Did you know the mint in your chutney was imported from the northern part of the country till now. But two Erode engineer-turned-farmers are adamant to have a homegrown version of the herb.

Determined to try something different in agriculture Darun Kumar and Vishwaroopak began to explore various avenues they could explore. Last year, Darun, completed his civil engineering, and his friend, Vishwaroopak, completed textile engineering. It was on a whim that they flew to Lucknow to meet scientists at the Centre for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP). Less than a year later, they have become the first “farmers” to cultivate mint in Tamil Nadu.

“Besides the usual palmarosa, vetiver and lemongrass, which are drought resistant, the scientists mentioned mint but said that it was only grown in north India, primarily Uttarakhand,” said Kumar. “They claimed that it required abundant water,” he said. “That was when we realized that Vishwaroopak had a family-owned plot in Gobichettipalayam which had abundant water supply,” he said.

Though initially hesitant, CIMAP scientists encouraged the duo. “For us also it was an experiment, since we have never tried cultivating mint in south India. There is only one small cluster in Mandya. But this is the first in Tamil Nadu,” said Alok Kalra, chief scientist at Aroma Mission, CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow....Read more

Source web page: Times of india