Medicinal and aromatic plants, localised irrigation

Medicinal plants, types and characteristics

Medicinal plants are nowadays a growing market due to the increasing interest of the population in healthy living and a balanced diet. In Italy, 70% of demand in recent years has been covered by foreign imports.

Medicinal plants, found in nature along with many other natural remedies, have a particular content of active ingredients and are used for therapeutic purposes. In 1931, Italian law defined ‘officinal’ plants with curative or preventive properties that were used as far back as the ancient botanical workshops of master apothecaries to develop various remedies for ailments.

Ancient medicine was closely linked to botany, this is why medicinal plants are also called ‘medicinals’, as defined by the W.H.O.:

“A medicinal plant is any plant which, in one or more of its organs, contains substances that can be used for therapeutic purposes or which are precursors for the synthesis of useful drugs.”

From an agronomical point of view, there are plenty of medicinal plants but not a real list of them. They can be classified into:

Aromatic plants, which only have taste and smell properties and are mainly used for culinary and not curative purposes;
Medicinal plants, the active ingredient has therapeutic properties;
Essence plants, for the extraction of essential oils for herbal purposes.

Here are just a few of the plants, considered medicinal and aromatic:

– Wild garlic

– Laurel oak

– Aloe vera

– Dill

– Basil

– Borage

– Camomile

– CIlantro

– Curcuma

– Cumin

– Tarragon

– Juniper

– Lavander

– Lemon

– Liquorice

– Lemon balm

– Mint

– Olive tree

– Oregano

– Nettle

– Rosemary

– Sage

– Saffron

– And many others….

These plants can easily be cultivated but each one (depending on the species) requires special care and has a different commercial potential. The best strategy would be to place side by side traditional plants with niche and little-known ones to get a high-margin.

Over 36,000 farms in Europe cultivate medicinal plants, led by Bulgaria and Germany; there are around 3000 companies in Italy, a sector that is certainly growing fast with around 300 types of medicinal plants cultivated, out of which only 25% are harvested in the wild.

How to grow medicinal and aromatic plants

In order to grow medicinal and aromatic plants cost-effectively, they need to be planted in their own territory of origin so that there is limited use of technology and consequent outlay to compensate for unsuitable environmental conditions.

Each plant has its own suitable soil, which must be worked before the seedlings are planted. In cultivation, the most important period is the harvest time, which must correspond to a certain ‘balsamic time’, i.e. the period when the active ingredients are higher in the plant.

The production steps for medicinal (and aromatic) herbs are:

Agricultural production and first processing (selection, washing and drying);
Secondary processing (cutting and selection);
Final transformation (final product).

Medicinal (and wild) plants are not cultivated but it is essential to recognise them in order to avoid making mistakes and therefore not to select poisonous plants.

Cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants with drip irrigation

When irrigating medicinal and aromatic plants, the first thing to do is to avoid watering the leaves in order to prevent disease development and damages. The amount of water should be high so that it penetrates the soil and leaves it moist for a long time, but it is advisable to avoid stagnation in order not to create rot.

Given these aspects, drip irrigation is therefore considered the most suitable for these crops. Some examples are given below.

Basil: Mediterranean aromatic plant

In comparison with other medicinal and aromatic plants that do not require much care, basil needs frequent watering as it does not like drought but also does not like stagnation, so it is better to water less and often. This becomes feasible with a correct installation of the irrigation system

Celery: medicinal vegetable of the ancient Greeks

Celery prefers soil rich in organic substances and wants this to be constantly moist but without stagnation.

It is sown in pots between February and March and is transplanted (when the seedling reaches 4-5 cm) from May to the end of July.

The recommended planting scheme is 35x35cm to allow the seedlings to develop properly. As already mentioned, celery loves water and therefore requires watering every 2-3 days. With a drip irrigation system, unnecessary waterlogging is avoided and resource efficiency is achieved.

Drip irrigation meets the different needs of this family of plants by saving water and reducing waste due to proper use of the resources at our disposal. Watering is recommended in the morning or late evening, especially when there are high temperatures during the day. When the temperature exceeds 25-26°, the plants need water every day.

Aromatic plants generally like sunny locations and it is recommended not to expose them to colder and windier areas, but not all of them behave in the same way, for example sage as a perennial aromatic plant can withstand snowy climates, it just needs a sheltered place.

Not all medicinal plants require water; indeed, some, such as oregano, like dry soil, so remember that each plant behaves differently. The use of drip irrigation when the plant requires constant humidity is recommended as it allows us to manage our irrigation resources intelligently and with respect to the plant’s needs.