Ferula asafoetida-Heeng cultivation: Untapped agri-preneurship opportunity in Kashmir

 

Heeng cultivation: Untapped agri-preneurship opportunity in J&K

Ferula asafoetida plants

The scientific name of asafoetida (heeng) is a Ferula assafoetida andnis a a monoecious, herbaceous and perennial plant of the family Apiaceae.

The scientific name of asafoetida (heeng) is a Ferula assafoetida andnis a a monoecious, herbaceous and perennial plant of the family Apiaceae. It is a dried latex (gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of Ferula which is a perennial herb that grows 1 to 1.5 m (3.3 to 4.9 ft) tall. It is also known as devil's dung, asant, food of the gods, jowani badian, stinking gum, hing, hengu, ingu, kayam, and ting. In Kashmiri, it is called as Yang and Sap, in Tamil (Perungaayam) and in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi as Hing. 

The two main varieties of asafoetida are Hing Kabuli Sufaid (Milky White Asafoetida) and Hing Lal (Red Asafoetida). Even though most of the world's production of asafoetida comes from the Middle Eastern regions of Iran and Afghanistan, India is the major consumer of this spice.
The resin-like gum comes from the dried sap extracted from the stem and roots and is used as a spice. The resin is greyish-white when fresh, but dries to a dark amber colour. Today, the most commonly available form is compounded asafoetida, a fine powder containing 30 percent asafoetida resin, along with starch of rice flour and gum Arabic.

Process of cultivation
Asafetida requires full sun. Sow seeds in fall or early spring directly into prepared beds. Germination is improved by exposure to cold, moist conditions. Sow seeds on the surface of the soil with a lightly tamped layer of sand over them. Space seeds 2 feet apart and keep moderately moist until germination. Thereafter, water when soil is dry to the touch several inches down.

Plants are generally self-sufficient after they grow several feet high but some may require staking. In some regions, they can be self-sowing, so removing the flower heads before they go to seed may be necessary unless you want a field of this herb. Harvest as a vegetable when shoots and leaves are young and tender.

Special Usages of Asafoetida

1.      As spices
This spice is used as a digestive aid, in food as a condiment, and in pickling. It typically works as a flavour enhancer and used along with turmeric, is a standard component of Indian cuisine, particularly in lentil curries such as dal, as well as in numerous vegetable dishes.

2.      As medicine

Due to its functional properties, it possesses wonderful medicinal properties as antiflatulent and is considered a digestive. It reduces flatulence and also used for remedy for asthma and bronchitis. In Ancient India, rishi munis and vaids were also healers as they knew about the medicinal properties of all herbs and spices. They preferred ayurvedic medicines and remedies to cure many everyday health issues. Hing also has many medicinal properties that are worth mentioning. You may have heard your grandmothers suggest that Heeng tadka is a must to your dals at night as it helps aid digestion. In many parts of the world like Afganistan, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia it is taken to relieve symptoms of whooping cough, asthma and ulcer

Status of Asafoetida
There is no such reliable information on area under Asafoetida and the quantity produced. Central Asia is also source of asafoetida but Afghanistan and Iran are the major producers in this region. Asafoetida is native to central Asia, eastern Iran to Afghanistan, where it grows from 600 to 1200 m above the sea level. Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal is also an emerging states, where there is a huge scope of cultivating this spice at large extent.

India as loyal Consumer of this spice
Despite not being a producer of Asafoetida (Hing), India consumes 40 percent of world's total production each year. So far Hing is produced only in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Baluchistan, Iran and Iraq. India imports near about 1000-1200 MT of asafoetida annually. During 2015-16, India imported 1199 MT of asafoetida valued at Rs 527.42 crores. After processing the raw product, India exported 885 MT of asafoetida valued at Rs 46.27 crores during the same period.

