1. University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot
Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture,Arabhavi
CURRENT STATUS OF ORGANIC PRODUCTION
PRACTICES IN HERBAL SPICES

2. What is organic farming?
It is a method of farming system which
primarily aimed at cultivating the land and raising
crops in such a way, as to keep the soil alive and
in good health by use of organic wastes (crop,
animal and farm wastes, aquatic wastes) and other
biological materials along with beneficial
microbes (biofertilizers) to release nutrients to
crops for increased sustainable production in an
eco-friendly pollution free environment.

3. COMPONENTS OF ORGANIC FAMING

4. Principles in Organic Farming

6. Herbal spices
Herbal spices are those herbs whose leaves are
mostly used for seasoning the dishes.
These include,
 Basil
 Common mint
 Rosemary
 Thyme
 Parsley
 Sage
 Savory

7. ORGANIC CULTIVATION OF SACRED BASIL
 Ocimum sanctum is commonly known as Tulsi or Holy Basil,
which is a species worshipped by the Hindus.
 Ocimum sanctum belongs to family Lamiaceae. Among
different species of genus Ocimum, the species sanctum
occupies wide range of habitats.
 Among Indian species, Ocimum basilicum and Ocimum
sanctum have the widest distribution, which cover the entire
Indian subcontinent.
 Origin: Africa

8. USES
 Basil is used in some perfumes and for scenting of soaps of high
quality.
 In flavouring of toothpaste and various food products.
 Basil oil is extensively used as flavouring agent in confexanery,
baked foods, sauces, ketchup, pickles, fancy vinegars, spice
meats, sausages and beverages.
 Dental and oral preparations.
 Insecticidal and insect repellent properties; it is effective against
houseflies and mosquitoes.
 Leaf juice has narcotic effect and gives relief in irritation of
throat and also for ring worm.
 Seeds possess demulcent, stimulant, dieuretic, diaphoretic and
cooling properties, effectives in piles and constipation.

9. The oil extracted from the leaves is reported to
possess antibacterial and insecticidal properties, and
is effective as a mosquito repellent.
The aromatic compounds found in the essential oils
of Ocimum sanctum are mainly the mono-terpenes,
sesquiterpenes and phenols, alcohols, esters,
aldehydes, ketones and others.

10. Ocimum sanctum seeds
Ocimum sanctum

11. BOTANY
 The genus Ocimum belongs to subfamily Ocimoideae of the
family Lamiaceae.
 The plants of Ocimum sanctum are predominantly shrubs and
herbs and are perennial in habit.
 The plants are usually much branched. Stems and twigs are
usually quadrangular.
 Young twigs are greenish, purplish or brownish in colour.
 The leaves are simple, petiolate and ovate. They possess
glandular hairs or stalked and sessile glands which secrete
volatile oils and they exhibit racemose type of inflorescence.
 Flowers are hermophordite, zygomorphic and complete.
 Seeds are mostly brownish, globose or subglobose and are
shining or non-mucilaginous.

12. VARIETIES:
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow has released
the varieties CIM-Ayu, CIM- Angna and CIM-Kanchan.
SOIL AND CLIMATE :
Ocimum sanctum thrives well on a variety of soils and climatic
conditions. Rich loam to poor laterite, alkaline to moderately acidic soils are
well suited for cultivation of Ocimum sanctum. Well drained soils help in better
vegetative growth.
It flourishes under fair to high rainfall and humid conditions. Long days
and high temperatures have been found to be favourable for plant growth and
higher oil production. Tropical and subtropical climate is suited for its
cultivation. Waterlogged conditions can cause root rot and result in stunted
growth. So proper drainage should be provided.

