Tulsi cultivation gets a boost during Covid in Himachal

Himachal Pradesh Economy

09-Feb-21

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“The cultivation of tulsi has received a major boost during the pandemic in the lower regions of the state. With everyone focusing on building immunity and tulsi being one of the foremost immunity-building herbs, its cultivation has gone up significantly,” said Ujjwal Deep, Project Officer at Research Institute in Indian Systems of Medicine, Joginder Nagar, while manning the exhibition of medicinal plants in Shimla on the occasion of the golden jubilee of statehood.
Ujjwal said that the Department of Ayurveda had been encouraging people for the cultivation of medicinal plants for the past four or five years. Around 500 plants have been identified as medicinal in the state and the department has been trying to encourage people to cultivate many of them.
Besides providing plants for cultivation, preferably in clusters as it is not commercially viable in small landholdings, the department also provides subsidies to the tune of 30 per cent to 70 per cent per hectare to the famers for the cultivation of medicinal plants.
The subsidy in the lower region is 30 per cent while in the higher altitude areas, it goes up to 70 per cent. Besides, the administration also tries and provides market linkages to the farmers by bringing both buyers and sellers at a common platform.
The department encourages farmers to cultivate medicinal plants in their wastelands. The idea is not to stop traditional farming. The cultivation of medicinal plants is an alternative source of income for the farmers. While augmenting their income, the practice will provide us with enough herbs for medicinal purpose.
Herbs found in higher attitudes are of extremely high quality and hence their demand is very high. The cultivation of high-altitude herbs can fetch a very good price to the farmers. There’s no competition for the higher altitude herbs.