Role of Asafoetida in crop protection technique
The role of Asafoetida in crop protection technique came into limelight when a farmer namely K Chellamuthu, at Kodumudi village, Erode, Tamil Nadu, came under a lot of criticism from experts, when he developed a herbal spray for control of eriophyd mite in coconut trees.
He started experimenting asafoetida's effect on paddy, sesame seeds, ground nut, tomato, brinjal and other crops and found that the yield increased and the plants were healthy.

Golden opportunity for budding Agri-prenuers to take up this spice at large scale
Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have the same cold desert type of climatic conditions that are found in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey and are necessary for its cultivation. India consumes around 40 percent of total production of asafoetida worldwide as these provides an edge and scope of farming of this spice and tap the Indian market by the internal import burden from the various foreign countries.

Various experiments and research revealed that, this spice, if cultivated under technical specification would change the economy of hill states as one kg of pure asafoetida can fetch around Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 in the market. In addition, the production of asafoetida in the country would also reduce the dependence on other countries.

Asafoetida as international value crop has a high demand in pharmaceutical sector. Its farming would definitely improve the economy of farmers as the crop could be grown amidst other horticultural crops.
This crop has a tremendous scope and viable potential in Jammu and Kashmir as because of its nature of commerciality and demand for the same at domestic as well as international level. This spice or crop is the only spice in World that favours the climatic and soil nutrient nature of Jammu and Kashmir at large extent, although being a ignorant crop at both at lab as well as at land, it is  its brand image in terms of medicinal value that somehow has earthed roots at global level. This, we at state level have to work on in order to cultivate this spice at large level so to grab both domestic as well as international market at large extent, thus helping in doubling farmers income as well as economy of state and country as well.

Author is chief agri-business expert at Union Ministry Of Agriculture And Farmers Welfare, New Delhi
bhatnaveedbhat@gmail.com 

Ist published in Greater Kashmir

WHAT IS ARTICLE 370

Indian  Home Minister Amit Shah has announced the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution, which provides a special status to the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. 

 

History

 

In October 1947, the then Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, signed an Instrument of Accession that specified three subjects on which Jammu & Kashmir would transfer its power to the government of India:

1. Foreign affairs

 

2. Defence

 

3. Communications

 

In March 1948, the Maharaja appointed an interim government in the state, with Sheikh Abdullah as prime minister. In July 1949, Sheikh Abdullah and three other colleagues joined the Indian Constituent Assembly and negotiated the special status of J&K, leading to the adoption of Article 370. The controversial provision was drafted by Sheikh Abdullah.

 

What are the provisions of Article 370?

 

Parliament needs the Jammu & Kashmir government's approval for applying laws in the state — except in cases of defence, foreign affairs, finance, and communications.

 

The law of citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights of the residents of Jammu & Kashmir is different from the residents living in rest of India. Under Article 370, citizens from other states cannot buy property in Jammu & Kashmir. Under Article 370, the Centre has no power to declare a financial emergency in the state.

 

It is important to note that Article 370(1)(c) explicitly mentions that Article 1 of the Indian Constitution applies to Kashmir through Article 370. Article 1 lists the states of the Union. This means that it is Article 370 that binds the state of J&K to the Indian Union. Removing Article 370, which can be done by a Presidential Order, would render the state independent of India, unless new overriding laws are made.

 

Rahul Gandhi,Bharat Jodo Yatra,Kashmir,Militants,Article370

 

'Made Eye Contact With Militants During Bharat Jodo Yatra In Kashmir': Rahul Gandhi At Cambridge University

Rahul Gandhi was narrating an incident from the Kashmir leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra during a lecture at United Kingdom's Cambridge University.

