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India is the world's dominant producer of crude Mentha arvensis oil, and exporter of its processed derivative, natural menthol. This status has been achieved through superior product price competitiveness resulting from progressive agronomic improvements that include a transition from cultivation of this mint as a semi-perennial to an annual crop. This paper describes and analyses recent developments in Indian M. arvensis cultivation.Observations were made during 1998/99 and 1999/2000 in the fields of 295 farmers in the central Indo-Gangetic plains area. The criteria recorded included: mint cultivars used; the planting, weeding, irrigation, pesticide application and harvesting schedules; crop health in relation to diseases and pests; yields of the harvested herb and the distilled essential oil; the oil menthol content; and the net income.Most of the farmers used the cultivar, Kosi. The performance and returns of Kosi transplanted in April had proved superior to Kosi and Shivalik suckers and to transplanted Shivalik. The returns from late-transplanted Kosi were in the range of Rupees (Rs) 25 000 to Rs 40 000 ha−1 (Rs 50≈US$1), similar to those from Kosi suckers and much higher than for both transplanted and suckers of Shivalik. This survey revealed that rotations of rice (Oryza sativa) with chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and mint, and pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) with wheat (Triticum aestivum) and mint could be profitable in the central Indo-Gangetic plains. They also conserved inputs and were preferable to the conventional rice-wheat rotation. A re-survey in the summer of 2002 confirmed that recommendations made to farmers have led to the adoption of the Kosi and Himalaya cultivars in 80% of the survey region and that 70% of mint cultivation in the area occurs in the summer season.

Exploiting the production potential of high yielding rice varieties through agronomic management is one of the alternatives to feed the ever growing population. For this, fertilizers from different sources and modern planting techniques have contributed substantially to the spectacular increase in rice yield and to improve soil properties. In order to study the effect of planting techniques and integrated nutrient management in rice. A field experiments was conducted at Crop Research Centre of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut (Utter Pradesh) during Kharif 2017. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. The treatment consisted of three planting techniques (P1-conventional puddled transplanting (CT-TPR), P2-wide raised beds transplanted rice (WB-TPR) and P3-reduced till transplanted rice (RT-TPR) and ten integrated nutrient management (F1-control, (no fertilizer), F2-RDF (150-60-40 kg NPK/ha), F3-75%RDF + FYM 5 t/ha, F4-75% RDF + FYM 5 t/ha + Zn, F5-75% RDF + FYM 5 t/ha + BF, F6-75% RDF + FYM 5 t/ha +BF + Zn, F7-100% RDF + FYM 5 t/ha, F8-100% RDF + FYM 5 t/ha + Zn, F9-100% RDF + FYM 5 t/ha + BF and F10-100% RDF FYM 5 t/ha+BF+ Zn in this way there were 30 treatment combinations. The values of growth contributing characters viz. plant height (cm), number of tillers m -2 , dry matter accumulation (g m -2 ), and yield attributes like number of panicles m -2 , length of panicle (cm), number of panicle -1 , grain weight panicle -1 , test weight (g), grain and straw yield (q ha -1 ) of rice were increasing significantly with conventional puddled transplanted method (P1) followed by wide raised beds transplanted method (P2) and significantly superior over rest of the treatments. In case of integrated nutrient management the growth characters like plant height (cm), number of tillers m -2 , dry matter accumulation (g), yield attributes" number of panicle m -2, length of panicle, grain weight panicle -1 , test weight (g), grain and straw yield (q ha -1 ) of rice were maximum under F10 (100% RDF+5t/ha FYM + BF + Zn) which was at par with F9 (100% RDF +5t/ha FYM +BF) during course of investigation. The maximum gross return and net return were noted under P2 (wide raised beds transplanted rice) with F10 (100% RDF+5t/ha FYM+ BF + Zn) [P2F10] application. The highest benefit cost ratio were recorded with WB-TPR SRI method with (100% RDF+5t/ha FYM+ BF + Zn) treatment (P2F10) followed by WB-TPR with (100% RDF+5t/ha FYM+BF) (P2F9) they proved more remunerative then other treatment combinations. CT-TPR used higher amount of water than WB-TPR, with water saving of 14.5% in WB-TPR. Significantly higher water productivity was recorded in WB-TPR as compared to CT-TPR.

Trials in farmers' field(s) were conducted to study the usefulness of vermicompost (VC) produced from distillation waste of menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L. cv. Kushal) using earthworms (Eisenia foetida) in reducing the inputs of chemical fertilizers and improving soil health in menthol mint-based cropping systems. Results of the first trial conducted on menthol mint (sole crop) in the fields of 45 farmers clearly indicated that 75% of the chemical fertilizer inputs can be reduced by supplementing the fields with 5 t ha − 1 of menthol mint VC leading to higher levels of profits to the farmers by significantly improving herb and oil yield (6.7 and 8.4%, respectively) compared to the full recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (NPK 75:60:60 kg ha − 1 ). The second trial was conducted in the fields of six farmers adopting a menthol mint cropping system (mint-rice-wheat-mint) where significantly higher yields were recorded in plots supplemented with 5 t ha − 1 of menthol mint VC + 25% of the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers; an increase of 5.6-7.2% in mint oil and 6.6% in wheat yield over the plots receiving the full recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (NPK 75:60:60 kg ha − 1 ). However, in the case of rice, the highest grain yield was observed within plots receiving the full recommended dose of chemical fertilizers. Data obtained on soil properties clearly showed that apart from enhancing the yields of crops, the integration of VC with chemical fertilizers considerably improved the soil fertility/sustainability status in terms of organic carbon, available N, P and K.

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