Spices & Asafetida (Hing) cultivation may transform Himalayan economy

The Hing called as king of spices may transform the Himalayan economy as agriculture scientists and farmers
are working on the move in state since year 2015 onward to introduced couple of new spice cash crop on the line of Kala Jeera cultivation in Sangla valley of Kinnuar district.  

Dr. Vikram Sharma, Scientist and former Director Coffee Board of India told us that India import spices like Hing and Star anise tunes to billion of dollar from other country. He said that in 2019, we have imported approximately 1500 tones of raw hing from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan worth Rs 942 crore.
Similarly we are importing about Rs 1400 Crore  worth Chakra Phool (Star anise) from China every year however State of Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and other five northeastern states could be offer ideal climate to grow Hing and Star anise.
Mr Sharma said that the Asafetida ( Hing) cultivation are currently confined to Afghanistan and Iran however supply of Hing seed is prohibited from these nations and violation of the export of seeds is capital offense in these nations. 
Dr Sharma said that Hing is not exotic species of spice in India or especially in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir as the number of wild species of the Hing are native to State of Himachal Pradesh and hilly area of UPand Bihar. 

Mr Sharma along with the  collaboration of other scientists conducted a detailed research on Hing cultivation between the year 2015-18 in Himachal. He said that Hing belonged to Genus Ferula. The Agricultural scientists in the state are already working out to produce the seeds of Hing to further distribute to farmers however Dr Sharma is doubtful about the success rate of its further propagation of its seeds. State Scientists claimed that they were multiply it by the technique of tissue culture.   
” During the study on the wild species of hing as none of them could be domesticated are found abundant in number of regions in Kashmir including upper Region of Dharak, Kargil and Leh. Director Research in the DRDO Dr Om Prakaesh Chaurasia  Defense Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), is working on cold arid agro-animal technologies at Leh identified the wild species of Hing ” Dr Sharma said 
” The traces of wild variety of Hing is found in Kinnuar in the high hills of Lipa in Lahaul valley of Lahaul Spiti district and party of Leh in J and K it is also know as Ghoda Ghas (grass) however commercial crop of Hing is know as Asafetida is native to Iran and Afghanistan as it is found  in Khursan are of Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey. ” Dr Sharma said.
Seeking more emphasis on the R and D of Hing cultivation Dr Sharma said that Five years long seed cycle
of Hing is major hurdles in its propagation however as few kilogram Hing seed supplied to Indian institute of Himalaya Bio-Technology to further multiply it before supply it to farmers. 
Mr Sharma said that Hing cultivation would not only help to benefit farmers due to high economic value moreover its cultivation is environment friendly as it cultivation is 100 per cent natural need not pesticides and chemical.
The herbs plant of Asafetida is natural disease registrant as being major constituent is Sulphur it is antibacterial, Anti-Viral and Anti-fungal . The plant have huge component of activated Sulphur is immune to most of plant born disease.
The consumption of Hing helps the gastritis Imbalances of PH and hyper-acidity. Asafetida is widely used in
Ayurveda pharmacy purgative products like Dabur -Hinguli . Hungasitc Churan likely to transforms the industries with domestic production in the state.
He emphasized that Government  should come forward to provide basic  technical knowledge and support for the farmers and horticulturists of the region. 
In other words agro-horticulture is one of the best Eco-friendly industry can play vital role to restore environment and ecology 
along with the socio-economic development and reforms for the middle agriculturists society. 
If the Government of India take proper initiative to establish a  Sub Himalayan development Board the barren wasteland would turned a backbone for farmers of the Shivalik hills of mid Himalayan region, the paper said.

Mr Sharma also presented a paper on the Asafetida cultivation various conferences in the country and abroad.
The collaboration with a Kabul based University in Afghanistan also shattered due to collapse of Northern Alliance Government there.
The main highlight of the paper is as follows:
An Introduction to the king of spices Asafetida it’s uses and cultivation practices :
The Asafetida have multipurpose spice with unique properties is of Indo-Asian peninsula origin is commonly known as food of the Gods is nothing but a dried gum extracted from the taproot of a perennial herb called Ferula (Hing). 
Ferula grows to a height of 1-1.5 meters which is indigenous to the mountains of Afghanistan but now is  cultivated in some parts of Himalayas in India. Raw asafetida (Hing) has a very pungent and an unpleasant smell that’s  the reason this dried sap is also known as stinking gum. 

