Siliguri, Feb. 22: Almost four decades after the freethinkers of the Aquarius age (read the Hippies) ushered in the patchouli revolution, the state forest department will start cultivating the herb for the first time in north Bengal.

A.K. Mukherjee, divisional forest officer, minor forest produce, told The Telegraph that the department is cultivating the plant, famous for its essential aromatic oil of the same name, on a three-hectare land in Bengdubi, 15 km from here, on an experimental basis. It has also set up an extraction plant in neighbouring Typoo.

“North Bengal has the ideal climate to grow patchouli, which is grown in large quantities in Assam,” Mukherjee said. “Given the huge demand for the oil, we decided to introduce it here. Plants brought from Assam have been sowed at Central Bustee, Bengdubi, about three months ago. If the experiment succeeds, we will do it on a larger scale.”

The essential oil of patchouli or Pogostemon cablin is obtained by steam distillation of the dried leaves of the plant. It is an important ingredient in a variety of products (see chart). “The good part is that so far no chemical isobar of this oil has been developed,” Mukherjee said. “So there will be no competition from cheap synthetic essences.”

The oil fetches up to Rs 1,500 per litre and its annual demand in India alone is pegged at 40 metric tonne, most of which is imported from Indonesia.

Mukherjee hoped that the exercise would also generate employment in fringe villages. “In future, we will hand over the running of the project to self-help groups formed by BPL families close to the forests,” he said.