Mulethi (liquorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra) can be grown in India on irrigated, well-drained sandy loam in the north-west plains and the sub-Himalayan foothills, but it is a three to four year root crop, so it only makes sense with a buyer lined up and land you can leave idle of other crops for that long. India imports most of its liquorice, and organised cultivation is still at an early stage.

The planting material is vegetative (stolon cuttings), the crop earns nothing until the roots are dug, and no reliable public farm-gate price series exists. Treat it as a long-term, small-scale trial plot rather than a quick cash crop.

Where it grows in India

  • Climate: a sub-tropical climate of north-west India with about 50 to 100 cm of annual rainfall, supported by irrigation.
  • Soil: fertile, well-drained sandy loam with pH 6.0 to 7.5 promotes good root development. Heavy or waterlogged soil makes digging roots difficult and encourages rot.
  • Recorded trial areas: dry-root yields have been recorded at Hisar (Haryana) and Anand (Gujarat).
  • Himachal Pradesh: in February 2023 CSIR-IHBT, Palampur, began what was reported as the first organised cultivation in the state and distributed planting material to farmers. Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Kangra, Una, Solan and Sirmaur were named as suitable districts.
  • Import dependence: reports quote about 8,047 tonnes of liquorice imported a year from Afghanistan, China and Nepal, which is the reason institutes are promoting domestic cultivation.

Planting material

  • Seed set is poor in India and germination is low, so the crop is propagated by stolon (runner) cuttings of about 10 to 15 cm.
  • Get planting material from a research institute such as CSIR-IHBT Palampur, your state agricultural university, or a nursery recommended by the State Medicinal Plants Board or your KVK. Ask for material of known origin, since glycyrrhizin content differs between plants.
  • Recommended spacing and fertiliser doses vary between sources; follow the package of practices given by the institute that supplies your cuttings, and check it with your local KVK.

Growing and care

  • Prepare the field deeply, since the roots go down; add well-rotted farmyard manure as a base.
  • Give light, regular irrigation in the first season and keep the field weed-free. Stop watering heavily before digging so roots can be lifted cleanly.
  • The plant flowers from the second or third year onward.
  • Ask the KVK about local pests and diseases before planting; for any chemical, follow the label.

Harvest and yield

  • Roots and stolons are dug in early autumn, three to four years after planting in the standard recommendation. A shorter 10 to 20 month crop has also been tried.
  • Hisar (Haryana): dry root yield recorded at about 7 t per hectare, which is about 2.8 t per acre.
  • Anand (Gujarat), 10 to 20 month crop: average 2.5 to 5 t per hectare of dry root, about 1 to 2 t per acre.
  • Washed roots are cut and dried in shade or a dryer. Buyers pay by dryness and by glycyrrhizin content, so ask what grade they accept.

Cost, returns and market

  • No official farm-gate price series for Indian-grown mulethi is available, so the arithmetic must come from your buyer's written quote: yield (kg per acre) x quoted price per kg, minus cuttings, labour for planting and digging, irrigation and the years of land use.
  • Example method: if a buyer quotes a price, 1,000 to 2,800 kg per acre (from the yields above) multiplied by that price gives the gross for the whole 1 to 4 year cycle. Divide by the years the field was occupied to compare with a normal crop.
  • Buyers are Ayurvedic and Unani drug makers, herbal extract and confectionery or tobacco flavour units, and dealers in dry-herb markets. Most currently source imported root, so a new grower must prove supply and quality.
  • Be wary of anyone selling cuttings with a promised buy-back price. Ask for the contract in writing and test it with a small plot first.
💡 Tip: Plant 0.25 acre first, and before you plant ask the buyer for their written price, moisture and glycyrrhizin requirements and payment terms.

Useful pages: drip irrigation, FPO for group sales, subsidy finder for National Medicinal Plants Board support. No current subsidy rate for mulethi has been verified; ask your State Medicinal Plants Board.

Sources