Farmers earning as much as Rs 3 lakh per acre by cultivating herbs

By Madhvi Sally , ET Bureau| Updated: Sep 14, 2018, 08.19 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Here’s a little-known story of Indian farming — a happy one. Led by strong and rapidly growing industry demand, a small group of farmers are earning as much as Rs 3 lakh per acre, a figure that’s put in true perspective when you consider wheat and rice farming doesn’t pay more than Rs30,000 per acre. 

Herbs and aromatic plants used for ayurvedic medicines and personal care products – sold by companies like as DaburNSE 2.29 %, Himalaya, Natural Remedies, Patanjali – are the mai .. 
Many of the herbs have exotic names and pretty much all the numbers are remarkable. Ateesh, kuth, kutki, karanja, kapikachhu, shankhapushpi… these herbs and aromatic plants mean little to the urban consumer but represent life-changing income opportunities for some farmers. 

Industry estimates put the market for herbal products at Rs 50,000 crore, growing at a fast annual clip of 15%. Acreage devoted to herbs and aromatic plants is still very small — 6.34 lakh hectares out of the total cu .. 

Many of the herbs have exotic names and pretty much all the numbers are remarkable. Ateesh, kuth, kutki, karanja, kapikachhu, shankhapushpi… these herbs and aromatic plants mean little to the urban consumer but represent life-changing income opportunities for some farmers. 

Industry estimates put the market for herbal products at Rs 50,000 crore, growing at a fast annual clip of 15%. Acreage devoted to herbs and aromatic plants is still very small — 6.34 lakh hectares out of the total currently cropped area of 1,058.1 lakh hectares — but growing at 10% annually, according to government data. 

Even more remarkable are farmers’ returns. A farmer growing ateesh herb, largely used in ayurvedic medicine, in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh may easily get Rs2.5-3 lakh per acre. A lavender farmer may get Rs1.2-1.5 lakh returns per acre. 

These returns are why Bharat Bhushan of Khellani village in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir switched from maize to lavender for his 2 acre plot. By this November, he will be adding another 10 acres.