The herbal production and processing center in Tikapur, Kailali has been increasingly attracting farmers to cultivate mentha (mint). The center has been providing mint and other herbal seedlings at low prices, offering free processing services, and purchasing the extracted oil—initiatives that have encouraged farmers to expand mentha cultivation. It also compiles annual records of farmers engaged in mint farming to support further expansion.
Last year, the center purchased 3,200 kilograms of mint oil. This year, it aims to buy 5,000 kilograms. According to office chief Kamal Raj Belbase, the center purchases mint oil at NRs 1,500 per kilogram. The center owns three hectares of land in Tikapur, where a portion is used for producing mentha and chamomile seeds. The seeds are sold to farmers at NRs 12 per kilogram, while chamomile seeds are distributed free of cost.
“We spend around NRs 86 to produce one kilogram of seeds, but we provide it to farmers for NRs 12 per kilogram,” Belbase said. “Up to 120 kilograms of seeds are required for one bigha of land.” According to him, one bigha can yield at least 100 kilograms of oil.
Chamomile oil is significantly more expensive—with the center buying it at NRs 19,000 per kilogram. Chamomile is planted in Magh (January–February). Farmers can harvest mustard first and then plant mentha, which is reaped in Jestha (May–June), allowing them to comfortably start paddy cultivation in Asar (June–July), Belbase added.
The center also produces oil from eucalyptus leaves. It purchases eucalyptus oil—commercially produced in many Tarai districts—at NRs 1,150 per kilogram. Last year, the center produced 600 kilograms of eucalyptus oil.
The center provides employment to over five thousand people annually, most of them women working on a daily-wage basis. It has created jobs in activities such as mint weeding, firewood collection, irrigation, seed extraction, and oil processing. “I have been working here for nearly 11 years,” said local resident Samjhana Pandey. “After completing household chores, the work here helps me manage my daily expenses without needing another job.”
