Organic Farming - Introduction
Organic Farming - Principles
Organic Farming - Steps
Successful Organic Transition
Organic Farming Vs
Conventional Farming
Organic Cultivation:
        - Agriculture Crops
        - Horticulture Crops

Biodynamic Farming
Biofertilizers Technology
Composting
Vermicompost
Coir Compost
Panchakavya
Dasakavya
Effective Microorganism
Recycling of Farm Waste

Organic cultivation of Rosemary

Soil and climate

Rosemary requires a well-drained loamy soil with a pH of 5.5 to 7.0. When the pH is below 5.0, dolomite @ 2.5t/ha should be applied and mixed well in the soil. It requires cool winter and mild summer below 30° C. The temperate climatic zones ranging from 900 to 2500 m above MSL are suitable for rosemary cultivation.

Season

Rosemary rooted cuttings can be planted during the months of June-July and September - October under rainfed conditions.

Duration

It is a perennial crop and is commercially viable up to 12 years.

Preparation of field

Dig the land thoroughly twice and bring it to a fine tilth. At the time of last ploughing, 25 tonnes of well decomposed FYM and 500 kg of neem cake should be applied and mixed well. Prepare beds of 30 cm height, 1.5 m width and a length of convenient size. At the time of planting, 5 kg of Azospirillum and 5 kg Phosphobacterium should be applied to the soil and mixed well.

Planting material

50, 000 plants/ha

Propagation

Select 10 - 15 cm length semi hardwood cuttings before flowering leaving upper few whorls intact at the top, the remaining leaves should be removed from the cuttings before planting. The cuttings should be planted in a mixture of soil, sand and leaf molds in polythene bags for rooting. 3% solution of Panchagavya or 10% CPP solution can be used to soak the cuttings for 20 minutes before planting. This treatment increases the rooting percentage of the cuttings. The bags should be kept under shade and regularly watered twice daily. The rooted cuttings will be ready in 60 days for transplanting in the main field.

Planting

The rooted cuttings of rosemary should be planted at a spacing of 45 x 45 cm. The central shoot should be removed 6 months after planting to promote lateral shoots.

Irrigation

The crop can be grown under rainfed conditions as a dry farming crop. Irrigating the crop during the drought period will increase herbage yield.

Fertilizer requirement 

• Application of well decomposed farmyard manure @ 50 t/ha and biodynamic compost @ 5 t/ha

• Application of vermicompost @ 5 t/ha

• Application of Neem cake @ 1.25 t/ha

• Application of Azospirillum and Phosphobacterium @ 25 kg/ha

• Foliar spraying of Panchagavya, an organic preparation @ 3 per cent at monthly intervals should be done. Spraying panchagavya 5 times a year will increase the yield and quality of the green leaves.

After cultivation

First hoeing and weeding should be done one month after planting. Four to five weeding should be done in a year. Foliar spraying of 5% neem oil, 10% vermiwash and 3% dasagavya should be done once in a month.

Plant protection

It is free from pests and diseases.

Yield

Green leaf yield:  12-13 t/ha

Harvesting

Rosemary leaves are harvested with the onset of flowering. The flowering tops measuring 30-35 cm long with leaves are harvested with a sickle. All the shoots can be used for distillation at the stage when they attain maximum size but before becoming woody. This is because hard wood shoot on distillation gives an undesirable odour of turpentine. In the first year the crop gets ready for harvest at 215 days after planting. In the subsequent years three harvests per year at an equal interval can be taken up. Three harvests at an interval of 3-4 months can be done per year.

Processing of leaves

The leaves should be washed thrice for removing various dirt and soil particles. The leaves should be dried under shade. For uniform drying it is better to take the leaves to plains and can be dried under shade with electric fan in a clean cement floor. Within 3 days up to 10% moisture level can be achieved and then it can be packed in food grade poly bags.

Yield

2.5 t/ha of dried leaves/year

Distillation of rosemary oil

Essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of freshly harvested twigs or leaves. The leaves can also be shade dried, stored and distilled at convenience without any loss of oil. It is always advisable to do continuous distillation for 120 minutes for maximum recovery of rosemary oil.

Oil yield

80-100 kg/ha