Hello friends, welcome to our new blog on our website rabi crop. This time we are so excited to share our new experience with Sage farming tips and techniques we followed in growing sage, one of the best aromatics medicinal herb.
We have included every detail of sage farming that will help you become a complete expert in growing sage or doing sage farming, you will know about the climatic requirement, soil requirement, methods of propagation, what are the fertilizer requirements during sage cultivation and how to harvest sage properly.
Basically, we know the ‘sage’ as a person who is wise or who helps in healing, the same way now here we are discussing a medicinal herb also called as sage that has humans are using since centuries to treat various health problems like digestive issues, memory problems, and sore throats.
Now Let’s go into a detailed of this blog, to know more interesting facts and farming details about sage farming.
Sage farming In Short
| Botanical Name Of Sage :- | Salvia officinalis |
| Popular Names:- | golden sage, common sage, kitchen sage, true sage, culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, and broadleaf sage. |
| Sage Family :- | Lamiaceae |
| Origin Place Of Sage:- | Middle East and Mediterranean regions |
| Varieties:- | Garden sage, South African sage, Mexican Bush sage, Greek sage, Clary sage, Blackcurrant sage, Autumn sage, Anise-Scented sage and White sage. |
| Soil Requirement Of Sage:- | Well-drained sandy or sandy loamy soil with pH 5.5 to 8 |
| Temperature Requirement:- | Medium to full sun |
| Seed requirement:- | Around 0.5 kg per hectare |
| Fertilizer Requirements:- | N:P:K – 5:5:5 for good plant yield. N:P:K 20:20:20 as a foliar spray for essential oil cultivation. |
| Propagation:- | Direct seeding, By Layering and cuttings. |
| Harvesting:- | We can harvest 2 or even 3 times a year. |
Sage farming In Detail:
Sage is a perennial and herbaceous plant with woody stems decorating itself with gray, greenish, or blue to purple colors based on its type.
Is famous for its culinary and medicinal benefits since ancient period in Roman for its healing properties and in French as sage leaves tea.
History also tells that Chinese people use sage leaves for treating colds, typhoid fever, joint pains, Kidney and liver issues.
Let’s know the botanical details of the sage because it is very important to know all details before growing sage botanical name of sage is Salvia officinalis belonging to the Lamiaceae- mint family.
The origin placer of the sage is the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. In its favorable environmental condition, we can grow it up to 60- 70cm tall.
In recent days, we grew Sage for its gaining profit since the last two decades. The crop can last for 6 to 10 years or even more.
Sage leaves have various applications like Fresh and dried leaves are added in sausages, meat, fish, salads and various other foods.
The essential oil content of sage varies up to about 2.5 percent and is globally recognized as a respected product that is used in fragrance, cosmetic, personal hygiene and insect repellent industries.
Health Benefits and Uses of sage:
Sage has a long history of proven medicinal uses in healing in ancient books of Hindu culture and Chinese books also, protecting and defending against different diseases.
- Sage is loaded with many anti-oxidants that prepare the body to defend against any diseases.
- Reduces Bad cholesterol.
- Helps to ease menopause symptoms in woman.
- Improves memory and brain health.
- Protects against different cancer.
- Rich in anti-inflammatory compounds.
- Helps in reducing digestion problems.
- Good for hair and skin problems.
- Best for oral health.
- Helps to reduce ageing problem.
Now we will know about different important varieties of sage plants:
Believe it or not, there are 900 species of sage all over the world which grow in different environmental and climatic condition.
The sage plant varies in the plant’s type based on its color, size of flower, shape of flower, and leaves.
But among all those, we cultivate only a few species. We will describe all that important variety that is used in sage farming .
Important 15 variety of sage that is commonly cultivated
- Garden Sage
- White Sage
- Anise-Scented Sage
- Autumn Sage
- Blackcurrant Sage
- Clary Sage
- Greek Sage
- Mexican Bush Sage
- South African Sage
- Russian Sage
- Italian Sage
- Scarlet Sage
- Pineapple Sage
- Mealycup Sage
- Woodland Sage
Now we are going to describe all the important varieties one by one
| Sage Variety:- | Growing Description In Details. |
| Garden Sage:- | The Popular name of the Garden Sage is Common sage.
