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Prisoners in Andhra Pradesh will grow medicinal herbs for Himalaya Drug Company. The firm will give seeds, other inputs and extension services to inmates at the Prisoners’ Agricultural Colony at Anantapur, while the jail authorities would hand pick about 30 prisoners to grow alfalfa in a two-acre plot.
“We will buy back all the produce. It is up to the Department of Jails to compensate those who work on the fields,” Dr Babu, Head (Agrotech and Phytochemistry) of Himalaya Drug Company, said.
The company signed an agreement with the Department of Prisons for imparting training to the prisoners on cultivating medicinal herbs. After the training, they would grow medicinal herbs for the company.
The company procures 300 tonnes of alfalfa for its drug development activity, with most of it coming from contract farming agreements. Each acre would yield 3,000 kg of alfalfa.
The company, which registered a turnover of Rs 1,200 crore last year, is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 25-30 per cent.
>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in
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