When this dried gum added to cooked dishes it gives very pleasant and carminative flavor to the dishes. Mainly there are two main varieties of asafoetida 1.Hing Kabuli Sufaid (off white asafoetida) and Hing Lal (Red asafoetida). The white variety is water soluble and the other variety is highly active having more pungent in nature and is only is oil soluble. 
Pure Asafoetida is never been chosen to flavor dishes due to its highly powerful pungent smell,. To take it in use to flavor dishes it is assorted with a starch or flour but some where edible gums also used to make it usable for edible purpose and sold as compounded Asafoetida generally in small bricket structures. Some manufacturers also make it available in the form of powder or in small granules.
A Brief History

If the ancient history of asafoetida is explored it has to be understood that Asafoetida has come by land across Iran from European continent. This plant has a very long history of human usages and cultivation it is believed that it went into Europe from a
dominant expedition of Alexander The Great, who, after recurring from a journey to northeastern Persia, thought they had found a plant approximately the same to the famed Silphium of Cyrene in North Africa, though less flavorsome. Discords, in the early century, wrote, “The Cyrenaica Kind, even if one just tastes it, at once arouses a funniness all through the body and has a very strong healthy fragrance,so that it is not noticed on the inhalation, or only a little; but the Iranian is weaker in clout and has a foul aroma”. 

Now a days it is in more use and is believed as the substitute for Silphium in cooking, which was lucky, because a few decades subsequent to Dioscorides’s time, the true “Silphium of Cyrene” became vanished due to harvesting by unscientific methods or by environmental changes, and asafoetida became more accepted in the midst of physicians for medicinal usage, as well as by the Cooks for flavoring dishes.
Now a days in Europe it’s not so much commonly used but used for medicinal purposes but in Asian region and specifically in India it is widely used in both in the medicine as well as in every type of dishes as culinary flavoring spice.
Habitat : The main habitat of Asafoetida is cultivatable beds and is cultivated mainly due its major use in medicinal fields and cookery field. Leaves and juvenile shoots of asafoetida plants are cooked as a vegetable. The plant has a fetid in odour, but disappears when it is boiled for some time. The Roots need to be steeped in order to take away the unpleasantness. A gum-resin from the root is extracted and dried isused as a food flavoring agent known as Hing a very popular name in spices.
It could be use as condiment as well it’s property to eliminate gastritis and hyper-acidity. It works as very ultimate savor enhancer and used along with all other spices those are standard component of Indian cuisine, particularly in lentil curries, such as Dal, as well as in all vegetable Dishes.
In India it is widely used in Karnataka cuisine, Gujarati cuisine and Tamilnadu cuisine, which is mainly vegetarian, and is frequently used to tone sweet, sour,salty and spicy components in food. It is used to trademark the savor of Karnataka Saaru, Tamilnadu sambar -a saucy curry made with cereals and lentils. Asafoetida, In its unadulterated form, its odor is so physically powerful that the smell will eliminate fungus and pests from the odor area. 
Asafoetida has a wide range of application in the field of medicinnes and pharmaceutical industry. Asafoetida has the capability to slow-down the growth of microflora in the rectum that in return reduces flatulence. It has proven  antibiotic properties due to which it is used to keep small children healthy by giving small diluted doses in the form of ayurvedic drops. It also helps in fighting influenza and by research methods scientists claim that the roots of asafoetida have the property to produce antiviral drugs that can kill viruses like swine flu virus, herpes virus and even it can kill even AIDS virus in primary stage . 
Asian countries like India Thailand Pakistan, Burma china and others asafoetida is used to treat indigestion by smudging it on the abdomenwith a small amount of water. Asafoetida should not be taken by pregnant women because it has the property of a contraceptive and can cause pre mature abortion. In ayurveda asafoetida is believed to be one of the best spices to balance Vata and Kapha dosha. 
Lastly in my research I found that Asafoetida is a one of the best anti-fungal anti-spasmodic and anti-gastritis medicine with other properties like is  found with a very good anti-viral alkaloids researched recently .

More Myths about asafoetida: There are so many folklores that asafoetida can be used to treat asthma, bronchitis and can be used as a medicine to cure children’s cold and sneezy nose by applying on there nails. Asafoetida also has lots of beliefs ,  that asafoetida is a spirit repeller and asafoetida can be used in magic spells as it has the ability to curse and protect. It is also used to protect humans from demonicforces.
It is an international value crop and having highly demanded in spices as well as in pharmaceutical industry but due to less production cost is very high and adulterated material always be available in the market . Farmers {Agro-horticulturists } of Northern Himalayan region of India must come forward to cultivate this most demandable spice for the upliftment of there socio-economic status and agro-horticulture developmental reforms.
It can be cultivated along with other valuable spices like Dalchini {Cinnamon} , fruits like Avocados and international essential commoditiescrop like coffee plantations to make agro-horticulture more viable and flexible for poor agriculturists of above states.