Medicinal & Aromatic Plants Garden
Medicinal & Aromatic Plants Garden
Organically grown medicinal and aromatic crop products are not only readily accepted in the global markets, but also command higher prices than those cultivated using chemical inputs. Globalization increased the demand for lndian medicinal and aromatic plants.
Organic farming, ecological farming and biodynamic farming are the components of natural way of farming. Natural farming is self-sustaining but it is difficult to meet our requirement to feed the increasing population. On the other hand, chemical farming yields much but posses the serious problems for soil, environment and human health. There is a path in between aforementioned two type of systems of farming, that is organic farming and its aim is to create integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural production systems, which maximize reliance on farm-derived renewable resources and the management of ecological and biological processes and interactions, so as to provide acceptable level of crop, livestock and human nutrition, protection from pests and diseases and an appropriate return to the human and other resources employed (Lampkin, 1990; Neuerburg and Padel, 1992). In the modern agriculture, major inputs are- fertilizer, insecticide, pesticide and farm operation with heavy machinery developed by the middle of 20th century in Europe and USA. In India, it was on peak in late sixties or seventies with the green revolution. The fertilizer consumption (N, P2O5 and K2O) was above 500kg ha-1 in European countries and it started creating environmental problems such as enrichment of nitrate in underground water (Aishwath, 2005b), eutrofication of lakes and release of substantial amount of ammonia to the atmosphere, salinization, pesticides contamination in under ground water, genetic and soil erosion etc. (Dahama, 1996). People also perceived that organically grown food is good as that of produced with fertilizers. These problems and issues drawn the attention to the scientific community of various fields and at the end of this century organically produced agricultural products have received the global attention. During last few years, the global market for organically produced food was about US $ 26 billion in 2003 and estimated to reach up to 102 billion by the 2020. India’s share in this market for organic food was 0.76%.
Aromatic Plants
Some Examples of Aromatic Plants are Lemon grass, E. citridora, Patchouli, Jamarosa, Rose, Tube-rose, Gladiolus, Gerbera, Chrysanthemum, and Marigold
Organic aromatic farming is the cultivation of aromatic plants without the use of harmful chemicals. It is important for the following reasons:
- Sustainable production: Organic farming can help make the production system more sustainable and export-oriented.
- Improved quality and yield: Organic farming can help improve the quality and yield of aromatic plants.
- Better soil health: Organic farming can help improve soil health, fertility, and productivity.
- Avoids environmental problems: Organic farming can help avoid environmental problems caused by the use of inorganic fertilizers and chemicals.
Some examples of aromatic plants include:
Lemon grass, Patchouli, Jamarosa, Rose, Tube-rose, Gladiolus, Gerbera, Chrysanthemum, Marigold, and Gaillardia.
Some methods that can be used in organic aromatic farming include:
- Using organic fertilizers
- Practicing microbial symbiosis
- Manual weeding
- Weeding through cultural methods like hoeing
- Mulching
- Intercropping
The cultivation of aromatic grasses on marginal/degraded land attracts attention due to their remediation potential, low input cost, and economic gain. During the distillation of these aromatic grasses, a huge amount of solid and liquid waste (hydrosol) is generated, which is not only rich in carbon content but also has a good amount of nutrient. This review summarized the potential of aromatic plants for the restoration and vaporization of distilled waste into different value-added products. In this review, estimates of the economic cost and carbon dynamics for cultivation, distillation, and waste valorisation of aromatic grasses were made using available data. Based on the literature, the available degraded land reported for India (38,600 ha) was used for the calculation. The review discussed Scientometrics analysis, the remediation potential of aromatic plants, and various routes of valorization of distilled waste generated to achieve sustainable development goals. Scientometrics analysis demonstrated the studies that include the phytoremediation potential of aromatic grasses in recent years. Among the aromatic grasses, Chrysopogon zizaniodes (L.) Nash., Cymbopogon flexuosus and Cymbopogon martini were majorly used for reclamation purposes for dry land, mine-affected areas, and metal and pesticide-contaminated soils. The estimated profitability of the cultivation and carbon sequestration potential of these grasses in marginal/degraded land could be 22–629 million USD. Our estimations showed that the cost of carbon sequestration by the cultivation of the aromatic plant in degraded land could be 16–45 million USD. The conversion of distilled waste generated into compost, vermicompost, and biochar could sequester about 0.02 X105-335 X105 t of carbon (cost: 0.2–1913 million USD). The use of hydrosol and smoke water released during the process could sequester about 0.014 to 7403 t of carbon ( cost 0.001 to 0.42 million USD). Overall the review demonstrated the sustainability and carbon footprinting of the remediation process by aromatic grasses. The review allowed the exploration of knowledge-based strategies to unlock the potential of aromatic plants for restoration and carbon sequestration, along with the value addition of distilled waste in a sustainable manner. However, more databases are needed to support the information, which includes the productivity and selectivity of individual aromatic plant for different soil and agro-climatic regions.