13 Mar Broad dhaniya: a successful crop of tropical islands
चौडा धनिया: उष्णकटिबंधीय द्वीपों की एक सफल फसल Broad dhaniya (Eryngium foetidum L. / Umbelliferae-Apiaceae) is a shade loving aromatic and medicinal plant also grown as a leafy vegetable in tropical regions. Broad dhaniya plant Broad dhaniya in flowering It is native to Central and Latin America. It is also known as Mexican coriander, cilantro, spiny coriander, fit weed, burma dhaniya, Vilayati dhaniya. CARI, Port Blair has developed its first variety through mass selection using local collections from Andaman & Nicobar Islands and named as ‘CARI Broad Dhaniya’. It has broad, long, serrated leaves with uniform growth and flowering pattern. It is rich in carotenoids, pohyphenols, chlorophyll and ascorbic acid and dietary nutrients like calcium, iron, sodium, copper and potassium. It’s cultivated in shade condition can be a profitable business in humid tropical and warmer regions even where heavy rains are common. Although, it common in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Eastern and North-eastern parts of Indian at present, but its potential need to be explored in other parts of mainland India. It has unique taste, better post harvest life, demand among the traditional consumers settled in different parts of country, fit very well as intercrop in fruit orchards and grow very well in rainy season in shadenet. Broad dhaniya in shadenet house...