Aromatic crop cultivation and processing enhanced farm incomes and created livelihoods in drought-affected Bundelkhand, India: A successful initiative

Bundelkhand consists of 14 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states of India. Bundelkhand region has always remained in the discussion because of frequent episodes of drought, water scarcity, migration and starvation. The geographical structure of this area consists of barren plateau, unfertile soil, rocky land and prevailing Anna system remain the main problems for the development of agriculture in this region. Due to these problems, the income of the farmers of Bundelkhand region is very low in comparison to other areas. Looking at the above said problems, the high yielding varieties of aromatic crops (lemongrass, palmarosa, basil, rosagrass and vetiver) were introduced in Bundelkhand region and farmers started fetching good economic returns from these crops. In this study, it was recorded that 50-60 kg/acre of essential oil from aromatic crops could be achieved annually. Because of their low input required for cultivation, higher demand and easy cultivation in drought affected areas of Bundelkhand, farmers are now getting nearly double the income from lemongrass in comparison to traditional crops. It was recorded that by growing aromatic crops, the farmers are earning Rs. 40,000-60,000 per acre per year in comparison to Rs. 30,000-40,000 with traditional crops. Now the farmers continue adopting these crops resulting in expansion to more than 5000 acres under aromatic crops from which about 20 tones of essential oil could be produced yearly. After adoption of these crops more than 1,00,000 additional mandays generated every year in Bundelkhand. Due to cultivation and processing of aromatic crops, more than 15 essential oil based startups, micro and small scale cottage industries are coming up in this region. Therefore, the cultivation of aromatic crops is now proving most beneficial and has significantly improved the socio- economic status of the farmers of Bundelkhand region.