The botanical name of Garden sage is Salvia officinalis We also known garden sage as the golden sage, kitchen sage, true sage, culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, and broadleaf sage. It is very easy to cultivate Garden sage, mainly grown in the cold climate countries like northern united state and all over the world. Main important ability of the Garden Sage is we can grow it in all different harsh climatic conditions. Those farmers want to do garden sage farming. We suggest them to growing golden sage in raised bed fields, make sure field have proper drainage facility because stagnant water is very dangerous for the growth and development of sage. Farmers should mainly prefer clay soil for golden sage cultivation. We used garden sage in medicinal and culinary purpose both. It is a go-to option for teas and dressings with its beautiful purple-to-pink flowers. In this article, we are going to give complete details of golden sage farming that is commonly cultivated all over the world. |
| White Sage:- | If we will go deep into the history of white sage, it is deep-rooted. They used it in the spiritual practice and also for medication of different diseases. The colour of leaves of white sage is silver gray that gives the plant a very special appearance.
All over the European countries they use white sage as a spiritual tool, that helps them get rid of negative energy, healing purpose, for empower their soul. In medicine science, we use sage for making the medicines of anti depression, to improve the sleeplessness related problem, to boost the energy of the body. In the market, you will easily get the incense stick, soaps and other home use product, cosmetic products made from the white sage. The origin place of white sage is southern California and Baja California. The botanical name of White sage is Salvia apiana, We also known white Sage as the BEE sage. It is famous for the uniqueness of its white flowers and circular shaped flowers with bunches. The height of the white sage plant is easily rich till 5 feet to 7 feet if it gets proper environmental condition for growth and development. Farmers can do the White sage farming with very less fertilizer because it can grow in natural condition, and we can do propagation of white sage by cutting and seed both. It needs full sun for the proper growth and development. We know white sage for its spicy taste and pine-like aroma. |
| Anise-Scented Sage:- | Anise-Scented Sage has dark blue flower that gives this plant a beautiful look, it has wrinkled leaves with small hairy structures.
The common name of Salvia guaranitica sage is Anise Sage, Anise-scented Sage, Blue Anise Sage and Brazillian Sage, or blue sage that is a very popular name of Anise-Scented Sage. The botanical name of Anise-Scented sage is Salvia guaranitica Farmers can propagate Anise-Scented Sage by seed and stem cutting, which is very popular in sage farming. It is a disease free plant, so farmers should not take tens of it. If the Anise-Scented Sage plant gets favorable environmental condition, it can easily grow up to a height of 1 to 1.5 metre in 2 to 4 years of time interval. The flower of Anise-Scented sage plant bloom in the midsummer. It requires full sun for the proper growth and development, where other variety of sage is known for its flavour blue sage has very little flavour, but it is not toxic and it is edible. In many European countries, farmers grow Anise-Scented sage for the honey production, because the honey extracted from the herb like sage is precious and farmers get good pricing for this. Major South Anise-Scented sage farming countries are America, including Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.Anise-Scented Sage is also called as grandmother sage because of its spiritual and medicinal values. |
| Autumn Sage:- | The botanical name of the Autumn sage is Salvia greggii.
