Retired forest officer in Subarnapur turns Tulsi farming a profitable venture

Many farmers do not find the paddy farming as lucrative occupation and are gradually turning away from it. Youths are not interested in the farming. 

However, a retired forest official of Subarnapur started Tulsi farming and turned it into a profitable one. He has shown others how to earn enough from this farming.

As per reports, Kamal Lochan Purohit, a resident of Haradkhol, after retiring as DFO in 2017, wanted to stay in his village. Then, he cultivated Tulsi plants on his one acre of land. 

Purohit is earning handsomely from this farming by selling Tulsi oil offline and online. In every two months, he harvests around 9 quintals of Tulsi leaves from which four litres of oil is extracted. Tulsi oil is in high demand for preparation of Ayurvedic medicines.  

Purohit said, “I served for 37 years in the forest department and worked at different places in Odisha. After retirement, I did not like sitting idle. I wanted to do farming, but opted for non-conventional cultivation – medicinal plant cultivation. Some experts from Lucknow advised me to go in for tulsi plants.”

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He added that tulsi oil is extracted from its leaves through distillation process. “I got four litres of oil from nine quintals of leaves which are collected every two months. It is a useful oil for all. It can be sold both offline and online. I am also exploring the local market to sell the oil in small vials or in packages,” he observed.