Scientists sow ‘pure’ heeng seeds to help farmers reap benefits
Tuesday, 08 January 2019 | Archana Jyoti | New Delhi
For the first time, in high altitudes of Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul & Spiti, Indian scientists have successfully sown high-quality seeds of Asafoetida locally known as heeng (botanical name: Ferula assa-foetida L.), imported from Iran, to help the cold deserts’ farmers to commercially grow the much-sought after high-valued spice.
Given that currently India imports about 1,145 tonnes of raw Heeng annually from Afghanistan (73 per cent), Iran (14 per cent) and Uzbekistan (13 per cent) incurring approximately $77 million per year, all eyes are now on the indigenous project undertaken by the scientists from the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT), Palampur.
Though, some farmers have taken initiative to grow the heeng herb in their land privately, it is of inferior quality or adulterated which are not good for health, said Dr Sanjay Kumar, Director of the IHBT.
Whereas, he pointed out, the heeng seeds procured by our institute (IHBT) have been quarantined by the national authorised body, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), declaring them to be healthy and free of pests.
“The seeds have been quarantined so that they are weed-free. We have sown them in a tract at our Centre for High Altitude Biology (CeHAB) at Ribling, Lahaul & Spiti as well as at our lab in Palampur. “While at the local lab, seeds have been already germinated, we are now waiting for the snow to melt at the CeHAB centre where seeds will germinate in natural cold conditions,” said Dr Sanjay Kumar.
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In India, it can be cultivated in a wide range of sub-Himalayan region of northern India, viz. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, added Dr Ashok Kumar, Scientist, Agrotechnology of Medicinal, Aromatic and Commercially Important Plants Division, IHBT.
Once it is commercially cultivated, the spice has potential to not only provide jobs to unemployed youths, boost the income of the farmers but also offer alternate substitute to regular crops which are facing animal menace or extreme weather conditions.
“Once the heeng project kicks-off, we will also work on improving the technology for extracting resin efficiently as well as conduct experiment if it can be grown in the lower altitudes also,” said Dr Ashok Kumar.
Heeng or Asafoetida is a perennial herb that produces pungently flavoured oleo-gum resin in its fleshy roots which has medicinal properties related to digestive system, cleansing and strengthening the gastro-intestinal tract, Dr Ashok Kumar said.
The international value crop has high demand in the pharmaceutical sector. This plant takes five years for maturing shrubs and producing gum. An average of 30 gm fresh gum can be extracted from a single shrub.
