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Article ID: AEN-2020-01-03-007
Lemon grass: A Lucrative Crop for Degraded Lands of Central Gujarat
Dinesh Jinger1*, Vijaysinha Kakade2, Vibha Singhal3 and D. Dinesh1
1ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, RC -Vasad, Anand, Gujarat 2ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Baramati, Maharashtra 3ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Lemon grass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) is a perennial grass cultivated for its essential oil. It is
cultivated in India, China, Myanmar, Africa, Guatemala, South America, Java, Madagascar, and
many other countries. The name lemon grass is derived from the typical lemony odour of the
essential oil present in the leaves. Lemon grass oil is used in culinary flavouring. It is used in
beverages, frozen dairy desserts, candy baked foods, puddings, meat, fat and oils. It is used to
improve the flavour of some fish and can be used to flavour wines, sauces etc. It is used extensively
in soaps, detergents, house-hold cleaner, mosquito cream, Agarbatti etc. Dried lemon grass leaves are
widely used as a lemon flavour ingredient in herbal teas. The well ramified root system of this grass
helps in soil and water conservation. Lemon grass is extensively grown in degraded, marginal and
waste lands.
Lemon grass cultivation at ICAR-IISWC, Research Centre-Vasad, Anand, Gujarat
Climate and Soil
Lemon grass is a tropical plant grows well in hot and humid climate. It needs at least 1500–
3000 mm annual rainfall. A daytime temperature of 25–30° C is considered optimum for maximum
oil production with no extremely low night temperatures. It is drought tolerant in nature, mainly
grown as a rainfed crop and grows up to a height of 1.2–3.0 meters. It can be grown in all kinds of
soils. It can grow from poor laterites soil (pH 4.5) to alkali soil (pH 8.5) and even up to soil pH of
9.6. It is having soil binding nature, hence useful as vegetative cover for conserving soil and water.
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Varieties:
Varieties Developed from
OD-19 (Sugandhi), OD-410,
OD-408
Aromatic and Medicinal Plants Research Station ,
Odakkali, KAU, Kerala
Krishna, Pragati, Cauvery,
Nima, SD-68 CIMAP, Lucknow, U.P.
NLG-84 NDUAT, Faizabad, UP.
RRL-16, CKP-25 Regional research laboratory, Jammu
Propagation through seeds
Lemon grass is generally propagated through seeds. The seeds collected during the months of
January-February are usually sown in the nursery during April-May. Seedlings can be raised in a
nursery in one-tenth of the area of the main field. The optimum seed rate of 2.5–3 kg/ha is optimum
for uniform stand and better growth of plants. Seeds should be mixed with dry river sand (1:3),
uniformly broadcasted on the beds and covered with a thin layer of soil. The seed bed should be
irrigated every day. Seeds germinate in one week and about 45–50 days old seedlings are planted in
main field during the monsoon season.
Propagation through slips
Lemon grass can be propagated by planting of slips from existing healthy clumps. Planting
material is obtained by dividing the mature clumps from the old plantation; the divided units are
called ‘Slips’. After digging out the clumps lengthy roots are trimmed, dead leaves are removed and
top portion is cut at a height of 20–25 cm before separation of slips to allow quick establishment of
the slips in soil and to protect it from soil born insect and pests. Total 37,000 slips are required for
one hectare area.
Planting
Land is prepared by 2–3 ploughing, harrowing and followed by levelling. Planting is done on
flat beds or ridges depending upon the texture of the soil. Slips are placed in holes of about 5–8 cm
deep and the soil surrounding the slips is properly pressed and watering must be done. Planting
should be done with the onset of monsoon at spacing of 60 x 45 cm (R x P) and 2-3 seedlings or slips
are planted per hill.
Manure and fertilizers
Lemon grass being a leafy crop removes large amount of nutrients from the soil, therefore, it
is necessary to supply sufficient amount of organic manures and fertilizers. The well decomposed
FYM (10–15 ton/ha) should be applied in the field before planting. The 100 kg nitrogen, 50 kg P2O5
and 50 kg K2O/ha/year is recommended. The half dose of nitrogen and full dose of P2O5 and K2O
should be applied at the time of planting. The remaining nitrogen is applied in 2–3 splits after each
harvest.
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Irrigation
In areas of prolonged rainy season, the crop is cultivated as rainfed crop. The area where
rainfall is good and well distributed, there is no need of irrigation. In dry and low rainfall areas,
irrigation should be done at 10 days interval. In sub-tropical areas where rainy season lasts for 3-4
months, the crop requires regular irrigation during rain free period and 8-10 irrigations are
considered to be sufficient to meet the water requirement.
Harvesting
First harvesting is done after 4–5 months of planting and subsequent harvesting is done at the
interval of 3–4 months. During the first year of planting, 3 cuttings are obtained and subsequently 4–
5 cuttings per year. Harvesting is done with the help of sickles; the plants are cut 10 cm above
ground-level and allowed to wilt in the field, before transporting to the distillation site. Depending
upon soil and climatic conditions, the plantation lasts on an average, for 5 to 6 years.
Yield
On an average, 10 to 15 tonnes of fresh herbage is harvested per hectare per annum from 3-4
cuttings. The yield of oil is less during the first year but it increases in the second year and reaches a
maximum in the third year; after this, the yield declines. The yield in terms of oil varies from 0.5% to
0.8% depending on the variety, month of harvest and age of the crop, with an average oil yield of
0.65%.
Intercropping
Lemon grass can be grown as intercrop even with fast growing tree like Melia dubia. The
wide space available between rows of Melia dubia can be utilised by growing lemon grass as
intercrop. The fresh herbage of lemon grass is being sold at 10 Rs/kg by ICAR-Indian Institute of
Soil and Water Conservation, RC -Vasad, Anand, Gujarat. Farmers can earn 1.5–2 lakh rupees per
hectare as extra money by growing it as intercrop on degraded or waste lands.
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Melia dubia + Lemon grass at ICAR-IISWC, RC-Vasad, Anand, Gujarat
References
Gawali, A.S. and Meshram, N.A. 2019. Scientifically cultivation of lemon grass: a potential aromatic
crop. Plant Archives 19(2): 2860–2864.
Tomar, J.M.S., Kaushal, R., Rathore, A.C., Mandal, D. and Chaturvedi, O.P. 2016. Yield and soil
fertility build up by aromatic grasses on degraded riverbed land of north western Himalayan
foothills. Indian Journal of Agroforestry 18(2): 66–71.