Lemon grass is also known as China grass. Lemon grass has wide range of therapeutic and antimicrobial value. Its leaves are mainly used for preparing various drugs. Drugs prepared from lemongrass are used to cure various problems such as headaches, tooth-aches and for fever. It is an aromatic plant with average height 1-3m tall. The leaves are 125cm long and 1.7cm broad. It grows in India, tropical and subtropical parts of Africa, America and Asia. In India it is mainly grown in Punjab, Kerala, Assam, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

It can grow in varieties of soil ranging from clayey to sandy, alluvial soil and loamy soil having good drainage system. It gives best result when grown under loamy-sand soils with high organic content. It can even tolerate poor soil. Avoid cultivation in soil which have poor drainage system or have long water holding capacity. 5.0-8.5 pH soil ranges best for the growth of the crop.

OD-19 (Sugandhi): Released by AMPRS, Odakkali, KAU, Kerala. The plant of this variety attains the height of 1-1.75 m. They have 0.3-0.4% oil content, oil yield @40-50 kg/acre and have citral content i.e. 84-86%. They can grow in wide range of climate and soil.

Pragathi: Released by CIMAP, Lucknow, U.P. The plant of this variety is dwarf in nature having broad and dark green color of leaves. They yield high oil i.e. 0.63% and citral content is 85-90%. It is mainly grown in subtropical and tropical climates or in north plains.

Nima: Released by CIMAP, Lucknow, U.P. The plant of this variety is tall and of citral type. It yields high biomass @9-11 MT/acre and have high oil yield 95-105 kg/acre. It is grown in Indian plain

Cauvery: Released by CIMAP, Lucknow, U.P. The plant has white stemmed and is tall. They grow in humid conditions or near river valley tracts of Indian plains.

Krishna: Released by CIMAP sub centre, Bangalore. The plant attains medium height. They have high biomass yield i.e. 8-11 Mt/acre and have high oil yield i.e. 90-100 kg/acre. It is grown in Indian Plains.

NLG 84: The variety released in 1994 by AINRP on  M & AP , NDUAT,  Faizabad , Uttar Pradesh. The variety is tall in height i.e. 100-110 cm having leaves with dark purple sheath. The oil content is 0.4% and citral content is 84%. It is grown in Uttar Pradesh.

OD 410: It is released by AMPRS, Odakkali, KAU, Kerala. It yields oleoresin @1050 kg/acre/year and have 18.6% oleoresin content. It is an ideal solvent for the extraction of methanol.

For Lemongrass plantation, it requires fertile and irrigated land. Ploughing and harrowing should be done repeatedly. During land preparation mix Lindane powder @ 10kg/acre with soil at the time of last ploughing to protect the crop from the attack of termite. Transplantation of lemongrass is done on raised beds.

Time of sowing
Prepare nursery beds in March - April month.  

Spacing
Depending upon growth habit 60 cm x 60 cm spacing for seedlings and 90 cm x 60 cm spacing for slips is required.  

Sowing Depth
Depth should be 2-3 cm.

Method of sowing
Two month old seedlings is ready for transplantation in main field.

Seed Rate
Use seed rate of 1.6 - 2 kg/acre.

Seed treatment
To protect crop from long smut disease, before sowing do seed treatment with Ceresan @0.2% or Emisan@1 gm/kg of seeds. After chemical treatment, use seeds for sowing.

Sow lemongrass seeds on raised beds of 1m-1.5m width and of convenient length. After sowing cover the beds with cut grass material and then it is covered with thin layer of soil.
Seeds are ready for transplantation in about 2 months when plant reaches the height of about 12-15 cm. field should be prepared first before transplanting.  The planting should be done at the spacing of 15x19cm. Do not plant seedlings deep into the soil as this may cause root-rot to occur during rainy season.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

In north east area, apply dose of nitrogen @24 kg, phosphorus @20 kg and potassium @14 kg/acre in form of Urea@52 kg, SSP@125 kg and MoP@23 kg/acre. In other conditions apply dose of nitrogen @40 kg/acre as it is recommended by Aromatic Plant Research Station, Odakkali (Kerala).

Do hand weeding and hoeing to keep field weed free. Mulching is also an effective way to reduce soil temperature along with weed control.  Application of organic mulch @1200 kg/acre. 2-3 weeding should be done in one year. Some organic control should be done such as UV radiation and flame weeding.

In summer season i.e. February to June, apply irrigation with interval of 4-6 irrigations are given. When rains are not in regular pattern then apply irrigation with interval of 3 days in first month and then with the interval of 7-10 days.  4-6 irrigations are necessary for the crop during summer months.

• Pest and their control:

Stem boring caterpillar: The caterpillar makes hole in the bottom of the stem and they feed themselves on plant. Drying of centre leaf is the first symptom.  Application of spray of Folidol E 605 is done to cure pests.

Nematodes: They infect the whole grass.
Application of Fenamiphos @4.5 kg/acre is done to prevent crop from the pest.

• Disease and their control:

Long smut: The flowers starts turning into cream colored sori. The disease starts infecting the flower from the tip and then slowly reaches the whole flower.

To get rid of long smut apply spray of Dithane Z-78 @2% before flower initiation or treat the seeds with Cersan @0.2% or Emisan-6 @1g/kg before sowing.

Little Leaf or Grassy shoot: It causes stunting and short leaf formation.

Application of spray Dithane Z-78 before flowering at the interval of 10-12 days should be done to reduce the risk of disease.

Plants start yielding by 4-6 months after transplantation. Harvesting is done at the interval of 60-70 days. Sickles are used for harvesting. The harvesting start in May and ends in January month. With the help of sickle, grass is cut at 10-15 cm above from the ground level for harvesting.

After harvesting, distillation is done. Before distillation the lemongrass is dipped in sodium chloride solution for 24 hours as it will increase the citral content in crop. Then grass is stored in shady place and is packed in bags or packets for transportation in local markets. From mature lemongrass several products like lemon grass oil and lemon grass lotion are made after processing.

1.Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana

2.Department of Agriculture

3.Indian Agricultural Research Instittute, New Delhi

4.Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research

5.Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare