Shridhar Patidar's seeds have blossomed forth in arid Dhar

Shridhar Patidar and his three sons—one of them is an engineer and another a lawgraduate—were not content with growing the usual crops of the area: soyabean, cottonand tomatoes. So, in ’82 they began growing fruits. Their orchards yielded good cropsof hybrid mausambi, chiku and ber. “A ber grown in our orchard weighed a record 90gms,” claims Mukesh, one of Shridhar’s sons. But they only found their dreamcrop a little later, in ’98. After attending a training programme organised by the MPCentre for Entrepreneurship Development, the Patidars got interested in medicinal plants.Then began a period of experimenting with several varieties—after which they settledfor safed musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum) and lemon grass.

Safed musli, a plant that’s helpful for diabetes and asthma patients as well asfor several gynaecological problems, is an important ingredient in a wide range ofayurvedic, unani and homeopathic medicines. It’s also in great demand in West Asiafor its supposed aphrodisiac properties. It’s the root of the white musli that hasthe medicinal applications, and the plant is quite well-known and commonly available.However, as K.R. Murli, an ayurvedic doctor, points out, most of the stuff found in themarket is highly adulterated. The doctor adds that while more than 300 varieties of whitemusli are available in the world, the Borivilianum is almost extinct and thereforeit’s very difficult to get it in pure form.

That’s where the Patidars step in. They claim they are the biggest growers of thecrop in the country. About 90 per cent of all varieties of the plant are found in Africawhile the rest are spread all over the world. In India, till about 10 years ago, the plantwas found only in forests, where it was collected by tribals aware of its importance. Now,after the Patidar’s lead, the valuable plant is being cultivated. The process beganabout a decade ago, but despite that most plantations are still small in size. But asShridhar affirms, cultivation has helped avert the danger of extinction.

They began the cultivation on a 17-acre patch of land on their farm in ’99, whichhas now expanded to 50 acres. While scientific agricultural technology is being used, thecrop has been generating a handsome yearly income for the family—Rs 2 to 3 lakh peracre. There are other benefits too: the crop requires little water, a boon in an areaplagued by an acute water crisis, cattle avoid eating it nor is it susceptible to commonplant diseases. For every kg sown the yield is four to five times higher, and the sellingprice is around Rs 1,500 per kg. After successfully experimenting with the plantation, thePatidar’s christened their farm ‘Patidar Musli Farm and Research Centre’and started offering free consultancy to other farmers. The Patidars don’t providethe seeds cheap: it’s sold at Rs 500 per kg. Despite that, many farmers have startedcultivating it and the high returns have brought about a new prosperity in just two years. And neither are the beneficiaries limited to the surrounding areas. One of the recentvisitors to the farm was Jaspal Singh Nabardar from a village near Bhatinda in Punjab.Seeing the success of the farmers, he’s now determined to replicate it in his ownvillage. Farmers from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have also been to the farm. Even aGerman tourist visited the farm to gather information about the cultivation after readingabout it in a magazine, says Shridhar.

Most of the Patidar’s produce is sold in cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Now,Shridhar wants to form an all-India group of growers to jointly explore the export marketin Europe, America and other western countries. The Patidars have also built twoair-cooled storage sheds to preserve stocks of the crop. The sheds cost Rs 30 lakh, butare accessible free of cost for all safed musli farmers. In addition to this, the Patidarshave installed a small distillation unit on their farm to extract the essence from lemongrass. The essence is used to give lemon flavour to soaps and other cosmetics. It’sbeen a boom time for farmers in the region, and they only have the Patidars to thank forit. Shridhar’s address: Patidar Musli Farm and Research Centre, Jotpur, TehsilManawar, Dhar (MP)—454446.