Phyllanthus amarus - Keelanelli
Phyllanthus is annual weed, it will grow during rainy seasons; it is also as weed in vegetable gardens, flower gardens waste lands and roadsides.
It is propagated by seeds
Seeds are having short viability, mostly one year. 6 seeds are available in a fruit.
The herb can be grown two times in a year, good sunlight is necessary for the crop.
5ton organic manure and 100 kg DAP should be applied per acre.
June – Aug; jan – Feb, irrigated crop will give good yield.
Seeds needed per acre 500g – 1kg.
Nursery bed can be prepared and seeds can be sown there; after one month seedlings can be transplanted to main field.
Weeding is done after 15 – 20 days of transplanting.
Watering is done ones in a week.
Leaf mite is common, it is difficult to control, it is not making much damage to the crop. Small moth also present in the leaves. Powder mildew is another prominent disease. When the night temperature is going below 22oC the mildew will spread. The crop should be harvested before the commencement of winter. When it is single crop It will spread very fast and the whole crop become white. So it should be harvested in October. The chemical content also will go down during winter.
The herb can be harvested at the 60th - 90th day of transplanting, the herb will be 2 – 3 feet height, if there is delay for harvest the basal leave start falling.
The crop should be harvested during October or April. The yield will be 1.5 to 2 ton of dried herb per acre.
The herb should be cut 4 inch above the ground level and chopped into 15 -20cm long pieces and dried in sun light / shade. While drying, separate the mature seeds that are falling down, dry the herb for 3- 5 days and then pack. Dry the seeds and preserve it for next use.
The current market price is Rs. 45 / kg dried herb
The expenses will be 12- 15000/ per acre.
Profit expected is 40- 50,000/acre in 4 months