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Vishwanath Kulkarni

BANGALORE, Sept. 15

COFFEE and arecanut growers, who are facing crisis due to low prices, are looking at diversifying into cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants as new intercrops for alternate sources of revenues.

While niche crop as vanilla has already caught the fancy of several coffee and arecanut growers especially in Karnataka over the last two years, it is now the medicinal and aromatic plants as patchouli, citronella, davana, piper longum, lemon grass and garcinia among others which are attracting their attention.

"People in plantation areas are trying to shift to medicinal plants as intercrops and we have been receiving a lot of enquiries of late on the planting material and technology transfer," said Dr E.V. Prakasa Rao of the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Bangalore.

With this recent development, we expect to see a lot more activities in this area, Mr Rao said adding that this is likely to give a boost to the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants in the State. Crops as patchouli, which need to be grown in shade, are suitable for the coffee growing areas, Mr Rao said.

Traditionally, pepper and cardamom were grown as intercrops in coffee and arecanut plantations. Pepper had worked out well for growers when prices were high two years back. However, the high volatility in prices has forced them to look beyond these traditional intercrops.

Coffee prices are ruling at 30-year low, while arecanut prices have once again crashed over the last six months. "In these circumstances if you don't diversify you can't sustain," said coffee grower Mr M.G. Dattatreya on the need to look at alternative sources of revenue.

While the interest in medicinal and aromatic plants has been generated among the planters community, large-scale cultivation is yet to pick up. This is mainly because none of the State agencies have come forward to advocate an ideal intercrop, sources said. However, cultivation of vanilla has picked up in the State over the last few years. Karnataka has about 1,000-1,500 hectares under vanilla, and is a major producer next to Kerala.

Dr G.K. Vasanth Kumar, Director, Karnataka Horticulture Department, said patchouli and piper longum were considered to be ideal intercrops for coffee and arecanut. Efforts were also on to identify other crops that could be grown in these areas, he said.

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