13. NURSERY PREPARATION
 Raised seedbeds should be prepared and well manured by
addition of farmyard manure about at 15 t/ha as basal dose.
 The seeds should be sown in the nursery. About 20-30g seeds
are enough to raise the seedlings for planting one hectare land.
 After sowing the seeds in the nursery, a mixture of FYM
/Vermicompost and soil is thinly spread over the seeds and
irrigated with a sprinkler hose.
 The seeds take about 8-12 days to germinate and seedlings are
ready for transplanting in about 6 weeks time.

14. Raised beds for nursery Ocimum planting material

15. SPACING :
 Spacing of 60 60 cm is found suitable for Ocimum sanctum.
TRANSPLANTING :
 The seedlings that are 5-6 cm long are ready for transplanting (i.e 4-5
weeks old seedlings).
IRRIGATION :
The crop is irrigated immediately after planting. Seedlings are
established well by the time of second irrigation. It is the right time to get
the gaps filled and replace the weak plants so that uniform stand is
achieved. In summer 3-4 irrigations per month are necessary whereas
during the remaining period, irrigation is given as and when required.
About 20-25 irrigations are enough during a year.

16. WEEDING
In Ocimum sanctum, weeds like Cyanodon
dactylon and Cyperus rotundus can be
troublesome. Before transplanting deep ploughing
has to be done and all the roots of the weeds are
collected manually and removed. Under well
managed conditions 4 or 5 weedings are enough.

17. PESTS AND DISEASES
Ocimum sanctum is a hardy crop and no serious pests and diseases have
been reported. In some situations like waterlogged conditions root-rot may
occur. To avoid this, proper drainage system has to be maintained. If the
problem becomes serious drenching has to be done with 3% NSKE.
Under cloudy conditions it is noticed that incidence of Tingid bug
namely Cochlochilo bullita (family: Tingidae) can cause serious damage by
sucking the sap from leaves and causing defoliation and ultimately death of
whole plant. To avoid this, as a precautionary measure, a foliar spray of 0.2 %
neem oil has to be given and the spraying is repeated every 15 days till clear
weather prevails.

18. HARVESTING
 Ocimum sanctum is ready for first havest 90-95 days after planting.
 Subsequent harvests are taken approximately once in three months.
 For leaf production, the crop has to be harvested at flower
initiation.
 The crop should be cut at 15-20 cm above the ground level.
 The harvesting is done in such a way that most of the tender shoots
are cut leaving the woody stem portions for regeneration.

19. POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT:
Pharmaceutical companies prefer to buy dry herb for
extraction of active constituents. For this Ocimum sanctum herb
has to be shade dried for about 8-10 days by thinly spreading on
gunny bags, preferably in well aerated drying sheds. The
material must be turned over frequently to prevent fungal attack.
The moisture content in the dried herb should be less than 10%.
YIELD:
From well managed organically grown Ocimum sanctum
crop 12-15 t / ha fresh herb (equivalent to 2.4 to 3 t / ha dry
matter) can be obtained in a year. Essential oil content in whole
plant ranges between 0.25-0.47% on fresh weight. Young
inflorescence contains 0.3-0.5% and whole herb 0.10-0.25%. Oil
yields of 30-40 kg flower oil and 20-25 kg whole plant oil per
ha.

20. Sweet/ French basil: Ocimum basilicum
Nutrient management:
Application of FYM/ compost at 15 t/ha is
recommended.
Weed management:
First weeding is done 1 month after planting
and second one 4 weeks after the first. One
hoeing 2 months after transplanting is sufficient.

21. Pest management
Aphid: Aphis gossypii
Spraying 2% neem/ pongamia oil causes
considerable mortality of aphids.
Tingid bug: Monanthia globulifera
Spraying 1% neem/ pongamia oil causes
considerable mortality of bugs.

