| Speaking to Business Standard on the corporation's economic potential, N Prateep Kumar, regional manager of APFDC, said: With the 'seeds' having been sown for amla (Indian gooseberry) production in East Godavari, the growth parameters of the plants have been raised and we expect a good yield. Hence, APFDC is looking to emerge as a significant market player in this species of medicinal plants by 2010." |
| "At present, we are in talks with ayurvedic healthcare products' majors including Baidyanath, Dabur and Zandu among others for tie ups. Once we start commercial production of amla on a large scale by 2010, we will start supplying amla to the ayurvedic healthcare majors," he added. |
| Amla, going by the botanical name of Emblica officinalis, is used in diuretic drugs and in the treatment of ailments like jaundice, asthma, bronchitis and scurvey. |
| Identified as one of the 32 prioritised medicinal plants at the national level, the amla plantation over 500 acres of land at Sudhikonda near Rajahmundry is being raised as part of the National Medicinal Plants Board's Rs 6-crore programme. |
| APFDC, which started off amla plantation by covering 100 hectares in 2003 and 100 more hectares this year, is expecting a nominal crop in the next three years. |
| "The economic yield would start only after six years when we may be producing 25,000 tonnes of amla at a very conservative estimate that each plant would produce 50 kgs of amla. The recorded yield of amla is 300 kgs per tree per year, and we are raising 50,000 plants," Prateep Kumar said. |
| "Given the prevailing market rate of amla at Rs 5 to Rs 40 a kg, dependent on the grade and quality, the cost of raising the plantation is expected to be realised in the first year of production itself, making the venture very lucrative for the farmer," Kumar said. |
| APFDC has taken to extensive cultivation of high-yielding BSR, NA 7 and Chakaiya varieties of amla with canopy pruning to retain them as bushes with, at least, 35 branches in each plant. |
| "The growth was found to be very encouraging during an appraisal made by a central team. Though the amla plant is drought-resistant, we have adopted drip irrigation for better growth," he said. |
| Even as 330 amla plants have been taken up in each hectare of the plantation, the APFDC has still found room for inter-cropping for spin-off benefits. |
| Medicinal plants like Aloe vera (Kalabandha), Ranvolfia serpentina (Sarpagandha), Gymnema sylvestre (Podapatri), Coleus forskohili (Pashanbhedi) and Cymbopogon flexuosus (Lemon grass) cover 150 hectares of the plantation, all with the potential to bear returns till amla starts fetching assured income. |
| "For instance, Sarpagandha, which is used in the treatment for epilepsy, psoriasis, snake-bite and hypertension, would be ready for harvest in one-and-half years," Kumar said. |
| "An organisation, which was listed among the sick corporations in the state a couple of years back and was ready to down its shutters, has today emerged as a commercially viable one earning profits in all its ventures, thanks to the present state leadership which had introduced several revolutionary measures to keep the boat floating " Prateep Kumar said. |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard