#2: Organic Farming of Tulsi in Indian Climate

Cultivation of O. sanctum is beneficial both commercially and economically. It contains highly valuable oils and various compounds of high demand and value around the globe for their medicinal properties.

Following are the steps:

Land & Soil Preparation

Soil:

• Grown on a variety of soils but rich loam to poor laterite soils
• Well in saline and alkaline to moderately acidic soils (i.e. pH 5.0-8.5)
• Waterlogged conditions are unsuitable

Climate:

• Tropical and subtropical climate
• Snowfall and frost conditions are not suitable
• 14-30 degree temperature is suitable

Land Preparation:

• Fine tilts, ploughed 2-3 times
• Plots of convenient size to be made and irrigation must be done
• 15 tonne/ha to farm yard manure to be added

Propagation:

1. Direct sowing:

• In any month except period of extreme cold
• In plains sowing preferred in April-may.
• Seeds should be mixed well with dry sand before sowing due to their small size.
• Sown in furrows made ata distance of 40-50 cm
• Light irrigation to be doen after sowing
• Seeds germinate within 10-15 days.
• Weeding and thinning should be done if required

Nursery for Holy Basil

2. Nursery Raising

• Beds of 3 m X 1.5m X 25 cm are prepared.
• 200-300 grams of seeds are sufficient to raise seedlings for planting in one hectare of land
• Depth of 2 cm in nursery beds
• Mixture of organic manure and soil to be spread in thin layer in the nursery beds, irrigation to be provided by sprinklers

3. Transplanting

• Seeds take 10-15 days to germinate
• Seedlings having 4-5 leaves are transplanted in the field ata distance of 40 cm X 40 cm or 50 X 40 cm or 50 X 30 cm to get high yield of herb and volatile oil.

Manuring/Bio-fertilizers:

• 120kg/ha eash of phosphorus and potash are sufficient for saline and alkaline soils
• 60 kg/ha of nitrogen and 60 kg/ha f phosphorus are given as basal dose in the field
• 60 kg/ha of nitrogen is applied in two split doses after the first and second harvest
• Cobalt ( 50 ppm) and manganese (100 ppm) increase the oil yield

Tulsi farm

Irrigation:

• Depends on moisture content of soil
• 12-15 irirgations are given ina year

Weeding:

• First weeding after one month of transplantation
• It is a fast growing plant and suppress the growth of weeds, rare weeding is required

Interculture:

• Poor and weak plants are replaced after the establishment of seedlings

Plant Protection:

• Rainy season- leaf blight, seedling blight, rootrot diease.
• Seedlign blight is cause by Rhizoctonia solani and rootrot is cause by Rhizoctonia bataticola.
• Controlled by adding decoction of neem leaves or neem oil in the field

Seeds from Tulsi Plant

Harvesting:

• First harvesting- full bloom stage after about 3 months of planting.
• Crop is cut about 15-20 cm above the ground level.

Post-Harvesting:

• Dried in sun or shade for 4-5 days.
• Fully dried drug is packed in polythene bags
• Oil can be extracted by stem distillation

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#Tulsi || The Sacred plant of India