Mentha mints no money in parched Bundelkhand

A recent study carried out by Lucknow-based Centre for Contemporary Studies and Research (CCSR), in association with Orai-based (Bundelkhand) Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sangthan, has thrown several startling facts about the cultivation of mentha.

The study was conducted in February — the month when Bundelkhand farmers sow mentha. Though it is not the ideal time for sowing the crop, the local farming practice does not allow them to take it up earlier.

Samples of mentha were collected from as many as 100 households of 20 villages in five development blocks of Jalaun district, said Utkarsh K Sinha of CCSR.

All these farmers are cultivating mentha as their principal crop, besides producing other crops like wheat, coarse grains, sugarcane and others. The study also confirms that those farmers, who are cultivating mentha, do not practice mixed farming.

Farmers in Bundelkhand usually prefer to grow wheat (41.97 per cent) as it ensures food security. Mentha (36.28 per cent) and sugarcane (31.39 per cent) are the other preferred crops. In practice, however, farmers who cultivate mentha do not cultivate any other crop due to lack of finances and other resources. Mentha cultivation has only ended up affecting their food security.

Moreover, if mentha is cultivated on dry land, water requirement increases in accordance with the water content of the land. The study data suggests that the irrigation cost incurred by a farmer in mentha cultivation is Rs 8,856 per acre for two cuttings and Rs 10,824 per acre for three cuttings. “It is important to note here that these cost data reflect only the expenditure on diesel and rent for pumping set and does not include the water price. One can easily presume what cost Bundelkhand is paying for mentha cultivation!” wondered Sinha.

An Indian menthol...