| Introduction: |
|
There
are two species of citronella i.e.
Botanical name: Cymbopogon
winterianus
Common name: Java
Citronella and the other species
Botanical name: Cymbopogon
naruds
Common name: Ceylon
Citronella
belonging to family
Gramineae. These are the tufted aromatic grasses with superficial fibrous roots. Leaf
blades are long, wide, and glabrous. Spathate panicles decompound, large, long with many
racemes. Spikelets are sessile and long.
Availability of Citronella grass is in the form of herbage
that is leaves. |
Geographical distribution |
|
This crop is a recent
introduction into India and its cultivation is mainly done in the lower hills of Assam, in
Karanataka and southern Gujarat, covers about 2,000 hectares of area. |
| Medicinal and other value |
|
The
main constituents of Citronella oil are Citronellol (65%), Citronellal (12-49%) and
Geraniol (14-24%), Citronella oil mostly used in perfumery like perfume in soap, soap
flakes, detergents, household cleaners, technical products and insecticides. It also
employed in anti mosquito creams. Citronella oil is a raw material for isolation of above
perfumery compounds. |
| Package of cultivation practices |
|
Citronella
can be cultivated in light loam soils, rich in organic matter and well-drained soils. It
thrives best in humid tropical areas with moderately warm temperature and well distributed
rainfall. Propagation is made vegetatively by the splitting the clumps into slips, a
healthy one year old clump yields 60-80 slips. During monsoon season, it can be planted on
distance at 30 cm and row to row at 60 cm. depending upon the rate of growth and the soil
fertility. Java citronella is grown up to 1,000 m above sea level on well drained
sandy-loam to clayey-loam soils with pH varying from 5-7.5. When it is grown on medium
soil, it is given 20 kg of N, 60 kg of P, 40 kg of K per hectare at the time of planting.
It can be supplemented with 80-100 kg of N per hectare annually as top-dressing in 3-4
split doses. The crop is irrigated after every 10-15 days during the dry season. After
proper care, first harvest can be made in 4-6 months after planting then after 3-4 months.
The yield of fresh herbage varies from 16-20 tonnes per hectare. |
| Processing facilities |
|
Oil can be obtained by
steam distillation from dried grass for 12-24 hours. Average recovery of citronella oil is
1%. Yield is about 150-200 kg per hector. 16-20 tonnes of fresh herbage on distillation it
gives 100-150 kg of oil. Low alcohol and aldehyde contents are noticed in the oils
distilled from the immature crop of from that grown under excessively humid conditions |
| Markets |
|
The
cost of cultivation for hectare of land is about Rs. 1,09,150. While the profit is about
Rs. 2,68,975 for hectare of land. The Indian market rate of citronella oil is Rs. 250-300
per kg. |
