IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/haaewp/316599.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is it really a win win situation: Henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) farming for rural sustainability and economic security in arid zone

Author

Listed:
  • Singh, Dheeraj
  • Chaudhary, M.K.
  • Kumar, Chandan
  • Kudi, B.R.
  • Dudi, Aishwarya

Abstract

Henna (Lawsonia inermis L.), is a perennial shrub dominating the agro-ecosystem of Pali district of Rajasthan, India, which is priced for its leaves which have natural dying properties. From ancient times, Henna has been employed as a cosmetic dye for hair, skin and nails and it has acquired a particular significance in Islamic culture. It is dryland shrub which can tolerate extreme dry and high temperature conditions and survives well on problematic soils with high pH and saline water where other crops cannot be grown. The development of Henna cultivation and processing in Pali, Rajasthan, is a blend of indigenous knowledge and people's innovations. Presently Henna cultivation in the region is under 40,000 hectares which is the largest area under this crop at single location and it is purely rainfed with no use of fertilizers or pesticides. In this crop generally, no fertilizers and plant protection measures are used and a single leaf cutting is taken every year under the rainfed conditions and two cuttings where water is available. Under rainfed conditions for a dense planting the dried leaf yield in the first year is about 250 kg ha-1 while over the second, third and fourth years the yield normally ranges from 500 to 2,500 kg ha-1. The crop starts generating returns from its second year onwards, which continues for 20 years while incurring only maintenance costs in the form of hoeing, weeding and harvesting. By following these measures, on average they produce 15-20 quintal dry Henna leaves ha-1 from their barren fields. The financial analysis indicated that Henna farming due to its high quality at Pali is a profitable and attractive option for farmers livelihoods. Sustainable income from Henna benefits the farmers of the district as it can tolerate high salinity, drought and incidences of pest and diseases.

Suggested Citation

  • Singh, Dheeraj & Chaudhary, M.K. & Kumar, Chandan & Kudi, B.R. & Dudi, Aishwarya, 2021. "Is it really a win win situation: Henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) farming for rural sustainability and economic security in arid zone," Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department 316599, Harper Adams University, Land, Farm & Agribusiness Management Department.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:haaewp:316599
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.316599
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/316599/files/Is%20it%20really%20a%20win%20win%20situation%2C%20Henna%20%28Lawsonia%20inermis%20L%29%20farming%20for%20rural%20sustainability%20and%20economic%20security%20in%20arid%20zone.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.316599?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crop Production/Industries; Production Economics;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:haaewp:316599. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dlhauuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.