The coronavirus pandemic has proved to be a big boon for herbal plants with medicinal properties. There has been sharp spurt in the demand for herbal plants across the state. The nurseries in UP are doing brisk business selling plants such as Tulsi (Basil), Brahmi (water hyssop), Ashwagandha (winter cherry), Giloy (heart-leaved moonseed) and lemongrass. Orders for these plants are pouring daily from other parts of country as well as foreign countries.
The demand has gone up so much that many nurseries are giving their time and resources exclusively for preparing saplings of herbal plants, setting aside plans to grow mango, guava and other fruits and seasonal plants.
The nursery owners are confident that the demand for the herbal plants is likely to persist in near future and are of the view that the demand may actually increase once the economy is fully unlocked and normal train and air services resume regular operation. They say with the resumption of air and railways services, the demand from the foreign markets is also expected to spike.
Shabihul Hasan, a nursery owner in Malihabad on Lucknow-Hardoi road, said with the first lockdown imposed on March 25, the demand for herbal plants started rising. He said that various varieties of Tulsi and Ashwagandha were the most sought after these days. He said many people living in apartments had also been asking for lemongrass, a mosquito-repellent. Besides, young entrepreneurs have been enquiring about commercial farming of plants such as Palm rose, Jawa and Citroneila, which have medicinal use, he added.
Hasan said the demand had helped nurseries do good business during the lockdown period as well. He himself got orders for 10,000-15,000 saplings in a single day.
Another nursery owner said orders were coming for curry-leaf saplings from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana and the rates had gone up these days. The nursery owner said many nurseries dealing in traditional plants such as fruits and flowers were now growing and selling herbal plants.
A lemongrass sapling is available for Rs 2, and Giloy and Tulsi for Rs 8 each in the nurseries at Malihabad, while in the retail market in the city, they sell for up to Rs 20.
The UP government too has started promoting herbal tree plantation in the state. The government has directed the authorities to plant herbal trees in villages through MNREGA schemes. The state government started work under MNREGA on a large scale during the pandemic to provide jobs to migrant labourers. Now it wants to use this workforce for herbal plantation as well.