22. ORGANIC CULTIVATION OF MINTS
Plant Profile:
Family : Lamiaceae
English name : Mint
Indian name : Pudina, Putiha (Sanskrit)
Pudina (Hindi & Kannada)
Putina (Tamil)
Podina (Telugu)
Species : Mentha arvensis (Japanese mint)
M. piperita (Peppermint)
M. spicata (spearmint)
M. citrata (Bergamot mint)

23. Japanese Mint (Mentha arvensis) Pepper Mint (Mentha piperita)
Spear Mint (Mentha spicata) Bergamot mint (Mentha citrata)

24. Mint species and their main constituents
Common name Botanical name Main constituents of mentha oil
Japanese mint Mentha arvensis Menthol (70-80 %)
Pepper mint M. Piperita Menthol (35-50 %)
Bergamot mint M.citrata Linalool and linalyl acetate (45 %)
Spear mint m. Spicata Carvone (60-95%)
Scotch spear mint m. cardiaca Carvone (53-68 %)
Garden mint M. viridis Carvone (very less)

25. USES
 Essential oil: In ointments, pain balms, cough syrup
 Flavoring agent: tooth pastes, candies, chewing
gum
 Cosmetics: deodorant, aftershave lotions
 Japanese and pepper mint: Menthol- ointments,
pain balms, cough syrup
 Spear mint and scotch spear mint : Carvone-
perfumery and flavouring industries
 Bergamot mint: linalool- cosmetic industries

26. SOIL
 Medium to fertile deep soil, rich in humus is ideal
 The soil should have good water holding capacity but water logging should be
avoided.
 A pH range of 6-7.5 is ideal.
CLIMATE
 Japanese mint can be grown in all tropical and subtropical areas under
irrigation.
 However, it does not tolerate damp winters which cause root rot.
 Pepper mint and spear mint cannot be grown profitably in tropical and
subtropical areas, specially with very high summer temperature (41OC) and the
ideal yield is obtained only in humid and temperate conditions like Kashmir
and hills of UP and HP.
 Open sunny situation without excessive rains during the growing period are
congenial for good growth and development of the oil.
 Bergamot mint can be grown even in temperate climate, when it gives higher
yields.

27. VARIETIES OF MINT
JAPANESE MINT : (Mentha arvensis)
 Highly branched and grow up to 1 meter tall
 Oil content -0.5 -1%
 Broad ovate leaves
 Presence of glandular hairs on leaves, stem and calyx
VARIETIES:
 Shivalik, EC-41911, Himalaya (MAS-1), Kalka (Hyb-77), Kosi,
Saksha, Gomati, Damroo, Sambhav, Kushal, MAS-2.

28. PEPPER MINT: (Mentha piperita)
 Height of 45 -80 cm tall
 Oil content is 0.3-0.7 %
VARIETIES:
 Kukrail
 Pranjal
 CIM Madhuras
 CIM Indus
 Tushar

29. SPEAR MINT (Mentha spicata)
• Perennial herb
• Height of 90 cm tall
• Oil content 0.6 %
• High carvone content
VARIETIES:
CIMAP-MSS-1
CIMAP-MSS-5
CIMAP-MSS-98
Punjab spearmint-1
Ganga
Neerkalka

30. BERGAMOT MINT : ( Mentha citrata)
 Branching, perennial herb
 60 cm tall
 oil content 0.4-0.5%
 oil emits lemon like smell
VARIETIES:
Kiran
* It has high oil content and quality.
* Mutant selection developed by gamma irradiation at CIMAP
Lucknow.

31. CULTIVATION ASPECTS
PROPAGATION:
Mints are propagated through the creeping stolons,
suckers or runners
Stolons are obtained from previous years planting
Best time for obtaining stolons is during the months of
December-January.
Nutrient management:
To promote establishment and good crop growth in
early stages, addition of well rotted FYM/compost at
20-25 t/ha at the time of land preparation is
recommended.

32. Planting
 In the plains, planting is done during winter months, whereas in
temperate climate, planting is done in autumn or spring from last
week of December to 1st week of March or from 1st week of
January to 3rd week of February.
 Late planting always gives poor yield.
 Mints require thoroughly ploughed, harrowed fine soil. All the
stubbles of weeds should be removed before the crop is planted.
 The stolons are cut into small pieces (7-10 cm) and planted in
shallow furrows of about 7-10 cm deep at a distance of 45-60 cm
from row to row manually or mechanically.
 Stolons are planted half way down on inner side of the ridges.