The popular and common name of Salvia greggii is Autumn sage, Texas sage It produces pink-to-purple flowers, sometimes orange or red, and it has a minty scent and taste. After maturity, if it is getting proper environmental condition for growth and development, it reaches till the height of 2 to 3 ft tall. It also depends on the soil type and availability of the nutrients. It need full sun for proper vegetative growth, we will suggest farmers to grow Autumn Sage in the well drained soil and should be rich in organic matter. They mainly do autumn sage farming in the European countries like Southwestern North America (Mexico, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico) |
| Blackcurrant Sage:- | The botanical name of Blackcurrant sage is Salvia microphylla
The colour of the flower in this variety of sage is red, in the favorable environmental condition it can grow until the height of 4 feet (120 cm). It also depends on the environmental condition and soil nutrient ability. If farmers have availability, then we will suggest doing Blackcurrant sage farming in the greenhouse or grow wind break plants beside the field because icy wind can damage your Blackcurrant sage farm. We mainly used blackcurrant sage in salad, some refreshing drinks and we prepare healthy herbal tea as well. The purple coloured we often used Blackcurrant Sage flowers for desserts. |
| Clary Sage:- | The botanical name of Clary sage is Salvia sclarea.
The origin place of Clary sage is the northern Mediterranean Basin. We mainly use clary sage in the medicinal use, spices in our household and also used in many types of cosmetic products, like cream, soap. It is also an ingredient in many perfumes. The clary sage is an African and Asian variety, mainly used in the cuisine.The color of Clary Sage varies from purple to pink and even light red. We used it in different medicines that are used to treat many serious problems like:-
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| Greek Sage:- | The botanical name of Greek sage is Salvia fruticosa
It is native to the eastern Mediterranean region that includes Southern Italy, the Canary Islands and North Africa. We commonly use Greek sage to treat sour throat and mouth. The name Greek sage comes from Greece their people mainly use it for medicinal purpose and as spices in household. The popular name of Greek sage is sage apple, Khokh barri, and Na’ama Hobeiq’es-sedr. The Greek Sage is famous for making a variety of medicinal teas. Important medicinal benefits of Greek sage are
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| Mexican Bush Sage:- | The botanical name of the Mexican Bush sage is Salvia leucantha
The origin place of the Mexican Bush Sage is Mexico, Central America. The Mexican Bush Sage grows bushy with ultra-long spikey flowers of pink and purple colors. It requires full sun for the proper vegetative growth, blooming time of Mexican Bush Sage is in midsummer. In proper favorable condition Mexican Bush Sage can grow up to 4 feet tall height, it also depends on the soil nutrient and proper environmental condition. |
| South African Sage:- | The botanical name of South African sage is Salvia lanceolata.
The common name of South African sage is Blue African sage, Blue sage, Blue sage, African sage, Purple sage The origin place of south African sage is Cape Provinces, South Africa. If it gets favorable temperature and environmental condition, it can grow up to 2 meters in height. We know the South African sage for its lemony taste and slight peppery tone, with a strong minty aroma. It appears in light red to pink colors. |
Those Farmers who are beginner and going to start sage farming they should know. Sage is a long-term crop. It can grow up to 6 to 10 years, but don’t worry about this after 2nd year farmers can start harvesting, and every year 2 to 3 times they can take harvesting.
We use dried Sage leaves in a multipurpose way of consumption. We use it in many types of sausages, commonly we use it in salad, used in meat and fish also to increase the taste.
The oil extracted from the sage leaves have global demand; They used it in the fragrance industry; they made many cosmetic products from it, nowadays the use of sage essential oil is also increasing in personal hygiene products.
The sage farming is not limited to any country it is widely cultivated all over European countries and Asian countries, the important reason for the popularity of sage is farmers can do sage cultivation in all different type of soil even in poor type of soil with very less maintenance
Expense in sage farming is very less, as we said that it is a perineal crop with woody stem leaves are full of aroma and farmers don’t need to spend a lot of time during its farming so it is time saving as well.
Colour of the sage flowers 💐varies according to the soil type, varieties, and climatic condition, we can see white, purple, red, pink flowers of sage in different variety and climatic condition.
Further, in this blog of rabi crops we will know all the details of sage farming like:-
- How to prepare land for the sage cultivation.
- what are the soil requirements for growing sage.
- irrigation requirement of sage.
- climatic condition required for growing sage.
- All different propagation methods used for growing sage.
- Different pest and diseases that need to control during growing sage.
- Method of harvesting.
