A novel and economically viable agro-technique for enhancing productivity and resource use efficiency in menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.)

doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2020.113233

Industrial Crops and Products

Volume 162, April 2021, 113233

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2020.113233 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Major constraints in menthol mint production are short window for cropping, high water requirement, and weed costs.
•
Low productivity and the negligible probability of the second harvest.
•
It is possible to minimize water requirement, weeding cost with enhanced productivity.
•
Ridge planting in the first week of February by maintaining of 166,666 plants ha-1 would address the above issues.

Abstract

Menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) is an important essential oil-bearing plant of the family Lamiaceae. Essential oil obtained from the leaves used in aromatherapy, flavour, and pharmaceutical industries. Producing the maximum essential oil yield with minimum use of resources to minimise the cost of cultivation and cropping period is need of the hour. Hence, the field experiment on menthol mint crop was carried out in two consecutive years (2015–2016) at the research farm of CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow. This research aimed to optimize the planting method, planting time, and plant density to enhance productivity and resource use efficiency. The experiment consisted of three planting methods, three time of planting, and four plant densities was conducted in split plot design with three replicates. Maximum essential oil yield of 209.8 kg ha⁻¹, the minimum crop maturity period of 131 days, and lower water requirement of 86 cm was found under ridge bed planting method from two harvest. The crop planted in the month of February gave maximum net profits of $ 2669 ha⁻¹ as compared with the crop planted in March and April months. Crop planted on ridges grown in the month of February with plant density of 166,666 plants ha⁻¹ was found best combination for obtaining maximum essential oil yield, bringing about 30 days earliness in crop maturity and reduction in water requirement. The crop planted on ridges yields maximum essential oil per unit area and time, and this led to enhancement in resource use efficiency with significant improvement in net profits. Further, it provides an opportunity to have two harvests with minimum damage to the crop by excessive moisture availability during the early onset of monsoon.

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) is one of the popular medicinal and aromatic crop that belongs to the family Lamiaceae, and it is commercially cultivated for the purpose of essential oil used in aromatherapy, flavor, and pharmaceutical industries. India is a leading producer and supplier of menthol mint oil globally. It is being cultivated as a summer season crop (February-June) in the lower Gangetic plains of India (Kumar et al., 2019). The area under its cultivation in these regions is estimated as 0.30−0.35 million ha (Kumar et al., 2020). Menthol mint plays a significant role in enhancing the economics and social status of farmers. Nevertheless, still certain constraints are being facing by farmers in commercial cultivation of this crop viz., (i) low productivity and lack of growth during second harvest, which can be more profitable otherwise, (ii) water requirement is more in traditional method of planting as it is a summer season crop resulted in higher cost of production and lowering of water table in this region, (iii) crop failure due to early onset of monsoon and, weed infestation. These constraints are enhancing the cost of cultivation, reducing productivity, profitability, and leading to reduction in total area under menthol mint cultivation. Hence, there is an urgent need to look at solutions for these constraints by developing suitable and economically feasible agri-practices for sustaining its area and production. It has been reported that modifications in the current agri-practices such as planting methods, planting time, and plant density can significantly reduce the input demand and improved productivity of crops such as Mentha arvensis, Stevia rebaudiana L., Beta vulgaris L., Safflower, Mentha piperita, and Pogostemon cablin Benth. (Desai et al., 2018; Chauhan et al., 2012; Serfaty et al., 2013; Saini and Brar, 2018a,b; Shahrokhnia and Sepaskhah, 2016; Mansoori, 2014; Saini and Brar, 2018a,b). The maximum number of flowers, fresh and dry flower yield, straw, and biological yield in Matricaria chamomilla L. was observed by shifting the time of planting from 15 April to 1, 15, and 30 May (Mohammad et al., 2010). Likewise, maximum plant height, LAI, and dry shoot weight of new soybean genotypes were found under closer spacing over wider spacing (Matsuo et al., 2018). The modified agro-packages in menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) indicated a reduction in cropping period, water requirement, and cost of cultivation with improved productivity (Kumar et al., 2020). Therefore, the present study aimed to optimize the planting method, planting time, and plant density of menthol mint for enhancing productivity and resource use efficiency, with the following two objectives i) to enhance essential oil yield with better quality and ii) to reduce cropping span, water requirement, and cost of weed management practices leading to a significant reduction in the production cost of essential oil.

Section snippets

Experimental site

The field experiment was conducted during two consecutive years (from February to June in 2015 and 2016) at the experimental farm of CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, located at 26.5 °N latitude, 80.5 °E longitudes at an elevation of about 120 m above mean sea level under the sub-tropical plains of Indo-Gangetic plains of North India. Weather conditions (temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, and sunshine hours) prevailed during experimental periods

Results and discussion

The experiment was conducted for two consecutive years; The differences in treatments responses between 2015–2016 was found significant. Therefore, the mean data of both the years has been taken in further sections.

Conclusion

The findings of current investigations recommends that the menthol mint crop planting under ridge bed method in the month of February along with plant density of 166,666 plants ha⁻¹ to obtains notable income for farmers. The proper distribution of irrigation water leads to the highest essential oil yield (209.8 kg ha⁻¹), menthol content (74.2 %), minimum water requirement (86 cm), along with the highest net return ($ 2421 ha⁻¹) under ridge bed planting method. Additionally, due to favorable

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Devendra Kumar: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation. Rakesh Kumar: Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing - review & editing. Anil Kumar Singh: Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing - review & editing. Kirti Verma: Formal analysis. Kushal Pal Singh: Formal analysis. Nilofer: Formal analysis, Data curation. Anuj Kumar: Formal analysis, Methodology. Vivek Singh: Formal analysis. Parminder Kaur: Formal analysis. Anjali Singh: Formal analysis. Anandakumar TM: Visualization, Writing -

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no recognized competing financial interests that could have seemed to impact the work reported in this paper. There are no conflicts of interest appear for the manuscript submission.

Acknowledgment

The authors are cordially thankful to the Director, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, to provide necessary facilities to conduct experimental trials with financial support from CSIR-Network Project (BSC 0110).

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A novel and economically viable agro-technique for enhancing productivity and resource use efficiency in menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.)

Highlights

Abstract

Graphical abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Experimental site

Results and discussion

Conclusion

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Declaration of Competing Interest

Acknowledgment

Ind. Crops Prod.

Ind. Crops Prod.

J. Am. Pharm. Assoc.

Field Crop Res.

Field Crops Res.

Eur. J. Agron.

Egypt. Ann. Agric. Sci.

Soil Till. Res.

Soil Till. Res.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Field Crops Res.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Agric. Water Manage.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Soil Till. Res.

Agric. Water Manag.

Ann. Agric. Sci.

Soil Till. Res.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Agric. Water Manag.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Field Crops Res.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Ind. Crops Prod.

Planting dates and harvesting stages influence on maize yield under rainfed conditions

J. Agric. Sci.

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J. Agron.

Influence of different dates of planting on growth, herb, oil yield, and quality of essential oil of menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) in the North Indian Plain

Arch. Agron. Soil Sci.

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Effect of dates of planting on growth, yield and quality of menthol mint (Mentha arvensis l.) cultivars planted during rabi season

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