REVIVAL OF RANGAJAN HERBAL GARDEN IN ASSAM

BACKGROUND OF THE RANGAJAN PROJECT

Rangajan is a small town in Assam, about an hour’s drive from Kaziranga National Park. Shri Umesh Lahkar, a noted social entrepreneur and organic promoter, residing in Golaghat, was granted land in Rangajan by the govt. of Assam to develop a medicinal plants garden. He also purchased some land adjoining this plot and then consolidated it as a single holding. Over the years a demonstration herbal garden was planted on this two and a half acre plot. However, due to lack of funds for maintenance and new plantation, this herbal garden has fallen into disrepair since the past three years.

UMESH LAHKAR AND THE SMALL TEA GROWERS OF GOLAGHAT

Shri Umesh Lahkar wishes to revive this herbal garden now and for this funds are needed. Hence this appeal to all nature and herb lovers to donate generously for the herbal garden at Rangajan. Umesh Lahkar has worked with the small tea growers and paddy farmers of this area for several decades. He has encouraged them to adopt organic methods of cultivation. He invited Dr. Anjali Pathak, an organic farm consultant specializing in vrikshayurveda, to visit Golaghat and impart training to these farmers. After receiving this training several farmers

were benefited. Umesh Lahkar has organized several small tea growers of Golaghat into a self-help group that is producing very fine hand made herbal and green teas. This self-help small tea growers’ group was donated a LPG gas fired drier in 2015 by a generous donor. With this drier the group was able to step up their production of hand rolled teas.The herbal teas produced by this group were appreciated by all. They included elephant apple tea, rosella tea, moringa tea, lemongrass tea, diabetic tea to name a few. To produce rosella tea, rosella plants need to be planted out each year and harvested in winter. There are other herbs, native to Assam which have wonderful medicinal properties and which can be grown by the small farmers by providing them with seedlings and saplings. Then vishalata or sabah snake grass holds a lot of promise for its anti-cancer properties and farmers have shown an interest in cultivating it if saplings can be provided to them.

VISION FOR RANGAJAN HERBAL GARDEN

Umesh Lahkar’s vision is to develop the Rangajan herbal garden as a demonstration garden cum nursery which can provide saplings and seeds of herbal plants to the small farmers at nominal rates. Some perennial fruit trees will also be planted which can provide a steady source of income to make the garden self-sustaining. Umesh Lahkar has decided upon planting an early fruiting variety of jackfruit with pink flesh called Thailand Pink. Saplings will be procured from Karnataka and hopefully the trees will start fruiting after two years.Once the Rangajan garden is spruced up and replanted with a regular staff for maintenance, it will be open to the general public for purchase of herbal plants, herbal teas, and fruits from the fruit trees planted. Well wishers of Rangajan herbal garden are hoping that its revival will inspire other small self help groups in Assam to develop or rejuvenate similar herbal gardens and projects. This is the need of the hour if organically grown ayurvedic herbs are to be made available not only to ayurvedic companies but also to the common people.

EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN FARMERS

Several of the small tea growers and tea makers working with Umesh Lahkar are women. By growing several herbs in their home gardens they will be empowered to produce herbal teas. Black and green teas are already being produced by corporate owned and managed tea gardens in Assam. But herbal teas made with herbs that are indigenous to Assam or grown in Assam is the provenance of the small tea growers and small tea makers.

HOW THE FUNDS WILL BE USED

Irrigation is a must for any garden and for this a borewell needs to be installed at the Rangajan garden. Regular maintenance of the garden spread over two and a half acres, includes weeding, watering, manuring, planting, pruning and harvesting. This requires the appointment of two or three gardeners on a monthly salary basis. Then procurement of new seeds, plants and fruit trees for reviving the garden is an absolute must. The fencing around the garden also needs to be strengthened to prevent the incursion of stray cattle, goats and sheep into the garden. An investment of 8 lakh rupees or 9217 euros/10,692 USD needs to made for achieving this revival. This is a conservative estimate and actual costs may be much higher.

YOUR DONATION COUNTS

Please donate generously to aid the revival of Rangajan herbal garden. Can you make a minimum contribution of Rs. 2000, 25 euro or 30 USD gift and find two other people who would like to do the same? If you can contribute a higher amount that would be wonderful! Your generosity will not only help in the revival of Rangajan herbal garden but will also empower the small farmers including women farmers who are making herbal teas in Golaghat. You could even get your whole family or apartment involved and make it a gift from your family or your roommates. We will be posting pictures and updates each week to keep you informed. On a future visit to Assam and the Kaziranga National Park famed for its rhinos and elephants, you can visit Rangajan Herbal garden which is just an hour’s drive from the park.

It is easy to contribute to the campaign. Simply click the orange Support a Project button and follow the steps. Remember , #Change Counts!

Shri Umesh Lahkar and the small growers associated with him thank all donors from the bottom of their hearts for contributing generously for their cause.