged by elephants, blue bulls or other wildlife. “The wild animals used to raid the farms and damage crops but the aroma of the lemongrass keeps both the wildlife and the mosquitoes away,” he said.
Good one