LAND MEASURING: - 1 BIGHA
INTRODUCTION ABOUT STEVIA: - “STEVIA” commonly known as Mitha Pat {we used the word Stevia in lieu of mitha pat) is an incredibly sweet herb obtaining by a natural selective breeding process sweetest Stevia percent plant. The sweetener extracted from the plant is 300 times sweeter than sugar The fresh leaves have a nice liquorices test. Many different use of Stevia are well-known as table suger,in soft drinks, pasty, pickles, candy, Jum, chewing-gum and sorbets. The dry leaves of Stevia are about 40 times sweeter than sugar. The documented properties of Stevia are antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-macrobiotic, anti-viral, cardio-tonic, diuretic, anti-yeast, hypoglycemic and vasodilator. Indeed the leaves contain deterrence glycoside with a sweet taste but which are not metabolized and contain no calories. The history of culture of Stevia mainly stems from Paraguay and Brizil. But its cultivation has become popular worldwide. Its leaves are about 5cm long and 2cm wide, and are planted crosswise facing each other. In the wild the height of the plant varies from 40cm to 80cm, but when cultivated it becomes one meter high. The plant can use for commercial production for 5 to 6 years. The dry weight of the leaves can very from 15gm to 35gm per plant. The sweet herb Stevia is becoming a major sources of natural sweetener as an alternate of sugar. It is rapidly replacing the chemical sweetener like Splanda, Saccharin and Aspartame. To-day Stevia is ready become king in the market of sweetener. This is a ray- of-hope for Diabetic patient. As it is natural source of sweetener it is also used for treatment of obesity and high blood-sugar patient. There is no increase the sugar level after consumption of Stevia (Mitha –Pat) as sweetener as substitute of normal sugar. There is a different view about Stevia in different Countries like Japan & Korea it is widely used as sweetener. Today the number of countries increasing their sweetener where Stevia is available.
ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION:-Stevia originated from Northeastern Paraguay and is widely distributed in USA, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, and South East Asia.
ADVANTAGE OF STEVIA USING:-
1. It is a completely natural non-synthetic product; the sweetener contains absolutely no calories.
2. The leaves can be used in their natural state, only small quantity need to be used.
3. The plant is non-toxic.
4. The leaves as well ashy pure the sweetener extract can be cooked.
5. No aftertaste or bitterness.
6. Stable when heated up to 200C
7. Non Fermentative
8. Flavor enhancing.
9. Clinically tasted and frequently used by human without negative effect.
10. Ideal and non-addictive sweetener for children.
USES:-
1. Stevia is safe for diabetics as it does not affect blood sugar level.
2. It does not have the neurological or renal side effect of some of the artificial sweetener.
3. It process anti-fungal and anti-bacterial property also in addition to its other versatile uses. It can be safely used in herbal medicine, tonics for diabetic patients and also in the daily usage product like mouth-wash, tooth-past etc.
4. Mild Stevia leaf tea offer excellent relief for upset stomach
CULTIVATION:-
SOIL: - It grows well in sandy loam with an ample supply of water. It prefers acidic to neutral soil with a P H range of 6.5 to 7.5 for its best growth. Saline soils should be avoided as this plant is susceptible to water logged condition.
CLIMATE :- It is a semi humid subtropical plant and can grow in the temperature range between 04c to 48c an average temperature of 31c with a rainfall of 140cm per year has been found optimum for its good growth. It shows good seed germination when subjected to height worm condition. Hence a long growing season minimal frost, highlight intensities and worm temperature favor higher leaf production.
LAND PREPARATION: - The land site are plowed and or cultivated twice to prepare a fairly smooth firm planting surface. (Our expert gives the feed back to the farmer. Our Add: - Organic Innovation
TRANSPLANT: - Transplant from cutting would be superior however cast makes its prohibitory. Stevia must be propagated from seed in plug tray placed in a greenhouse for a period of 7 to 8 weeks.
PLANTING: - Depending on different climatic condition Stevia is cultivable throughout the year except for timing when it is extremely hot or cool. Stevia plug plants are planted into the field on 75cm bed with row spacing of 45cm to 45cm height with a total plant density in the order of 30000 plants per acer.
FARTILIZATION: - The plant appears to have low nutrient requirement however a soil test should be conducted. Good Organic manure must be applied time to time.
WEED CONTRAL: - The crop also required hard hoeing and weeding. Every month there must be weeding.
FARM DEVELOPMENT: - Still the farm is in open location and it is undeveloped. First of all then after it will require the fencing. If there is no availability of water then irrigation system will be required for water. (Our expert gives the feed-back)
COST OF CULTIVATION OF STEVIA: - Stevia is a newly introduced new crop with the regular earning. As the 1st cutting of the crop start after three month of the sowing and there is a regular cutting after every 3 months as per climatic condition. The crop is at high demand as it is only source of natural sweetener. The crop is 1st choice of the sugar free industries. The crop is planted for five years. After the 5th year the marginal return started to decline so it is best to uproot crop and replant it.
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