Land preparation for Sage farming:
Before sowing the sage plant, we will suggest ploughing the soil for at least 2 to 3 times to provide good aeration and make soil to fine tilth that will help plant for getting good vegetative growth and development.
We added 1.5 tons of farmyard manure before sowing the sage and we get wonderful production of sage, the amount of essential oil also increased by farmyard manure, so we will suggest farmers they can also use fym or organic fertilizer in their sage field.
Farmers can also use green manure because there are a lot of Advantages of green manure. It will also help farmers to increase their production of sage.
Common query that we get from our small growers: can we grow sage in indoor environmental condition for this we want to say it requires a full exposure of sun for proper vegetative growth and development, if you want to grow sage on terrace or near window or balcony where it gets full exposure of sun then you can grow it.
Farmers have queried we should grow sage on raised bed or flat bed for wonderful production. Here, we will suggest farmers to do sage farming in flat bed only because it will take more space, we can easily maintain sage in flat bed field.
Soil requirement for Sage Farming:
For growing sage, it needs well-drained soil. When water will be stagnant in the sage field, it is dangerous for the vegetative growth of the plant. In the long term, it can cause root rot.
As we have observed in the sandy loam soil, is prefect for doing sage farming, farmers can grow sage in different soils according to the land availability. One of the major plus points of sage is it can grow in many soil, even on poor types of soil.
For the proper vegetative growth and development of sage we should maintain the between 6 to 8. If farmers have any confusion about the soil PH they can do soil testing with that they will easily know lacking nutrient in their soil and they can use fertilizer according to that.
Farmers can use organic fertilizer, farmyard manure, or green manure for increasing the nutrients in their field. We will not suggest giving an extensive amount of chemical fertilizer because we all know we are growing sage as herb crops and they will use it for medicine’s purpose so excess chemical fertilizer can unbalance the essential oil composition.
Many farmer has problem how to grow sage in clay soil or in soil with water logging problem, for them we will suggest adding sand in their field this will decrease water logging problem, they can also add organic fertilizer it will also decrease water holding capacity of field.
Irrigation requirement of sage
As we have said previously said that today we are going to say about the farming of magical crop and that is growing sage, where other medicinal herbs like in ashwagandha farming, tulsi farming require proper irrigation for growth and development, sage is a wonderful herb crop that can easily grow with rain water.
Sage is a drought tolerant crop means we can easily grow sage with less irrigation. We will suggest farmers for sage farming irrigate your field after checking the moisture in the soil. If soil is completely dry, then only irrigate it.
Don’t over irrigate your sage field or sage plant grown in pot, it will damage the plant, and in water stagnant condition it can cause root rot in the sage plant.
Those farmers who are living in the dried region we suggest they should use sprinkle system of irrigation. It is best for the sage farming.
Climatic Conditions for Sage Farming:
Proper climatic condition is very important for growing sage, in favorable environmental condition the vegetative growth of the sage will be good with this production and oil content in sage leaves.
We can grow sage in the Hardiness Zone of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The flower of the sage mainly blooms in summer.
For the germination, sage seeds require the temperature of 19 to 22 degree Celsius, favorable temperature for the proper vegetative growth and development it requires a temperature between 16 to 22 degree Celsius.
As we know, the sage plant is originated from the Middle East and Mediterranean climatic region, it needs medium to full sun with mild winters.
It can withstand the cold for only a few days. Cool temperature for long days can damage the sage plant, in the initial stage of growth of the plant will stop and after that plant will wilt and die.
Sage plant needs full to medium exposure to the sunlight. It is very important for the maturity of the plant, and also for the blooming of sage flowering.
Different Propagation Methods in Sage Farming:
Propagation of sage can be done with three different methods: We have to choose as per our requirement and availability.
(i) Propagating sage via direct seeding,
(ii) Propagating sage via Layering and
(iii) Propagating sage via cuttings.
Propagating sage via direct seeding:
Propagating sage by sage seeds is a challenging situation for the growers who want instant result because it takes around 2 to 3 weeks for the seeds to germinate. Those sage growers want to see their sage growing from the initial stage. They can go with this method. But they need to start before the last frost date.
