Citronella
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Introduction
Citronella (Cymbopogon nardus, Cymbopogon winterians)
Family – Gaminae
Citronella is tufted aromatic perennial herb with fibrous roots, erect, over 2m
tall, with smooth leaves. It’s mainly cultivated for it’s volatile oil. In Sri
Lanka Citronella oils have been used since ancient times. According to the
findings, in 18th century citronella oil’s have been exported from Sri Lanka and
citronella have been largely cultivated in Mathara and Hambanthota districts.
However, now a days it’s only cultivated in few villages in Hambanthota. For Sri
Lanka citronella their have been a grate competition lately from Java and
Thailand citronella oils and thus our market was decreased.
Cultivation
 Agronomic Requirements for cultivation
Citronella thrives well under the tropical and sub tropical conditions. It
requires abundant moisture and sunshine for good growth. A well distributed
annual rainfall of about 1500 to 1800 mm is adequate. For
‘Maha Pangiri’ annual rainfall must be around 2000 to 2500 mm and it’s
recommended to cultivate in between 150 to 400 m altitudes. ‘Heen pangiri’ is
recommended above 600 m altitudes.
Propagation and Spacing
Citronella is a perennial grass, however, it does not produce viable seeds,
therefore, the species can be propagated only vegetatively by slips. This is
achieved by splitting well – grown clumps into slips.
‘Maha pagiri’ is planted with 90 cm x 90 cm spacings, and ‘Heen pagiri’ is
planted with 60 cm x 60 cm spacings.
Harvesting
Although, all parts of citronella contain oil, leaves contain the maximum amount
of oils. Therefore, only the leaves should be harvested. Harvesting is done by
sharp sickle at about 12 – 20 cm above the ground. First harvest can be made in
6 – 8 months after planting thereafter in 3 months intervals leaves could be
harvested. Harvesting too soon and too late affects the quality of the oil
adversely. The delay also causes the leaves to dry up, resulting in decrease in
yields of oil. After harvesting leaves must be kept for 1 -2 days in the field
to get rid of some water in the leaves.
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