Buy Stevia from me if you are from Chitwan

Do you want to free yourself from buying expensive sugar and use a cheaper alternative to it? You can now plant, 5 stevia plants and get rid of the need to buy sugar altogether. Five plants of stevia can be enough to meet the need of sugar for a medium sized nuclear family.

Is Commercial Aloe Vera Farming Profitable?

After Palm Agrotech Ltd. introduced the commercial farming of Aloe vera and stevia, many people were tempted to cultivate these cash crops, especially Aloe Vera. The company promised to provide technical support and purchase the products, mainly the leaves. The company even claimed that the investment can be recovered within the first 6 months of farming and an income of around 10 lakh Nepalese Rupees can be earned within the first year itself. So, it seemed at first that there was nominal risk and good return.

Now, it's already been two years since the company was established in 2067 BS, and the commercial farming of Aloe Vera is no longer a new concept in Nepal. There are many people cultivating the crop in Chitwan and according to the company's chairman Mr. Rudra Prasad Giri, the commercial farming of Aloe Vera has already been started in 55 districts of Nepal. Even in my locality in Bharatpur – 8, Gauriganj, there are many people cultivating this plant.

Aloe Vera Gel

Aloe Vera Gel is the colorless mucilaginous gel obtained from the parenchymatous cells in the leaves of Aloe Vera. The gel is a viscous, transparent and fluid-like liquid which tastes slightly bitter and is generally taken fresh (without drying).

Aloe Vera Gel is different from Aloe Vera Juice which is the bitter yellow exudate originating from the bundle sheath cells of the leaf. The drug Aloe consists of the dried juice.

Major chemical constituents

Aloe Vera Juice: Summarizing WHO’s Findings

Aloe Juice is the solidified juice originating in the cells of the pericycle and adjacent leaf parenchyma, and flowing spontaneously from the cut leaf, allowed to dry with or without the aid of heat.

Description of Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is a succulent and almost sessile perennial herb whose leaves are 30–50cm long and 10cm broad at the base. Its color is pea-green (when young spotted with white) and it bears bright yellow tubular flowers 25–35cm in length arranged in a slender loose spike.

Dried Juice

WHO Evaluates Aloe Vera a.k.a. Aloe Barbadensis Mill

Because of the voluminous controversies regarding the usage and benefits of Aloe Vera, also known as Aloe Barbadensis Mill, including many other plants, World Health Organization (WHO) has conducted research on many such plants to provide an authorized, trusted and reliable source of reference for the consumers.

Needless to say, the data assembled by WHO is very technical, full of documentation and citation, here and there. If you don’t even know these words then don’t worry. For the common users like you and many others, it is difficult to interpret information from such source. Moreover the report is too long and contains information on many other plants which may not be your matter of interest here. So, in this article I’ll summarize the findings of the research by the WHO in a simple and concise manner. (If you are interested to read the full report, you can find it here.)

Asparagus (Kurilo): Its utility and importance

Famous worldwide, with the name of Asparagus, Kurilo (it is called ‘Kurilo’ in Nepali and for my convenience I will use that name, my apology to the foreign readers, throughout this post) is not a new plant in Nepal. It is a subtropical plant that can be found easily in the forests of the Hilly and Terai regions of Nepal. Our fathers and grandfathers generations were well aware about the benefits and utility of Kurilo. They used to collect the shoots of Kurilos for consuming them as vegetable from the forests. (I am jealous that they didn’t even have to cultivate and grow it in their farms!) Similarly, they used its root as a medicine notably for animals like cows and buffaloes. Therefore, it is a popular plant for it great nutritional and medicinal value.

Kurilo as a Vegetable