Farmers trying to script a success story

Peasants in Timli Mansingh, which had become deserted decades ago, have starated growing lemon grass, tejpat (bay leaf) on 50 hectares of land and the results are likely to start showing in next four to five months::

Deepti Saxena

Migration from upper hill areas in search of prosperity may be a cause of worry in Uttarakhand, but a group of farmers in a remote village of the state are now trying hard to script a reverse success story. Farmers in Timli Mansingh, which had become deserted decades ago, are now experimenting with new schemes with a hope to bring back the lost prosperity.

Help has come from the government-run Centre of Aromatic Plants (CAP) to grow aromatic plants in the village. The assistance is being given under a pilot project. "We have distributed and planted saplings of lemon grass and tejpat (bay leaf) on 50 hectares of land at Timli Mansingh two months back and the results will start showing in next four to five months," said Nripendra Chauhan, in-charge of CAP under whose supervision the pilot project has been launched.

Timli Mansingh, which can be accessed only after trekking a distance of nine km, was inhabited by 210 members belonging to 30 families, mostly farmers, till 1979.

However, drying up of water sources, lack of irrigation facility, reduction in yield of traditional crops and their destruction by wild animals forced them to gradually migrate to lower areas. And in just a few years, all the villagers migrated to nearby Maldevta area in Dehra Dun district.

The village was identified during a survey by CAP under National Agriculture Development Plan when it was looking for places which were abandoned by villagers and where aromatic plants can grow. Moreover, these aromatic plants can help the land restore its dried water sources, said Chauhan.

Lemon grass becomes ready for distillation after one year of its plantation and after that oil can be extracted after every six months, Chauhan said, adding similarly, the tejpat also becomes ready for giving leaves in five years' time. "The farmers can directly sell the leaves in the market or they can sell the oil through CAP," he said.

A profit of Rs 50,000 per hectare is expected during the initial years which is likely to further grow at the rate of 30 per cent per year. For the purpose of distillation, the CAP would not only set up a specially designed plant within the village but also establish a fund for farmers, Chauhan said. The CAP has also identified Ravani Khera in Pauri for the experiment and planted similar plants there last month. As per official statistics, 3.03 lakh hectares of land in Uttarakhand have become barren due to various reasons, including 10,287 hectares since the creation of the hill state. "We have fixed a target of bringing back 20,000 hectares of barren and abandoned land under farming till 2012 by taking various measures," said Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.