Lemon grass trending in Telangana, AP

​Aswaraopet: Farmers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh who have been severely affected by lack of remunerative prices for years for their produce, including commercial crops are opting for lemon grass.

While lemon grass farmers are being provided subsidies by the government in other states, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are lagging behind in creating awareness among horticulture farmers regarding such incentives.

If subsidised loans are extended and industries are set up, then thousands of farmers can get fruitful employment and earn profits. Lemon grass is one of the main ingredients in spices, medicines and soap.

Bollina Naresh of Naramvarigudem village in Aswaraopet constituency, one of the farmers raising Lemon Grass told The Hans India that the grass can be grown as an inter-crop even if the investment is more due to the fact that it is easier to raise than the other crops.

“Apart from this, along with lemon grass crop long-term plantations like coconut and palm oil could also be taken up,” he said.

According to Naresh, soil manure or vermin-compost is the only prerequisite before lemon grass seeds are sown. “If water is available drip facility can be used. The grass is ready for harvest within 100 days. The yield is likely to be less if oil is not separated from the grass within 72 hours after cutting.

Hence the processing should be taken up within the least time possible for which a specially built boiler is used. He stressed that care should be taken to ensure that the dirty water released from the boiler does not enter the field. If allowed the crop will get affected with pest. The grown grass is cut and boiled in the boiler after extracting the oil and dried for use as firewood.

One tonne of grass yields 10 kg of scented oil. If urea is added to the soil every time after the grass is cut the growth can be rapid. The oil can be stored in either glass or plastic drums.

Agriculture scientist L V S Reddy told The Hans India that the National Horticultural Mission provides subsidy for growing lemon grass for extracting scented oil. He said the grass can be raised very easily even during rainy and summer seasons and that animals won’t eat it before the processing nor get affected by pests.

Reddy suggests that farmers should jointly form units, since high investment is required. The cost of investment can be shared by them. He said 80 to 90 kg of oil can be extracted from one acre. The farmers should take the advice of the agriculture department officials and also have awareness about marketing, he said.

By: Sankuratri Satish