ASHWAGANDHA

Ashwagandha also known as wonder herb as it has multiple medicinal property. It derives its named "Ashwagandha" as its roots smell like horse and it vitalize body and provide strength just like horse. Its seed, root and leaves are used for preparing various drugs. Drugs prepared from Ashwagandha used for stress reliever, to treat senile dysfunction also used to control anxiety, depression, phobia, schizophrenia etc. It is a branching shrub with average height of 30cm-120cm with fleshy, whitish brown roots. Flowers are of greenish color with orange-red berries. Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are major Ashwagandha growing states in India.

Ashwagandha gives best result when grown in sandy loam or mild red soil with good drainage having pH in the range of 7.5 to 8.0. Growing Ashwagandha is not possible in soil that retains moisture and remains waterlogged. The soil should be loose, deep and well drained. Black or heavy soils having good drainage are also suitable for ashwagandha cultivation. 
 

Jawahar Asgand-20 and Jawahar Asgand-134: High alkaloid variety, it is developed by CJawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Madhya Pradesh. Plant height is short and are known for its higher density planting. The crop yields in 180 days with a total withanolide content of about 0.30 per cent in dry roots.

Raj Vijay Ashwagandha-100: It is also developed by CJawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Madhya Pradesh.

Rakshita and Poshita: Developed by CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow and are high yielding varieties.

WSR: Developed by CSIR-Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu.

Nagori: It is a local variety with feature of having starchy roots.

For Ashwagandha plantation, it requires well pulverized and levelled soil. For fine tilth plough field 2-3 times and disking and/or harrowing should be done before rains then farm yard manure is applied. Land is prepared in month of April-May.

Time of sowing
For Ashwagandha cultivation prepare nursery in the month of June-July.

Spacing
Depending upon the growth habit and germination percentage, use spacing of 20 to 25 cm line to line distance 10cm plant to plant distance.

Sowing Depth
The seeds are usually sown about 1 to 3cm deep.

Method of sowing
Transplanting method is used of seedlings in main field.

Seed Rate
For good varieties use seed rate of 4-5kg per acre.      

Seed treatment
To protect crop from seed borne disease and pest, before sowing do treatment with thiram or dithane M45 (Inofil M45) @3gms / kg of seeds. After treatment the seeds are then air dried and then use it for sowing.

Before sowing the land was once ploughed with mould board plough and harrowed twice to bring the soil to fine tilth and fill the soil with plenty of organic matter so as to nourish the soil. Application of pata is done to level the soil. Treated  seeds are sown  on raised nursery beds from ground level.
 
Before transplanting sprayed 10-20 tonnes of farmyard manure, 15kg of urea and 15kg phosphorus as a nutrient dose to the soil.

The seeds germinate in 5-7 days and are ready for transplantation in about 35 days. Give water appropriately before transplanting so that seedling can be easily uprooted.
  
Transplanting should be done in the field in 40cm wide furrows at 60cm apart.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrients Value (kg/acre)

At the time of land preparation, about 4-8 tonnes of farm yard manure per acre should be mixed with soil and then the field is leveled with planking. After planking application of pata is done to level the field.    

Excessive water or rain will harm the crops. If rainy days are more, then irrigation is not required otherwise one to two lifesaving irrigations should be done. Under irrigated conditions, the crop can be once irrigated in 10-15 days. First irrigation should be done after 30-35 days from germination and then second irrigation is done after 60-70 days from irrigation.

Normally two weddings are done to keep the field free from weeds. One is done in about 20-25 days of sowing and then second is done after 20-25 days of first weeding. The dose of Isoproturon 200g/acre and Glyphosate 600g/acre should be used before sowing the seeds to control the weeds.

• Pest and their control

No major pest are seen in this crop. However the mite infestations or insects are seen.

Aphids: It is  a small bug which feeds by sucking sap from plants; a blackfly or greenfly. They reproduce rapidly and cause extensive damage to plants. To get rid aphids combination of 0.5% malathion and 0.1% - 0.3% kelthane as foliar spray at 10-15 days interval should be done.

Insect attack: The Shoot borer and mite are the major insects.

Shoot borer: Shoot borer can be controlled with sumicidin at 10ml per litre.

Mite: To control mite spray ethion 10ml/litre as soon as mites are noticed. 

• Disease and their control:

Diseases such as seedling rot and blight are seen in crop.

Seedling rot and blight:- It is a disease that is caused by insects or nematodes which kill seeds or seedlings. To prevent from this use disease free seeds or Neem can be used.

Leaf spot:- It is a large number of fungal, bacterial, or viral plant diseases which cause leaves to develop discoloured spots. To prevent the crop from disease it should be sprayed with Dithane M-45 at the rate of 3g/litre of water, when 30 days old and the spray should be repeated at 15days interval if the diseases persist.

Plant starts yielding 160-180 days. Harvesting is done in the dry weather when leaves are drying and berries change its color into red-orange. Harvesting is done by hands by uprooting the whole plant or through machines such as power tiller or country plough without damaging the roots.

In post harvesting the roots are separated from the plant and cut into smaller pieces i.e. 8-10cm in length and then it is air dried. After post harvesting, grading is done. The root pieces are stored in tin containers for sale. The higher the length of root pieces the higher it will fetch the price. Berries are plucked separately and then they are air dried and crushed so as to take out the seeds.