Mentha farming fuels prosperity

Four years ago, Arjun Kumar Shah from Bhagraiya village of Samjhana Community Forest in Khata corridor of Bardia district was a worried man. Shah had a difficult time feeding his family as the production of paddy was not enough to feed his family of eight.

“Despite lots of hard work in the field, food harvested from the field was not enough for us,” recalled Shah.

When WWF's Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) Program brought the concept of mentha farming in his village in 2002, many were reluctant. But Shah tried his hands and his life has transformed ever since.

Just two households, including Shah dared to plant mentha on their farmland at that time. Previously, Shah used to plant maize and wheat but wild animals like rhinos and elephants either destroyed or ate all the crops before he could harvest.

“I had planted mentha, which were distributed for free by TAL, in one bigha land for the first time and earned around Rs.16,000 in four months' time,” the 70-year-old farmer said.
The same year, TAL had also provided funds to install a distillation plant in the village to produce oil from mentha.

Encouraged by the success, Shah now cultivates mentha in three bighas land and this year hopes to earn between Rs. 50000 to 60,000.

“Unlike other crops, mentha has a good market value and is also unpalatable for wildlife,” Shah said.

“There is no fear of mentha getting destroyed by rhinos, elephants and other wild animals. The animals don't come in my field these days.” Shah said the profit he earned was double than what he had been earning by planting wheat or maize and that too for lesser hard work.

“With the earnings it has become easy to send my grandchildren to school and buy daily needs without much difficulty,” said Shah.

He has also started goat farming and built proper cowsheds with some of the savings.
Today, Shah's success has attracted many farmers in his nearby villages to mentha cultivation, giving up the traditional farming of wheat and maize.

The earnings also come at a right time for farmers. Mentha farming begins in March and is harvested by June giving locals the much needed cash for planting rice – the main crop. Currently, one kilogram of mentha oil fetches over Rs.1000 in the market.

Ghanashyam Poudel, 36, from neighbouring village of Khardanga Community Forest, started mentha farming in 2007 after he saw his peers getting financial benefits.

“The best thing about mentha is earning cash even during off-season,” said Poudel. “I used to take loans from money lenders to plant rice in monsoon season and buy fertilizers before I started mentha farming. Now I don't need to go asking for loans.”

Due to growing demand, TAL has supported in installing 12 plants in as many community forests by mid-2009. Over 300 households are already engaged in mentha farming in the Khata region and the trend of menthe farming is ever increasing.

“Mentha has brought happiness among poor farmers in villages as it has helped them in improving their livelihoods at the same time protecting the biodiversity of the region,” said Maya Yogi, TAL program mobilizer in Khata.

“The mentha works as a natural fence and has helped in controlling human-wildlife conflict in the villages,” she said.