As the kharif season gets underway in Jharkhand's Palamu district, farmers are once again bracing for one of their toughest challenges, nilgai herds that tear through fields of paddy, maize and pulses overnight. But Omkar Nath, a farmer from Padwa block, has found a way around the problem. He started growing peppermint on his land, a crop nilgai simply will not touch, and that single decision has turned into his biggest source of income.
A crop nilgai avoids, and profit that follows
For farmers whose fields are repeatedly wrecked by nilgai, Omkar Nath's approach offers real hope. The sharp scent of peppermint keeps nilgai away, which means the crop stays completely safe from the damage that ruins other harvests. That is exactly why other farmers in Palamu have started looking at his fields and following his lead into aromatic crop farming.
Training in Lucknow, a distillation unit back home
Omkar Nath did not stop at growing the crop. He also set up a machine in his village to extract oil from the peppermint he grows. For this, he trained at CMF, the Central Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Institute, in Lucknow, and then built a distillation unit in his own village. That unit now lets him extract oil not just from peppermint but also from lemongrass, tulsi, khus and other aromatic crops. The essential oils produced from these crops are in strong demand in the market and fetch good prices.
A plant from his sister's home in Bareilly, now a business
This farming journey goes back around 26 years. Omkar Nath says his sister lives in Bareilly, and it was from her home that he first brought a peppermint plant to his own field. The plant stayed with him for years, but he only began growing it on a commercial scale over the last two years. Cultivating one acre initially cost him 15,000 to 20,000 rupees, but the yield and the price he got in the market turned out to be far better than he expected. Encouraged by that success, he is now planning to expand the area under peppermint cultivation.
80 to 90 litres of oil from one acre, three times the return
According to Omkar Nath, one acre of peppermint cultivation yields about 80 to 90 litres of oil. Since he owns his own distillation unit, he does not need to travel anywhere else to extract it. In the market, peppermint oil sells for 800 to 1000 rupees per litre. By that calculation, the income from one acre can reach nearly three times the cost of cultivation, which means a solid profit for the farmer.
A lesson for other farmers
Omkar Nath says that in areas where nilgai keep damaging crops, aromatic crop farming can prove to be a better and safer alternative. Low cost, low risk and a good market price together make this kind of farming an effective way to raise farmers' incomes in regions like Palamu.
