Mentha cultivation is on the rise in Uttar Pradesh, with every successive year witnessing an increase in acreage of the cash crop.
Rising demand in the export market and remunerative prices have boosted mentha farming in the state, which accounts for over 90 per cent of the country’s total mentha production.
Mentha is cultivated during the intermediate period between rabi and kharif seasons. It is normally sown around March-April and gets ready for harvest in June-July.
According to UP horticulture department, over 200,000 hectares of land was under mentha crop this year, against 100,000 and 120,000 hectares in 2007 and 2008, respectively.
“At present, mentha oil is selling at around Rs 500/kg compared with Rs 700/kg last year,” Lucknow-based export-oriented Dev Aromatic Director Jitendra Gupta told Business Standard.
This year, mentha production stood at about 38,000 tonnes compared with 22,000 tonnes in 2008.
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Last year, much of the crop got damaged owing to early rain that led to spurt in prices.
“Almost 10,000 tonnes of mentha is consumed in the country and the rest is exported,” Ghaziabad-based Som Extract Director S C Varshney said.
It is primarily exported in powder, liquid or crystal forms to China and Europe.
Mentha is cultivated extensively in the terai region, including Rampur, Bareilly, Badaun, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Meerut, besides Barabanki, Faizabad, Rae Bareli, Lucknow and Sultanpur.
The government gives a subsidy of Rs 11,250/hectare to mentha farmers for cultivation.
Mentha oil is used as an industrial input in the manufacturing of toothpaste, mouth freshener, medicines, drinks, mouth-wash, chewing gum, desserts and confectionery products. Mint leaves are used in beverages, jellies and syrups.
The horticulture department imparts training to farmers to extract mentha oil from the plant by installing small distillation processing units.
Lucknow-based Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) imparts training to mentha farmers and entrepreneurs.