It looks like paddy leaf and smells of lemon when you get close. Lemongrass, once known mainly as an ingredient in Thai soup, is now used in herbal tea, drinks, cosmetics and perfume. At Barind Agro Park in Sapahar upazila of Naogaon, entrepreneur Sohel Rana is growing it commercially.

Sohel Rana, from the Godownpara area of the upazila, took a master's degree in statistics at Rajshahi University and worked for a while at a national daily in Dhaka before returning to Naogaon to become an entrepreneur, starting with a mango orchard. He planted his first lemongrass in 2015, a few seedlings from a horticulture centre in Dhaka, on a trial basis, and expanded after learning from YouTube and training with agricultural specialists.

He now sells fresh leaves and stalks, dries leaves in a modern smart dryer for herbal tea, and supplies seedlings to other farmers and entrepreneurs. By his account, 250 grams of fresh lemongrass sells for about Tk 100 to 130, 100 grams of dried leaf for Tk 250 to 300, and a seedling for Tk 40 to 50. He plans to produce essential oil in future.

Md. Monjur Rahman, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Naogaon, calls lemongrass "a promising high-value herbal crop" that yields for several years from a single planting and, because it needs comparatively little chemical fertiliser and pesticide, can be cheap to grow. If planned cultivation, processing and marketing can be expanded, he says, it could establish itself as a new cash crop in Naogaon and the wider north, with export potential.

Lemongrass goes into tea, herbal drinks, essential oil, soap, perfume, detergent, cosmetics, hair tonic and aromatherapy products. Its use is long established in Thailand, Japan, China and elsewhere in South-East Asia, and a market is forming in Bangladesh as interest in natural products grows. Agriculture officials caution, though, that cultivation alone will not open the door: quality seedlings, modern drying, packaging, storage and marketing must be assured, which calls for coordination among farmers, entrepreneurs and processors.

The plant contains citral and other aromatic compounds, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory constituents, which is why its tea is gaining popularity. Dr. Abuzar Gaffar, assistant professor at Naogaon Government Medical College, says it is a beneficial herb but should not be treated as a medicine for any disease, and that people with chronic illness, pregnant women and those on regular medication should consult a doctor before drinking it regularly.

Water and production cost are among the biggest challenges for farming in the Barind tract. A low-cost crop with many uses is therefore a new opportunity for the region: fresh leaf, dried leaf, seedlings and, later, essential oil can build several product markets around a single crop.

Based on a report by Kazi Kamal Hossain, Naogaon, in Samakal.

Source: Samakal