Mentha farmers in a fix in Punjab

Punjab farmers growing mentha are worried. The traders who purchase mentha oil have formed a cartel and refuse to lift the stock. Mentha is processed to extract oil and can not be sold directly in the market.

The farmers alleged that the traders preferred to buy the crop from Uttar Pradesh due to the relaxation in central sales tax (CST). According to an official, the traders try to evade the 3 per cent tax they have to pay on the purchase of mentha oil, which is purchased by the companies based outside the state.

Following the strict vigilance by the state machinery over the past four weeks, the inter-state movement of goods and vehicles carrying mentha oil were impounded due to non-compliance of tax.

40,000 acres in the state is under mentha cultivation. It is grown under the inter-cropping pattern with paddy and wheat. It helps to enhance the water retention and improves the fertility of the soil. A farmer can earn up to Rs 5,000 per acre from mentha crop with a modest investment. But they do not have storage facility and need money to sow potato for the coming season.

According to Diler Singh (a retired officer from the Punjab agriculture department and now grows mentha), the government must evolve a market mechanism to dispose of mentha oil stock.

Another farmer H S Khaira of Kapurthala said: "The farmers started growing mentha at the behest of the state agencies as a part of diversification of agriculture. The government provided a subsidy of Rs 4,000 per acre in the beginning. So now they should not leave us in the lurch."