Evaluation of alternate menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) based intensive cropping systems for Indo-Gangetic plains of north India

The objective of the study was to determine the profitability and employment-generation potential of different cropping systems involving menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.) as a component of sequential/intercropping in comparison with the most common paddy-wheat-green gram cropping system. Field experiments were conducted at Lucknow, India (26 degrees 5' N, 80 degrees 5' E and 120 m above mean sea level) for three years from July 2004 to June 2007. Menthol mint yielded the maximum fresh shoot biomass and essential oil (21.0 t and 151 kg ha(-1), respectively) grown after sweet basil (Ocimum basillicum)-potato followed by paddy-potato-menthol mint (18.9 t and 136 kg ha(-1), respectively) and maize-mustard-menthol mint (17.7 t and 131 kg ha(-1), respectively). Net returns of all the menthol-mint-based cropping systems were 82.6-354% higher than traditional paddy-wheat-green gram cropping system. Maize-garlic-menthol mint + okra was found to be most profitable (77,200 Rs ha(-1)) followed by pigeon pea + sweet basil-menthol mint + okra (76,120 Rs ha(-1)). Employment-generation efficiency was much higher in cropping systems involving menthol mint and vegetable crops, the highest (2.21 man days ha(-1) day(-1)) being in a maize-cauliflower-onion-menthol mint + okra cropping system.