Terminalia chebula, also known as harad, is an important medicinal plant species distributed throughout India. Its economic parts include the fruit, leaves, and timber. The fruit is a major constituent of trifala and used in tanning, while the leaves provide green fodder. A field gene bank for harad has been established to conserve germplasm. Nursery techniques involve pre-treating fruits to enhance germination rates and using cleft grafting for propagation. Harad is cultivated through block or boundary plantings, with a spacing of 8-10 meters between trees. After harvesting, fruits are sun dried, graded by size, roasted, and pressed before storage and marketing. Fresh fruits fetch prices

1. Cultivation and Conservation Practices
of prioritized Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants

2. Terminalia chebula
(Harad)

3. • Economic parts-Fruit,
Leaves, timber
• Constituent of Trifala,
tanning, fodder, timber
• Sub-tropical- rainfed
Terminalia chebula (Harad)
FAMILY: Combretaceae
Common name: Harad, Reed,
Haritaki, Halela
Habit: Tree
Distribution: Throughout
India starting from Jammu to
Tamil Nadu and North east to
Gujrat in west.
Uses: Fruit is the major
constituent of “Trifala” and
important tanning material.
Leaves are used as green
fodder especially during
winters. Wood is termite
resistant.

4. A field gene bank of Harad (Terminalia chebula) established at
Chatha (mother block for budwood)

5. • For better germination of the seeds, the fruits
collection time is from January to March.
• Pre-treatment of the fruits either by extraction
of kernels through mechanical means or
cowdung scarification for 30 days is advised to
enhance germination (30-40%) under nursery
conditions.
• Cleft grafting/side veneer on 2 years old scion
of harad is advised during the month of April to
ensure better success (70%).
Nursery Techniques

7. Cultivation Practices
Climate and soil requirements
Wide adaptation to climate and different types of
soils.
It grows in localities with maximum and minimum
temperatures from 370C to 480C and 10C to 150C,
respectively.
The species is frost hardy and can withstand dry
conditions prevailing in Kandi belts.
Well-drained soils, such as sandy loam as well as
clayey loam are best.

8. Field preparation and planting
• Harad can be raised as block plantation or as boundary
plantation.
• Farmers with small land holdings prefer it on boundary.
• The area need to be cleaned from weeds, bushes and ploughed
during May-June.
• Pits of size 1mx1mx1m are dug out in the month of June.
• The spacing of trees varies from 8-10m apart. The pits should be
half filled with well rotten FYM and soil mixture before planting.
• The grafted plants are planted during July and August.
• Care should be taken that graft union should not be disturbed
during planting and should be atleast 10cm above the ground
level.
• Intercrops can be taken in harad plantation as it is a suitable
agroforestry species.

9. Diseasesandpests
• No serious pest/diseases affect the crop
• Fruit borer: This is occasional pest which can be managed
through cultural methods. However, in case of severe
infestation spray of Cypermethrin @1ml/liter is beneficial.
Harvestingandyield
Sporadic flowering and fruiting after 3-4 years of planting.
Unripe fruits are harvested during August- September and
are sold for preparation of preserve.
Harvesting of fruits is usually done manually when they
become ripe i.e. when their colour turns yellowish or
reddish (Mid October to Mid November and up to end of
December)
After 10 years of planting, fruit yield of 20-30kg/tree is
obtained.

10. Post Harvest Management and
Marketing

11. Postharvestmanagement
(i) Sun drying: The harvested fruit are sun dried for 3 to 4 days to reduce
the moisture content and to dry them.
(ii) Grading: The fruits are graded according to their size, viz. small,
medium and large.
(iii) Roasting: The fruits are roasted in an iron pan (Karahi) having sand.
The pan is kept over a “bhati”, heated by burning firewood or
brushwood. A wooden spatula is used to stir the fruits constantly in
the pan while roasting process is going on. A sieve is used to separate
the roasted fruits from the hot sand once they are sufficiently roasted.
This stage is determined by change in colour of the fruit to golden
brown. It usually takes 15 to 20 minutes to get roasted to the desired
extent.
(iv) Pressing with a gunny bag: The hot roasted fruits are pressed by hand
with gunny bags. This helps in filling any holes on the surface of fruit and
to provide a typical luster and strength to the fruit.
(v) Spreading under shade inside the house and storage: The roasted and
processed fruits are spread on the floor in the rooms within the houses
for 5 to 7 days, and, thereafter stored in gunny bags, are ready for
despatch to market.

12. Marketing
• Fresh fruits are sold @Rs. 8-10/kg (small sized) and Rs. 40-
50/kg (large sized). Nearest market is Majeeth Mandi,
Amritsar from where it is traded to rest part of India and
Pakistan, Nepal.
• This commodity comes under ‘Non-timber Forest Produce’
of forest act for which transportation permit is required
from the forest department.