The production and economic potential of cropping sequences with medicinal and aromatic crops in a subtropical environment

Abstract

A field experiment at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, India, studied the economic feasibility of 8 medicinal and aromatic plants cropping sequences using rice (Oryza sativa), potato (Solarium tuberosum), mint (Mentha arvensis), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), mustard (Brassica compestris var. Toria), garlic (Allium sativum), chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), onion (Allium cepa), and wheat (Triticum aestivum). The inclusion of a medicinal, aromatic, and vegetable crop during the winter season greatly increased the economic return from a unit area. The rice, garlic, and mint; rice, potato, onion, and mint; and a rice, chamomile, and mint cropping sequences increased the total equivalent yield of oil by 276.3, 284.8, and 230 percent, respectively, as compared with a rice and wheat cropping sequence. The rice, garlic, and mint cropping sequence increased net return, production efficiency, and benefit as compared with other cropping sequences.