Himachal farmers pioneer sustainable cultivation of endangered Himalayan herb ‘Kutki’

In the higher reaches of the Himalayas, an agricultural initiative is helping bring one of the region’s most prized medicinal plants back from the brink of extinction. Decades of destructive wild harvesting pushed Picrorhiza kurroa, known locally as Kutki, a herb used in medicinal formulations, onto the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Now, a sustainable cultivation model adopted by farmers in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district is showing promising signs of conserving the species while boosting the rural mountain economy.

For years, harvesting Kutki, the high-value medicinal herb native to the alpine and sub-alpine regions (2,700-4,500 metres) of the Himalayas, meant uprooting the plant entirely. Researchers at the Himalayan Research Group (HRG), a Department of Science and Technology Core Support Group under the Programme of Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division, spent more than a decade developing and demonstrating an alternative method. Farmers now harvest only the plant’s side “stolons”, leaving the mother plant intact to continue producing for years, making the practice sustainable.

What started as a research project under the Department of Biotechnology’s Himalayan Bioresource Mission in 2022 has grown into the largest private-land cultivation cluster of this endangered species, now spanning nearly 180 farmers across Mandi district.

“Our initiative is aimed at promoting sustainable cultivation of this high-value medicinal plant. This species was collected from the natural habitat in a destructive way of uprooting the plant. There was myth that still exists that the root of this plant is a drug and is sold in the market. But technically, it is a side branch which creeps on the soil and possesses nodes and is a type of stem and technically called a ‘stolon’. Roots are fibrous and possess no medicinal contents and after drying, only these stolons are collected for marketing. HRG worked extensively to develop sustainable harvesting techniques and has demonstrated successfully in the field that Kutki plantation can be a perennial plantation for life,” said Lal Singh, Director, HRG, based in Shimla.

“The herbal and pharmaceutical industry continues to exhibit strong demand for Picrorhiza kurroa, which is reported to be an ingredient in more than 2,000 herbal formulations. Rising demand, coupled with declining wild populations, has led to increased market prices and growing interest in commercial cultivation,” Mr. Singh said.

Kutki is currently categorised as an Endangered species on the IUCN Red List, with several regional conservation assessments identifying it among the most threatened medicinal plants in the Himalayan region. Recognising the threat posed by international trade, it was included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This listing permits international trade only under regulated conditions and requires export permits to ensure that trade does not adversely affect wild populations.

For 70-year-old Narad Ram, a horticulturist from Manjha village in Mandi district, scientific cultivation has become a welcome source of additional income.

“I started planting Kutki in my farmland about 4-5 years ago. Before that, I used to collect it from the wild for self consumption. It is disappearing from the forests due to multiple reasons. Now I grow and harvest it in my field scientifically. Earlier, I used to pluck the whole plant, but now I harvest it with the ‘stolon’ method. They grow further from there, they keep expanding forward and roots sprout from them. This method is beneficial. I have been selling it through HRG and earning around ₹15,000-₹16,000 annually by producing about 5-6 kilograms of dried herb,” Mr. Ram told The Hindu.

Another farmer, Tek Chand (60), who has planted the herb on half a bigha of land, said, “Recently I harvested and sold about 10 kg of dried Kutki through HRG. I earned around ₹15,000. Earlier, the earning wasn’t much. The government should also take some steps for promoting and buying it,” urged Mr. Chand.

Noting that the economics of cultivating the species are encouraging and that remote mountain households can benefit from it, Dr. Singh said, “Farmers produced about 50 kg of dried high-quality marketable drug after the initial three years and it was marketed through the HRG-promoted farmers’ producer company, Junee Mountain Farmers Producer Company Limited, at ₹1,500/kg. We are also planning to market the produce via digital platforms. Farmers will benefit from direct sales, eliminating intermediaries and increasing profit margins.”