Commercial Cultivation And Postharvest Processing Of Tulsi (Ocimum Sps.)
Ocimum sanctum is native to India, where it enjoys a religious attachment and liked to be grown in shrines and homes as an aromatic perennial shrub. Tulsi is part of routine worship and has scientific background as the plants possess antimicrobial and antiviral properties and purifies the air. It is also grown as temperate climates, the natural habitat of tulsi varies from sea level to an altitude of 2000 m. It grows naturally in moist soil all over the globe.
2. TULSI (Ocimum Sanctum)
Ocimum sanctum is native to India, where it enjoys a religious
attachment and liked to be grown in shrines and homes as an aromatic
perennial shrub. Tulsi is part of routine worship and has scientific
background as the plants possess antimicrobial and antiviral properties
and purifies the air. It is also grown as temperate climates, the
natural habitat of tulsi varies from sea level to an altitude of 2000 m.
It grows naturally in moist soil all over the globe.
Varities
1. Lemon basil (ocimum citriodorum)
2. Krishna tulsi (ocimum tenuiflorum)
3. Amrita tulsi (ocimum tenuiflorum)
4. Vana tulsi (ocimum gratissum)
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3. Soil and Climate
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The plant is sufficiently hardy and it can be grown on any type of soil except the
ones with highly saline, alkaline or water logged conditions. However, sandy loam soil
with good organic matter is considered ideal. The crop has a wide adaptability and
can be grown successfully in tropical and sub-tropical climates. Long days with high
temperature have been found favorable for plant growth and oil production.
Propagation time, method, spacing:
The crop can be propagated through seeds. For propagating through seeds, they are
to be sown in the nursery beds. For sowing of one hectare about 300g of seeds are
required. The nursery should be located preferably in partial shade with adequate
irrigation facilities. Soil is worked upto a depth of about 30 cm. well rotten farm
yard manure is applied to the soil and prepared to a fine tilth and seed beds of
4.5x1.0x0.2 m size are prepared. As the seeds are minute, the required quantity of
seeds are mixed with sand in the ratio of 1:4 and sown in nursery bed, 2 months in
advance of the onset of monsoon. They germinate in 8-12 days and seedlings are
ready for transplanting in about 6 weeks time at 4-5 leaf stage.
4. Manures and fertilizers
โข The plant requires about 15t/ha of FYM which is to be applied as basal
dose at the time of land preparation. Regarding the inorganic fertilizers
application of 120:60:60 kg/ha of NPK is recommended.
Intercultural operations:
โข Interspaces should be maintained weed free and the first weeding is done
one month after planting and the second after another 30 days.
Afterwards, no further weeding is required as the plants become bushy and
cover the soil and thereby smother the weeds. However, after each
harvest, weeding should be done so as to avoid weed growth in the
interspaces, if any.
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5. Plant Protection:
โข Tulsi is not prone to serious pest/disease except some minor pests like leaf rollers
which can be controlled by spraying with 0.2% Malathion or 0.1% Methyl parathion
whenever noticed.
โข Medicinal plants like tulsi require production involving minimal or no usage of chemical
pesticides. Organic practices include control measures using neem based formulations.
Fish oil resin soap can be used to manage such sucking pests. Botanicals viz., extracts
of garlic, Vitex negundo, Lantana camera, Clerodendron inerme, Calotropis gigantean
are often combined and sprayed periodically for controlling the pests.
โข Diseases like powdery mildew can be controlled by spraying with 0.3% wettable
sulphur. Likewise seedling blight and root rot can be controlled by drenching the
nursery beds with a 0.1 per cent solution of mercurial fungicide and adopting
phytosanitory measures.
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6. Pests:
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Leaf rollers: Leaf rollers sticking to the under surface of
the leaves,
fold them backwards length wise and web them together.
Tulsi lace wing, Cochlochila bullita: The adult and nymphs
feed on
leaves and younger stems, sometimes gregariously and leave
their
excreta making it unsuitable for use. Due to feeding, the
leaves
initially get curled and later the whole plant gets dried up.
Management:Spray Azadirachtin 10,000 ppm @ 5 ml/l to
control this insect.
7. Harvesting:
โข The first harvest is done after 90 days of planting and subsequently it may be
harvested at every 75 days interval. The crop is harvested at full bloom stage
by cutting the plants at 15 cm from ground level to ensure good regeneration
for further harvests. The yield and oil content is more in plants harvested
during bring sunny days.
Yield:
On an average, tulsi gives about 10,000 kgs of fresh herbage per hectare per
year. The herb contains about 0.1 to 0.23 per cent oil and it about 10-20 kg of
essential oil per hectare. Irrigated tulsi gives higher herbage yield (upto 20 ton
and oil yield (upto 40kg/ha).
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8. Post-harvest management:
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The harvested produce may be allowed to wilt in the field itself for 4-5 hours
so as to reduce the moisture and also the bulkiness. However, oil quality and its
yield do not diminish up to 6-8 hours
after harvest, but further delay may cause considerable loss in yield and quality
of oil. Steam distillation is found to be superior to hydro distillation and hydro
cum steam distillation. Distillation
unit should be clean, rust free and free of any other odour. The oil obtained is
then decanted and filtered. The distilled oil is treated Cultivation of Ocimum
DMAPR, Boriavi 15 with anhydrous sodium sulphate or common salt at the rate
of 20 g per liter to remove the moisture. The oil should be stored in sealed
amber colored glass bottles or containers made of stainless steel, galvanised
tanks, aluminum containers and stored in a cool and dry place. All processing
activities should be recorded.
