Soon after setting up his LPG agency, Kalyan Saikia of Biswanath Chairali, a small highway town in northern Assam, realised that the profit margins were low in comparison to the investment. Just as he was despairing of success, a chance meeting with an official of the North East Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi) changed his entire approach towards business. Under their guidance, Saikia turned to growing patchouli, an aromatic herb. Its oil sells for anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500/litre in the domestic market and fetches even higher prices abroad. Saikia, while one of the leading growers of the herb in Assam, is the not the only educated youth to be initiated into cultivating medicinal and aromatic plants in the state. With NEDFi setting up an R&D centre at Khetri, about 40 km east of Guwahati, therapeutic herbs are the new rural rage. ‘‘At least 1,000 families have taken up commercial cultivation of medicinal herbs across Assam, usually in addition to the regular crops they may have been growing for generations,’’ says Moniruddin Ahmed, director of the R&D centre. ‘‘Each acre could yield produce worth Rs 30,000 annually.’’ Hundreds of households in areas like Kaliabor, Sonapur, Morigaon, Kokrajhar and Biswanath Chairali have been growing patchouli (Pogostemon cablin), with NEDFi providing full technical as well as financial support, apart from a complete buy-back guarantee for the crop produced. With NEDFi’s support, several youths like Saikia of Biswanath Chariali and Ranjit Bora of Kaliabor have already set up their own distilleries for extraction of oil from patchouli. One plant has been also set up at Kokrajhar with the All Bodo Farmers’ Association organising medicinal herb-growing training camps for tribal farmers. The oil distilled from the leaves of the patchouli plant has an intense, earthy aroma, which relieves stress, induces tranquility and fights depression. In Japan and Malaysia, the herb is used to treat colds, headaches and nausea as well as an antidote for snake bites. In the Far East, including Japan, the oil is also used to scent linen and clothing; it is also anti-septic, fungicidal and insecticidal. Some communities believe it is an aphrodisiac, though that claim is yet to be scientifically proved. ‘‘Patchouli oil production could be a village-based, labour-intensive, low cost agro-based cottage industry, which will give large-scale employment in rural and hilly areas. Being a shade-loving plant, patchouli can be easily intercropped with fruits, arecanut and coconut. It also grows easily in flood-free fallow land or wasteland,’’ says Ahmed. NEDFi picks up both dry patchouli from farmers as also the oil distilled by individuals. Over the past four years, say its officials, they have sold 7,500 kg of oil, including 200 kg to buyers in the US, Europe and South-East Asia. The bulk consumers are perfume and mouthwash manufacturers, cosmetic plants and some food processors. Patchouli is not the only medicinal or aromatic herb being promoted by NEDFi’s R&D centre. The centre has, in its own complex, over 100 species of medicinal plants, including geranium, aswagandha, kasturi bhendi, kalmegh, lemon grass, Jatropha curcas, phylanthus and so on. Realising the potential of medicinal herbs in the region—Assam alone has over 300 species growing naturally—several other agencies like Assam Science Society, Guwahati University and the North Eastern Council (NEC) have also taken up projects to popularise cultivation of various medicinal herbs that have a large demand in the pharmaceutical industry outside the region. Only recently, NEC secretary Kamal Taori organised a workshop in Shillong to bring together under one umbrella all the agencies working independently for the propagation of medicinal and aromatic herbs in the region. ‘‘With ayurvedic and other traditional medicines becoming popular, this sector can contribute immensely to the region’s rural economy,’’ Taori said.
