Farmers ‘minting’ profits with CIMAP’s early mint technology

This summer, farmers in the state are ‘minting’ multiplied profits for a crop that they had been doing for years now.

With less water used for irrigation, the farmers have an increased production and profit margin, and the credit goes to the ‘early mint technology’ developed by Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP). The institute has made menthol mint (Mentha Arvensis) farming a more profitable business than ever before.

The best part is that the new technology ensures crop within 60-70 days, making it ideal for plugging the gap between the rabi (wheat or potatoes) and kharif crop (rice), and farmers reap the ‘bonus’ from the cash crop that comes in addition to the traditional food crops.

Saudan Singh, senior principal scientist at CIMAP said, “There are a number of benefits of the early mint technology over the traditional mint crop. It requires 30 percent less water, ensures more yield and takes 30 days less for the crop to reap.”

While the sowing season for the crop begins in January, the harvest season begins in April— May and continues till July. The expenditure on the crop too is Rs15000-20000 less as compared to the traditional mint crop.

In this regard, Ram Saran Verma, a leading farmer of Barabanki said, “CIMAP’s technologies have brought a revolution in mint farming. We have only seen the area of mint farming expanding in the state and the farmers are happy over the profits they earn from the crop in very short time.”

Unlike the regular crops, mint crop doesn’t require any fertilisers and has no adverse effect on the soil. Blue bulls and cattle, which are a constant threat to every other crop, do not affect mint at all. This is what makes mint a big hit among farmers.

Around 35 years back, India was importing mint from China and Japan. Due to efforts of scientists of CIMAP, now India is a global leader and exporting menthol mint oil and its allied products to various countries.

“UP is the leading state for mint crop. Over 60 percent of the total mint production in the country is done in UP,” said Saudan Singh. The demand for menthol mint has also increased over the years. Today, it is widely used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, chewing gums, etc.