33. IRRIGATION AND INTERCULTURE
 Water requirement of mints is very high.
 Depending on soil and climatic conditions the crop is irrigated 6-
9 times before the first monsoon.
 The crop requires three irrigations after monsoon.
 Japanese mints require fifteen irrigations for getting maximum
yield.

34. Weed management:
 Weeds are known to cause 70-75% reduction in yield. Weeds may reduce both
herb and oil yields.
 The critical period of weed competition has been found to be 30-90 DAP and
16-45 days after first harvest.
 Four to five manual weedings are required.
 In sucker planted crop, 3 weedings have to be done at 45, 65 and 80 DAP, while
2 more weedings are done after 30 & 45 days after harvest.
 In transplanted crop, 2-3 weedings are sufficient.
 Mulching with citronella distillation waste and sugarcane leaves can be used to
control weeds.
 Crop rotation may also help to maintain a reasonable control on weed growth.
 Paddy as a preceding crop in rotation with mint has been found to minimize
weed competition 30-40%.
 The following crop rotations may be followed:
 Mint- Early paddy- Potato
 Mint- Maize- Potato
 Mint- Maize- Rape seed/ mustard
 Mint- paddy

35. PLANT PROTECTION
Pest management:
 Semi looper : Thysanoplusia orichalcea
 Control: Spraying of 4% NSKE or 1% Neem oil
 Aphid: Aphis affinis
 Control: Spraying 4% PSKE or 1% Neem oil
Disease management:
 Stolon rot: Macrophomina phaseoli
 Control: Avoid excess irrigation, uproot and burn the
affected plants, apply trichoderma sp. to soil

36. HARVESTING AND YIELD
 Generally the crop is harvested 100-120 days after planting when
the lower leaves start turning yellow. Further, harvesting should be
done in bright sunny weather.
 Harvesting consists of cutting the green herb by means of sickle 2-3
cm above the ground.
 A second harvest is obtained 80 days after the first harvest and the
third after about another 80 days.
 The first crop is ready by the end of June and the second in
September or October.
 A good crop can give as high as 48000 kg of fresh herb per hectare.
However, the average yield from three cuttings is 20,000 to 25,000
kg which in turn may yield about 50-70 kg oil per hectare.

37. EXTRACTION AND STORAGE
 Harvested herb may be wilted in shade for a few hours
 Both fresh and dry herb used for distillation
 To get better result herbage should be shade dried for a
day before it is distilled
 Steam distillation usually prepared and duration of
distillation is 1.5-2 hours
 Impurities present in oil can removed by filtration
 Moisture present oil can be removed by application of
anhydrous sodium sulphate
 GI or aluminium containers are suitable for long time
storage

38. Different types of Mint Oil

39. ORGANIC CULTIVATION OF THYME
• Thymus vulgaris is indeed the most important species
and is widely used as a flavouring agent, a culinary
herb and as a herbal medicine.
• The genus Thymus belongs to the Labiate family
(Lamiaceae).
• Thymus vulgaris is native to southern Europe, from
Spain to Italy.
• It is commonly cultivated there as well as in most mild-
temperate and subtropical climates, which include
southern and central Europe.

40. USES
 It helps in digestion of fat
 Thyme tea -excellent for cough and cold.
 Helps to digest all foods.
 Induce appetite.
 'Thymol ' has antiseptic properties.
 Effective in Mucous membranes in lungs and stomach.
 Oil of thyme - used in ointments, bath, toothpaste and mouth
washes.

