The fields are resting now. Last month during May, in the Malgaon village of Chhattisgarh, lemongrass was harvested and oil distilled for the second time. The next round will begin in the middle of July when the seasons change and new rains come.
Ten farmers had started cultivating lemongrass for oil distillation led by Mr. Ghanshyam Upadhyaya -Amrita SeRVe’s Agriculture Officer. Lemongrass cultivation was new to the farmers, so only the most experimental ones decided to take a chance and discovered it was worth the risk.
In the beginning, the lemongrass oil project started under the guidance of Amrita SeRVe and CSIR-CIMAP .* CIMAP is the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, which is a frontier plant research laboratory for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). They have over 60 years of experience dedicating their work and service toward the empowerment of farmers all over India.
It all started during Amma’s birthday celebrations in October 2017, when Amrita SeRVe staff from all over India gathered at Amritapuri to consider future plans for the project. The lemongrass distillation idea was discussed with Mr. Upadhyaya and the Malgaon village coordinator Jamuna Kashyap. Subsequently, Malgaon was chosen as the first village to start the initiative. Soon after the celebrations, they returned to the village and discussed the idea with the farmers. Finally, the project started in December 2017.
“Initially, the farmers were very nervous to start such a new project,” explains Jamuna. “They didn’t know anything about lemongrass and they were hesitant to form a group to start.” she continued. Jamuna and Ghanshyam were determined, and talked to the Sarpanch (head of the village). With the help of the Sarpanch, they learned about farmers who were interested and decided to talk to them personally. Ghanshyam called for a meeting of all the farmers and they ultimately agreed to start the cultivation.
Jamuna recalls that they started planting the lemongrass just before the rains came in April. Initially, they were facing some challenges because of a lack of rain. This meant that Jamuna and the farmers went out into the fields to water the plants twice a day. After a few weeks, suddenly the early monsoon started and all the plants became healthy and the farmers were relieved.
Throughout the lemongrass growing season, senior scientists from CSIR-CIMAP offered their guidance. CIMAP talked with the farmers in their fields, did filming and field-testing, checked the quality of the plants and compared the yield of each farmer. Those farmers who had lower yields, CIMAP encouraged to cultivate more.
When the lemongrass was ready to be harvested, Ghanshyam taught the distillation process to the farmers as he had learned the technique during his studies. The system works using water and steam distillation. Firewood is used for heating the distillation unit, which CSIR-CIMAP helped to install. Ghanshyam asked the farmers to join the process and then demonstrated how it is done. Now, these farmers can do it independently and many more are interested to learn.
Lemongrass oil is good additional income
The main income for the farmers in Malgaon has been rice and dal (lentil) cultivation. According to Jamuna, the annual average income is between 40,000 – 45,000 rupees per year when the weather conditions have been suitable for growing. Lemongrass is equally profitable – when conditions are favorable, it can increase the income for the farmers to almost the same amount of rupees.
“This time, the maximum yield happened to a farmer and he earned 15,000 rupees for a half acre of lemongrass cultivation,” says Jamuna.
“If it is a full acre, a farmer could be earning 30,000rs or more,” she stated. “Farmers are the backbone of the community. Usually, there are 6-7 family members living in the same household. Some members of the family are doing daily labor, but are still depending on a farmer”.
CSIR-CIMAP is helping to find markets for the distilled and bottled oil. Jamuna adds that the farmers are very happy about the cultivation and their earnings. Despite challenges in the beginning, many new farmers are coming to ask about lemongrass cultivation.
For example, in the nearby village of Deurbal, farmers are motivated by this success story and are also showing interest. “Soon we will start lemongrass cultivation in Deurbal village too,” Jamuna reveals.
“Every harvest time, more or less 10 farmers have shown their interest. Right now, about 40-50 farmers are involved. Those who started in December 2017, and also newly joined farmers are participating now,” Jamuna concludes.
Lemongrass
- an aromatic perennial plant
- grows up to one meter (3 ft) length
- known for fragrance and used in soaps and cosmetics
- medicinal uses: treating cough
* Collaboration between Amrita SeRVe and CSIR-CIMAP (LINK: http://www.cimap.res.in/english/) started in December 2016 when CSIR director Dr. Anil Tripathi came to Amritapuri to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Amrita SeRVe in Amma’s presence.
Amma requested guidance for farmers to increment their earnings and contribute to the nation’s development. In response, Dr. Tripathy said on behalf of the whole research center that they consider themselves verily blessed to be able to contribute to village work across the country.
