What is Moringa oleifera ( Drumstick / Horse radish )

[T. Ramu B.Sc( Agri) MBA]

Moringa oleifera
(Drumstick / Horse radish )
Drumstick / Moringa oleifera is an Indian vegetable ,called world super food , originated in Indian Sub Himalayan region and has been in use since Vedic period over 2000 years ago .it is growing well in Tropical and subtropical climate upto an altitude of 600 feet above mean sea level .
The moringa vegetable is used both as moringa leaf powder and pods in human food .
Moringa leaf contains more mineral nutrients like iron , calcium , potassium , magnesium , Vitamins B6 , vitamin C , Beta carotene , essential amino acids , antioxidant and isothiocyanate . Due to presence of above in extraordinary level , it is called complete food ,sustainable food and balanced food . The antioxidant removes metabolite waste from body and reduce blood pressure and blood sugar . It is anti-cancerous and antiaging food for human . It enhances mood swing and sex drive in men and women folk .
The certified organic moringa leaf powder is exported and marketed in international market through pharmaceutical chain stores and super market .The use of moringa as medicine is traced back to Vedic period and evidenced from the mention in the Vedic scripture called Rig Veda and manuscript .
Out of 13 moringa species the moringa oleifera is performing well in terms of fast growth ,early flowering , delicious pods and leaves , huge yield and more farm income to Moringa growers .
For leaf powder production moringa is cultivated in super ultra high density method with 1 million plants in one hactare espaced at 10 CMS either side . First harvest is made at 60 th days after sowing seeds and subsequent harvest is made at 40-45 days cycles .In a year 8 harvest is made altogether and nearly 1000 MT Tonnes of green fresh leaf biomass is produced out of one hactare field . At 10:1 conversion ration between fresh green leaves and processed dry moringa leaf powder , 100 MT of dry leaf powder is generated .Each certified organic moringa leaf powder is marketed at rate of $ 25000 per MT .
The pod yield per ha is 200 MT and each tree produces around 500 Nos of pods each weighing 100 grams in an average . The immature pods harvested in about 65 -70 days after fruit set is cooked and eaten as vegetables and consumption of pods increase estrogen and testosterone in human being that is reflected in increased sex drive in men and women . Moringa pods significantly enhance fertility in human being .
So moringa is cultivated for pods and exported to international vegetable market and sold at higher price .
In one ha farmers can sow 3750 plants at a spacing of 2.7 M row to row spacing and 2.0 plant to plant spacing . Drip irrigation is used for watering moringa plantation in a controlled manner .
Use of panchagavya as organic liquid plant nutrients prepared from the fermentation of cow based natural products like cow milk , cow ghee , cow urine , cow dung, cow curd act as great plant feed rich in macro , secondary and trace plant nutrients besides containing millions of beneficial microbes , amino acids , vitamins , enzymes etc that regulate growth and development of moringa plants for generating highest yield of pods as well as fresh green leaves .
The moringa leaves and pods increase immunity in body to fight against germs causing disease in human body .
Since there is huge demand for moringa product in global market that is forecast at 7 billion USD by 2025 , farmers and companies can have great choice of growing moringa to earn biggest farm income .