41. Soil:
The plant prefers a light but fertile and calcareous
soil for good growth and oil content. But on heavy, wet
soils the aroma of the leaves will be less and there are
chances that the plants may dry up soon.
Climate:
A warm climate is best suited for this crop. It can be
grown both in the hills and the plains. Hilly regions are
best suited for its cultivation. The plants are susceptible
to frost.

42. Season:
The seeds may be sown in nursery during April. Late
summer is the time for transplanting the seedlings or planting
rooted cuttings.
Propagation:
Thyme can be propagated by seeds and vegetatively by
division of old plants or by cuttings or by layering of side
shoots in March or April. The seeds are sown directly in rows
or the seeds are sown in well prepared nursery beds in good
soil. 3% solution of Panchagavya solution can be used to soak
the seeds or cuttings for 20 minutes before planting. This
treatment increases the germination of the seeds or rooting
percentage of the cuttings. Good soil is preferred for nursery
because the seedlings are very small and remain
inconspicuous for several weeks after germination.

43. Land preparation:
The land is prepared well by repeated ploughing or
digging and brought to a fine tilth. Then the land is divided
into plots of convenient size.
Sowing/planting:
When the seeds are sown directly, they can be sown in
rows 90 cm apart and later when the seeds germinate the
seedlings may be thinned out to 30-45 cm within the row.
While, planting the seedlings or rooted cuttings or layers etc,
they are planted 30-45 cm apart in rows, 60cm apart. A light
irrigation is provided after planting.

44. Manures and fertilizers
 Application of well decomposed farmyard manure @ 50 t/ha and
biodynamic compost @ 5 t/ha
 Application of vermicompost @ 5 t/ha
 Application of Neem cake @ 1.25 t/ha
 Application of Azospirillum and Phosphobacterium @ 25 kg/ha
 Foliar spraying of Panchagavya, an organic preparation @ 3 per
cent at monthly intervals should be done. Spraying panchagavya
5 times a year will increase the yield and quality of the green
leaves.

45. Irrigation:
Since, the crop is planted late in summer, the
crop requires frequent irrigations during the dry
period.
Intercultural operations:
Intercultural operations and weeding are done
at regular intervals to encourage good growth of
plants. In the hills in order to avoid frost injury to
plants during winter, mulching is done. Foliar
spraying of 5% neem oil, 10% vermiwash and 3%
dasagavya should be done once in a month.

46. Pests and Diseases
The plant is not damaged by any pest of serious
nature, but wilt disease is a major problem in this
crop.
This disease can be controlled by improving the
phytosanitation.

47. Harvesting and yield
 The leaves and flowers which are used for culinary and medicinal
purposes are harvested five months after sowing/planting.
 The leaves and flowers are plucked from the plants or shoots of about
15 cm are cut off from the plants, dried in shade or in dryer
immediately after harvest and stored in air tight containers to prevent
the loss of flavour.
 The dried leaves are curled, brownish - green colour, usually not
longer than 6-7mm.
 The dried shoots may also be powdered and packed.

48.  Under favourable conditions the yield of dry herb is around
1,100 - 2200 kg per hectare.
 The yield is comparatively low during the first year.
 The plants become woody, and replanting becomes
necessary after three or four years.
 For extracting the oil, fresh herb is collected at the stage
when it just start flowering.
 At the time of collection the lower portions of the stem,
along with any yellow or brown leaves needs to be rejected.

49. REFERENCES
• Amit, C., Rahman, L., Verma, R.S., Anand, s.,verma, R.k., Ajith,
K.Y., Kukreje, A.k, and Khanuja, S.P.S., 2009, Improved varietal
development of medicinal and aromatic plants A review. J.
medicinal and aromatic plant sci., 31(3):246-255.
• Nagaraj., 2007, Organic cultivation of Bacopa monnieri and
Ocimum sanctum, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants, Resource Centre, Allalasandra, Bangalore - 560065.
• Parvatha Reddy, 2008, Organic farming for sustainable
horticulture. Pg. No.: 289 -291.