In order to grow sage by seeds, we need to begin in early spring (March). We will suggest farmers to Place the seeds 5-6 cm deep if growing through a container or if they are growing sage in a field, they have to maintain the spacing 75-90 cm x 60-70 cm approximately.
Seed requirement for sage farming is very fewer growers need only approximately 0.5 kg per hectare, grow nursery in greenhouse or poly-house. It is best for sage growing.We will suggest the farmers to maintain the soil moisture for that moist the soil frequently.
After seeds germinate and reach at the height of 5 to 7 cm, we will suggest sage grower to do the thinning of plants (removing extra plant) that will help to promote aeration between plants and provide good health to new plant.
The common query that we get from the sage grower when to transplant our nursery plant in the field for this we will suggest wait till the plant grows 10 cm tall, after that we can shift outdoor and start doing transplanting.
Propagating sage via Layering:
For Propagating sage by layering technique, first we need to choose a long healthy stem of the parent plant. Make sure it doesn’t cut.
Remove some amount of foliage and insert that into soil with 6 – 7cm depth. And cover that area with sand on top layer and spray water thoroughly. Within one month, roots will grow and then cut the plant from the parent plant.
Propagating sage via cuttings:
If you are planning to propagate sage by root cuttings, start the procedure during spring. First, we need to take 10-12 cm long healthy cuttings from a plant. Then, after removing some amount of foliage, dip the root stem in growth hormone solution (Indole Butyric Acid (IBA), Indole Acetic Acid (IAA), Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) and then place it into a pot at 5-6 cm deep.
It can take approximately 5 months for the rooting procedure. we will suggest keep checking the moisture and Moist the soil frequently.
Fertilizer Requirement for Sage farming:
We know the sage plant doesn’t require much fertilizer for its enhancement.
But for good plant yield, we used nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the ratio of 5:5:5.
And While growing sage for essential oil extraction, we have to use nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as a foliar spray in 20:20:20 ratio.
We all know sage is medicinal herb, and they use it in a different medicine, so we will suggest sage grower farmers to use less chemical fertilizer and replace them with farmyard manure, green manure or any other organic fertilizers they can also use crop boosters to increase nutrient availability.
Harvesting Sage:
We can harvest three times a year if we did properly everything during growing sage. During the first year, we will suggest to harvest lightly to ensure proper vegetative growth of the plant.
After the first year, be sure to leave a few stalks so that the plant can rejuvenate for the next harvest.
Pests and Disease management:
When the sage plant is subjected to over irrigation or not well drained, it suffers from various diseases like rust, Powdery mildew, Stem rot, Fungal leaf spots.we can prevent this by using horticultural oil spray and sulphur spray.
Commonly Sage often suffers from aphids, whiteflies and spider mites. We can prevent pests by using some organic insecticides like neem oil.
We may also have to remove any dead leaves or flowers. We can also remove any unwanted weeds that can attract various insects.
Common Questions and their answers?
Q. Can farmer do sage farming as cash crop cultivation?
Ans:- yes sage is cash crop, farmers are getting good profit by growing sage because it is in high demand in the market sage grower farmers can check this important cash crop list. It will help them know more about cash crops.
Q. Can we grow sage in inter-cropping with ashwagandha ?
Ans:- Yes we can do inter-cropping of sage in our ashwagandha farming field, because we can grow sage with any crop except cucumber. Check all the details of ashwagandha farming. It will help farmer to grow ashwagandha.
Q. Is sage difficult to grow?
Ans:- No growing sage is easy, it needs less protection and observation as compared to other zaid crops or kharif crops, any farmer can easily grow sage and earn a good profit.
Tanks for all your patience and for reading this complete blog about sage farming. Please Share it with your friends on social media. If you feel any point is missing in this blog of rabi crops comment below, we will add it.
special thanks to some research websites like online library for providing extra advanced knowledge on sage oil used in uncommon disease.
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