Khargone: Nimar farmer breaking news grounds in growing medicinal plants

Khargone: Nimar farmer breaking news grounds in growing medicinal plants

Mohan Patidar, a farmer from Jhatawadi, a small village in Maheshwar assembly constituency in Khargone district started cultivating medicinal crops helpful in Ayurveda, instead of traditional crops.

Milind LashkariUpdated: Friday, February 18, 2022, 08:10 PM IST
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Khargone/Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Here's a little-known success story of farming in Nimar. Led by strong and rapidly growing demand from industry, Mohan Patidar, a farmer from Jhatawadi, a small village in Maheshwar assembly constituency in Khargone district started cultivating medicinal crops helpful in Ayurveda, instead of traditional crops.

Patidar holds a bachelor's degree in Arts and owns 20 acres of land. Narrating his journey, he said that before 1999 he used to cultivate traditional crops like soybean, cotton and chilli, but innovation and experimentation are needed in every profession and he understood its importance after attending a workshop organised by CEDMAP in Bhopal.

In the workshop, experts delivered training and informed Mohan and other farmers about innovation in farming. After this, Mohan decided to cultivate ëWhite Muslií in his field. For this, he took a loan of Rs 1 lakh from the bank and started a new experiment in farming by getting seeds from Maharashtra.

Since then till today, he has been continuously cultivating White Musli. Over the years he witnessed many ups and downs. Sometimes, he managed to make profits and sometimes losses too. Not only White Musli, but Mohan also cultivated Ashwagandha, Ginger and then Tulsi and Quinoa and now Akarkara ñ all medicinal crops.

Cultivating Arab origin Akarkara

Mohan is cultivating 'Akarkara' (or Anacyclus pyrethrum originated from Arab countries) as a Rabi crop on one-acre land. Its cultivation takes 6 to 8 months and the crop is grown in a temperate climate.

He said that Akarkara is cultivated in UP, MP, Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra since the climate here is suitable for the crop. Akarkara needs more sunlight. Plants need a temperature of 20 to 25 degrees for germination and at least 15 and a maximum of 30 degrees for growth. The temperature of 35 degrees Celsius is more suitable for the time of ripening. It is mainly used in many types of medicine of the medical world and its price is up to Rs 400 per kg in the market.

Cultivating Quinoa as well

Mohan is also cultivating the Quinoa crop, a plant of Bathuva species. It is extensively cultivated in South American countries. Due to the abundance of protein in Quinoa, it is known as one of the best nutritious cereals. Its price ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh per quintal in the international market.

Mohan has just taken the production of Tulsi as a Kharif crop. The sandy loam soil is most suitable for the cultivation of Tulsi.

Honoured in Malaysia for sustainable organic farming of White Musli, Mohan Patidar is one of those farmers from the Nimar region who is also working to save the lost seeds by cultivating White Musli for 20 consecutive years. He was honoured with a citation in 2018 by the Commonwealth Vocational University of Malaysia for preserving and promoting this crop.

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