Anaromatic garden, with over 140 fragrant plant species from all over India, like Chandan, Tulsi, Parijat, etc., planted across 3 acres of land, was opened in Lalkuan,Nainital. The garden is the countrys biggest such facility, forest officials claimed. The project has been developed by the research wing ofUttarakhand forest departmentwith Centre’s compensatory afforestation (CAMPA) funds.
The idea is to conserve, promote research of and create awareness around various aromatic species, officials said. The aroma has huge scope. Villagers can look forward to a promising livelihood from nurturing these Plants. Also, it will prevent these species from dying out. In the coming years, the garden will be spread to 113 acres, said Veena Rao, aroma plant consultant fromMaharashtra.
Work on the garden started in 2018, forest officials involved in the project said. They added that aromatic species from all over the country were brought to Nainital and conserved here, like Chandan from South India, Agarwood from North East, Kewada from coastal regions and Parijat from Terai zone.
The aromatic grass section has Java, Khas and Lemon plants while the aromatic bulbs section has Red Ginger (also called Pink Cone Ginger) and sand ginger plants. The aromatic roots section has Patharchur and Vach plants.