Lucknow, Jan 10: After the success of Mint Revolution, India’s leading scientific research
agency, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is aggressively
pursuing its Aroma Mission in an attempt to enhance the income of farmers by spreading
cultivation of aromatic crops.
In an exclusive meeting with Anil Kumar Tripathi,
Director of Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP),
Lucknow, said, “Enhancing the income of farmers and empowering them has been
our major focus area. In the light of the past successes of CSIR-CIMAP,
particularly the Mint Revolution that was brought to Uttar Pradesh, CSIR is
pinning a lot of hope on us for focussing on using aromatic crops to boost the
income of farmers.”
With a view to strengthening the India system of traditional
medicine, CSIR is laying emphasis on aromatic crops as an alternative source of
income for farmers in the event of mercurial weather conditions.
“When the land is lying fallow, for instance, between wheat
harvesting and rice plantation, we provide short-duration crops which precisely
fit into the cropping pattern. The income generated through such short-duration
crops is almost twice that of the two crops (wheat and rice) put together,”
Prof Tripathi pointed out.
“The challenge before us now is Aroma Mission, which is
targeting expansion of cultivation of aromatic crops in an additional 6,000
hectares. Under this mission, we will provide direct intervention by offering a
variety of crop options, guidance programmes, awareness programmes, and setting
up of distillation units and marketing facilities, he said.
Aroma Mission has been launched with the ambition of making
India emerge as a global leader in the production of essential oils extracted
from aromatic crops. Aromatic essential oils have a great demand in the aroma
and perfumery industries. “We are targeting 6,000 hectares, but we certainly
hope that soon this will catalyse cultivation in about 60,000 to 100,000
hectares, because once the farmers see the ‘success story’ they promptly grab
the opportunity. So, the idea is to create ‘success stories’ which will
automatically attract farmers and, in turn, spread cultivation to 100,000
hectares,” Prof Tripathi said.
Besides Lucknow, CIMAP centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore are
engaged finding ways to promote Aroma Mission. “The Hyderabad centre has done
remarkable work towards expansion of ashwagandha crop cultivation. In very
remote areas where rainfall is very poor, ashwagandha has been providing good
support to the farmers,” he said with a sense of satisfaction.
Referring to Mint Revolution which catapulted India to the
top slot of menthol production, Prof Tripathi stated, “About 30 years ago,
India was a net importer of menthol, which is used in cough syrup, toothpaste etc.
In fact, it was not produced in India at all. Menthol is extracted from a plant
which is called Japanese mint. It was brought to India by our visionary
directors and acclimatised. Gradually, we developed a whole lot of varieties in
such a way that its cultivation fitted very well into the cropping pattern of
farmers. There are climates that favour cultivation of mint and UP was most
suited for it, because it is grown in summers and UP’s summers are real hot.”
Prof Tripathi pointed out, “India is currently the largest
exporter of menthol oil and mint is cultivated in 200,000 hectares area.
Earlier, it was 300,000 hectares, but due to creation of synthetic menthol in
Germany, the production went down because the prices went down. Millions of
farmers are benefitting and a survey done by us showed that their income has
increased by about 1.75 times because of mint cultivation.”
“Today if India is the largest producer and exporter of
menthol mint, it is because of CIMAP scientists and their dedication. The varieties
of menthol mint, the agro technology, processing technology, marketing
extension facilities… everything has been done by CIMAP,” he said with a sense
of pride while pointing out that menthol oil was Rs4,000-crore annual turnover
business.
“Because of Mint Revolution, we have built a great amount of
trust among farmers. When the farmers know that CIMAP is the same institution
which had created Mint Revolution, they willingly adopt whatever we introduce
to them,” Prof Tripathi concluded. UNI
