LAHORE: To enhance productivity of marginal lands and profitability for farmers, the horticulture wing of the Punjab Agriculture Department has embarked upon a plan to introduce medicinal plantation in specific districts of the province.

In collaboration with the Ayub Agriculture Research Institute (AARI), Faisalabad, six plants have been selected, their zones earmarked and production techniques have been prepared.

The plants to be cultivated there include fennel (saunf), black seed (kalonji), flea seed (isapghol), holy basil (tulsi), carom seed (ajwain) and linseed (alsi).

Pakistan has so far been meeting its requirement of these medicinal plants through imports from India via Dubai at a higher cost.

Horticulture Director Dr Basharat tells Dawn that sowing of these plants locally will not only reduce the country’s import bill, but also help it earn foreign exchange later, when these will become popular with the farmers because of their comparatively lower cost of production and better profit than the crops traditionally sown on arable lands.

“If the owner of a marginal land gets 400kgs (10 maunds) of wheat per acre, he will grossly earn (without excluding cost of farm inputs and labour) just Rs72,000 at a rate of Rs1,800 per 40kg. But, if the same grower opts for carom seed, also used in cooking, his gross earnings will go up manifold as its retail rate is close to Rs2,000 per kg,” he says, pointing out the potential of the medicinal plants in reducing rural poverty.

He says the department is targeting at least 2,500 acres of marginal lands for planting the medicinal plants in Sargodha, Faisalabad, Khanewal, Multan, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal areas during the five-year project. So far, 260 acres of land have been brought under such cultivation, he adds.

Except basil, all other crops grow in Rabi season and the farmers not getting a good wheat yield are being convinced through demonstration plots and publicity material etc to diversify their farming practices and go for medicinal plants to earn better profits.

Unlike other projects in which farmers have to find a market for their produce on their own, the horticulture wing has taken on board major herbal medicines manufacturers and linked them directly with the plant growers, the official says.

The value-addition industry, like sophisticated oil extracting units, is also being set up close to the targeted districts to further expand the market and enhance profitability of the medicinal plants growers, he adds.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2021