A large p

art of the country’s oil production is exported.

It meets fierce competition in trade
with China. The crop has of late involved a large sector in processing and
trade activity in
several small towns of U.P.
(Rampur, Sambhal, Chandausi, Badaun, and Baraban
ki).
A large
2
number of farmers, traders, distillers and exporters are associated with this
activity. The
investment in the industry is estimated at Rs.350 crores.
Fluctuations in price are common. Currently it varies between Rs.350
-
400
/kg
for oil
and Rs.
600
-
800
/kg
for menthol but the price is also governed by demand and price prevailing
in importing countries and speculations on volumes and crop condition within
India.
At the international level, India is the largest producer of mentha oil in the
world
having a share of 80 to 85 per cent of total production. Other major producing
countries are
China, Brazil, USA and Japan. World production hovers in the range of 45
to 50
thousand
metric tonnes. Menthol
produc
tion in India has been estimated as 12 to
15 thousand metric
tonnes, China 4.5 to 7.5 thousand metric tonnes, Europe 2 to 2.5 thousand metric
tonnes and
USA 2.5 to 3.5 thousand metric tonnes. Hence, at international l
evel India remains on top
position in terms of mentha oil production as well as its exports. Out of
total mentha oil
produced, 75 per cent is produced from
Mentha arvensis
(mainly to produce menthol), 18 per
cent from
peppermint
and 7 per cent from
Spearmi
nt
. Out of total
Mentha arvensis
oil
produced, India contributes 75 per cent, China 18 per cent and other
countries 7 per cent.
About 39 to 41 per cent of total mentha oil produced is consumed in India
followed by China,
Europe and USA.
Mentha is a se
asonal crop grown in semi
-
temperate regions in the foot hills of
Himalayas in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttrakhand,
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
. Earlier,
there
was no production of mentha oil and menthol
in our country
. But now India is the world’s
dominant
pr
oducer of crude m
entha oil.
Mentha crop occupied 1.60 lakh hectare area in 2009
with production
of mentha oil to the tune of 16 thousand tonnes (Kumar
et al
2011).
The
latest available estimates show that the volume o
f production has increased to 63 thousa
nd
tonnes in 2011.
Trade of mentha oil has become the means o
f high profits for the farmers.
The oil is natural source of menthol which is one of the most actively traded
commodities of
the chemical market in India. There are some other factors that favou
r trading of men
tha oil in
the country. First, i
t has an active spot market mostly concentrated in the northern
states in the
country. I
t is a well standardized, storable and a high value and low volume commodity
which
does not require any expensive infras
tructure for storage. As India is a leading producer with
80 per cent market share
,
it has the potential to attract international trading interests
(Sahadevan,
2008).
India was the leading player in the international market with export value of
mentha
oil
around 150 crores during 2005
-
06 (Sahadevan 2008). Mentha oil production in India
showed a rising trend since 2004 till 2009. Production rose to 35 thousand metric
tonnes from
a mere 10 thousand metric tonnes. This was due to rise in acreage and
favorable
weather
conditions across the key growing regions. Relatively higher price for
mentha crop and
3
establishment of mentha processing centers attracted farmers to grow more
mentha crop. In
2010, India’s mentha production declined substantially due to lower ac
reage as prices were
hovering around
`
600 pe
r kg. Excess heat
conditions in summer months across Uttar Pradesh
resulted into yield loss. As a result of this, India’s production was 25 thousand
metric tonnes
in 2010 against 35 thousand metric tonnes in 2009. In year 2011, production was
estimated to
be 35 thousand to
40 thousand metric tonnes up by 25
-
30 per cent from the year 2010.
T
he
farmers have increased acreage due to the higher returns earned by them
during last year
(Karvy 2011).
Mentha oil and its constituents are commercially used in food,
pharmaceutical and
cosmetics industries. Menthol is used as raw material in toothpaste,
toothpowder, chewing
tobacco, confectionary, mouth fresheners, analgesic balms, cough drops,
perfumes, chewing
gums & candies. Tobacco industry constitutes about 40 per cent of the
total
mentha oil
consumption followed by pharmacy and confectionary industries (Karvy 2011).
In India, Uttar Pradesh is the largest mentha producing state in the
country
contributing 80 to 90 per cent of total production followed by Punjab,
Haryana, Bihar and
Himachal Pradesh. Major Mentha oil markets in Uttar Pradesh are
Chandausi, Sambhal and
Barabanki. Distilled mentha oil is brought into the specific markets by
farmers/producers and
sold to commission agents. Mentha processors, crystal manufacturers and exp
orters purchase
the crop from the market as per requirements. Generally, Mentha cuttings
are sown in the
month of December and harvested during March
-
April. The end product i.e. Mentha oil is
extracted from the mint leaves by processing and steam distillat
ion. Mentha oil arrives in
market in the month of June and July. Once Mentha is planted; it can be cut twice
and even
thrice in a crop season (Karvy 2011).
Consumption of natural menthol has increased significantly in India over a period
of
time. However,
in other maj
or
cons
uming countries of Europe and USA, menthol
consumption has remained almost stagnant. Strong industrial growth in
India over last two
decades and increasing consumption of tobacco products has pushed up
the domestic
consumption of menthol
(Karvy 2011).
India is the largest exporter in the world market and exports are around 20 to
21
thousand tonnes annually. The major exports are to countries like China,
U.S.A.,
Singapore, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Paraguay,
Hongkong, Br
azil
and France. China and U.S.A are the largest importer of Indian mentha oil
and its
products. Mint products export has been rising steadily for 4 to 5
% per
year till 2007
-
08.
In this year, India exported a record quantity of mint products, which stood
at 21thousand
metric tonnes valued at 11.28 lakhs, which was higher by 30 per cent in
quantity terms
and 16 per cent in value terms. However, after that, exports from India
started declining
4
and in 2009
-
10, India exported 19 thousand metric tonnes of mint
products valued at
`
1.18 lakhs (Karvy 2011).
Mentha plays a very significant role in the agricultural economy of a few areas of
the
Punjab state. The crop is economically significant not only for its
contribution to the
livelihood to the thousands of farme
rs but also for its highly diversified industrial uses. High
value diversification in agriculture is seen as one of the means by which farmers
can increase
their income. In Punjab, it is an important minor crop covering over 15 thousand
ha of land
with pro
duction of 12.5 hundred metric tonnes during 2010 (Anonymous, 2011). In
Punjab, it
is usually sown in February and h
arvested from mid
-
May onwards.
It grows well under
assured irrigation and competes with spring maize and sunflower in various
crop rotations
.
Mentha fits well in paddy
-
potato
-
mentha crop rotation. The cost of cultivation of mentha
grown after potato is lower due to residues in soil from the potato crop (Singh
2009).
In Punjab, three
varieties of mentha crop are being grown i.e. spearmint,
pe
ppermint
and koshi. Koshi variety is most commonly grown variety due to its high
yield. During the
triennium ending 2013
-
15, the area under mentha crop was recorded to be 13503 hectares,
while its production came to be 2449.5 metric tonnes in the state. He
nce, growing mentha
crop has acquired importance in Punjab.
Paddy
-
Wheat monoculture has played a significant role in making Punjab, the
food
bowl of the country. But due to stagnation in yield of these crops, the net
income of the
farmers is not rising. T
hus, by fitting mentha in various crop rotations, the income of the
farmers can be augmented. But mentha crop faces many biotic and abiotic
stresses in its
production at the farmers fields. In order to establish mentha as a
profitable enterprise, it
become
s pertinent to study its cost
-
return structure along with various stresses being faced by
this crop in its cultivation and marketing.