More info : https://zeenews.india.com/india/made-eye-contact-with-militants-during-bharat-jodo-yatra-in-kashmir-rahul-gandhi-at-cambridge-university-2579660.html

Echinacea purpurea for profit

Producer: When growing echinacea, the profit reaches $6100 per hectare
by EastFruit10 Sep 200480
 The profitability of the business of growing Echinacea purpurea reaches 210%. At the same time, more than 170 thousand UAH ($ 6.1 thousand) net profit from investments in cultivation at the level of 85 thousand UAH/ha ($ 3.05 thousand) can be obtained from one hectare. 
This opinion was expressed by the technologist-consultant for the cultivation of medicinal plants of the company Shlesem-Ukraine Olexander Gubanev during the online webinar “Industrial and Home Growing of Herbal and Root Groups of Medicinal Plants,” which took place on September 9. The event was organized by the Ukrainian Horticultural Business Development Project (UHBDP).

By seeds : https://jkmpic.blogspot.com/2022/07/planting-material-tree-saplings-herb.html

Echinacea purpurea seeds

During the webinar, Olexander Gubanev elaborated on the practical aspects of growing this crop. As noted by a specialist in the market of medicinal plants, Echinacea purpurea is a crop that is easier to grow than valerian. This is due to the fact that earlier, the culture was brought from North America, a region where it was grown in harsh conditions. “This prompted echinacea to adapt to growing in critical conditions,” noted Olexander Gubanev.

At the same time, the main nuances in the cultivation of echinacea lie in the correct preparation of the soil in the fall. “The soil should be leveled or cultivated to a depth of at least 20 cm. Quite often, farms that grow medicinal plants suffer losses due to drought because plants die from a lack of moisture. At the same time, a critical agricultural technique is loosening to a depth of at least 30-35 cm. The purpose of this event is to destroy the soil sole as much as possible. The fact is that when farmers plow to a depth of 20-25 cm, then a soil sole 3-5 cm thick is formed behind it. It is very hard and forms a rupture of soil moisture to the upper soil layer. I can give a guarantee that after deep loosening at least once every three years, especially in the southern regions of Ukraine, you will feel the effectiveness of this agricultural activity in the first year “, said the technologist-consultant for the cultivation of medicinal plants of the Shlesem-Ukraine company.

Olexander Gubanev also emphasized that echinacea’s raw materials are usually harvested in the second year of the growing season. In the first year, the plant’s yield is not high – a maximum of 5-7 c/ha of the root. “However, the main thing is that the roots of one-year-old echinacea are quite thin in structure, and during harvesting, they remain in a lot of soil. In the second year of the growing season, we are already harvesting two crops. The first of them is the grass in the phase of mass flowering, and in the autumn, we collect the root itself,” Olexander Gubanev said during the webinar.

The specialist also claimed that the demand for echinacea had increased sharply today due to the global coronavirus pandemic because this plant is an immunomodulator for various diseases. “Against this background, the price of echinacea has doubled. If last year for 1 kg of grass, you could get 20-25 UAH ($ 0.72-0.90), currently the price is 40 UAH / kg ($ 1.44). The price of a root currently is about UAH 120 / kg ($ 4.31),” said Olexander Gubanev. The specialist also noted that with the correct observance of all the necessary measures, from 1 hectare, it is possible to get 15 c/ha of dry root and about 35 c/ha of dry grass.

As for the varieties of echinacea, Olexander Gubanev especially singled out the variety “Princess,” which was earlier brought to Ukraine from Germany and currently is not cross-pollinated with other varieties. “However, if we talk about the yield of echinacea, it depends not on the variety, but the culture of agriculture, including fertilizers, sowing technology, and tillage. These are the main parameters of success in this business,” emphasized Olexander Gubanev.
He also noted that the bulk of the raw materials grown in Ukraine are currently sold in foreign markets. Some of the raw materials remain in Ukraine and are used to manufacture medicines or the food industry.

As noted by the Director of the Development Department of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association (UHA), Kateryna Zvereva, currently, the market for the sale of medicinal herbs is diverse.

“Significant interest in medicinal plants is shown by both EU countries and Asian and North American states. However, the bulk of Ukraine’s exported medicinal and aromatic raw materials falls on the EU. The annual consumption of raw materials in the EU countries is 400-420 thousand tons. This market’s annual growth is about 5% per year,” the director of the Development Department of UHA emphasized.