The story of how heeng came to be successfully cultivated in India

The Hindu

6 hours ago

Heeng or asafoetida (Ferula assa-foetida) is an essential ingredient in many Indian cuisines. A pinch of heeng is typically added to hot oil before other constituents when cooking. Despite the great diversity of India's cuisines, most of them have recipes with heeng.
There are mentions of heeng in ancient Indian texts including the Mahabharata and texts of Ayurveda. The latter recommends using heeng to refresh one's senses, including consciousness. The Charaka Sanhita Sutrasthana 27/299 says heeng can help relieve abdominal pain, digest undigested food, and enhance taste. The Pippalada Samhita and the works of Panini also include heeng.
Today, heeng plants thrive in cold, arid environments suited to the native regions in Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. The plant prefers sandy, well-drained soil with low moisture, ideally receiving annual rainfall of 200 mm or less, though it can tolerate up to 300 mm in cultivated regions like the Indian Himalaya. It flourishes in temperatures of 10-20° C, tolerates highs of up to 40° C, and withstands winter lows down to –4° C. In extremely dry and cold weather, heeng plants typically become dormant to survive.
These requirements make high-altitude, semi-arid regions like Lahaul-Spiti and Uttarkashi in India suitable for its cultivation. Excessive rainfall or high soil moisture can hinder growth.
The final product obtained from the plant, asafoetida, is derived from an oleo-gum resin extracted from the plant's thick, fleshy taproot and rhizome, which makes up 40-64% of the dried gum. Heeng is a perennial plant that typically takes five years to mature and start flowering. Incisions are then made in the taproot, allowing the milky latex to exude and harden into a gum-like substance. This resin is dried and processed into powder or crystal form for culinary and medicinal use.
Cutting import dependence
Until early last decade, despite being the world's largest consumer of heeng, India depended on imports from Afghanistan, Iran, and Uzbekistan, among others. The government subsequently launched a national effort to promote indigenous cultivation of heeng. This mission was led by the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. Researchers here took up the challenge of introducing heeng to Indian soil for the first time, starting with a rigorous and multi-layered international search from 2018 and 2020 to procure viable seeds of heeng.
As part of this programme, CSIR-IHBT scientists communicated with the relevant agencies in Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and South Africa and contacted more than 20 suppliers. These efforts culminated in the procurement of heeng seeds, initially from Iran, and later from Afghanistan.
To facilitate legal and phytosanitary compliance, the ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in New Delhi, the designated nodal agency for plant germplasm import and quarantine, issued the necessary import permits and conducted all mandated quarantine inspections. Once the seeds were cleared, they were handed over to IHBT for research and field evaluation.
The first import of six seed accessions from Iran took place in October 2018, and IHBT researchers were faced with the significant biological challenges posed by their dormancy and low germination rate. They worked to develop germination protocols, identify altitude-specific locations suitable for cultivation, and formulate agronomic practices for Indian conditions. Controlled trials were conducted at IHBT Palampur and its Centre for High Altitude Biology in Ribling in Lahaul & Spiti.
Early adopters
The team planted the first heeng seedling in India on October 15, 2020, in a farmer's field at Kwaring village in Lahaul Valley, officially marking the beginning of the country's journey into indigenous heeng cultivation.
One key milestone in expanding heeng cultivation beyond Lahaul was achieved shortly thereafter when the team planted heeng at Janjheli in Mandi district on November 8, 2020. This was the first extension of heeng cultivation into the mid-hill regions of Himachal Pradesh, exploring the crop's potential beyond the high-altitude cold desert zone.
This was soon followed by the establishment of demonstration plots and farmer training programmes across Lahaul & Spiti, Mandi, Kinnaur, Kullu, and Chamba, in collaboration with the State Agriculture Department.
Villages that became early adopters of this initiative were:
Lahaul & Spiti: Madgran, Salgran, Beeling, Keylong
Mandi: Janjehli, Majhakhal, Kataru, Ghayan, Karsog
Kinnaur: Kafnoo, Hango, Maling, Reckong Peo, Kalpa, Moorang, Graming, Katgaon
Kullu: Bagsaid, Dhaugi–Sainj, Kotla–Banjar
Chamba: Pangi, Deol, Bharmour, Mahala, Tooh
To further institutionalise this progress, the Heeng Germplasm Resource Centre was established at IHBT Palampur and was formally inaugurated on March 5, 2022. It serves as the national hub for conservation, research, training, seed production, and plant propagation vis-à-vis heeng.
May 28 milestone
CSIR-IHBT researchers also developed a dedicated tissue culture unit to facilitate the large-scale propagation of heeng plants. This specialised facility was funded by the Government of Himachal Pradesh, reinforcing the collaborative framework between scientific institutions and the State in advancing the high-altitude cultivation of this important crop. Researchers used advanced methods such as ecological niche modelling to map favourable cultivation zones using GPS-tagged occurrence data and environmental parameters.
The first flowering and seed set of heengat Palampur was finally reported on May 28, 2025, by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research — a significant milestone demonstrating that heeng can indeed be successfully cultivated in India.
This achievement, realised approximately five years after the initial sowing in 2020 in Himachal Pradesh, confirmed the plant's successful acclimatisation.
It also signifies its ability to complete the reproductive cycle, a critical prerequisite for seed production, long-term domestication, and sustainable commercial cultivation. While the heeng plant thrives in cold deserts, its successful cultivation in Palampur at just 1,300 m (above sea level) is a breakthrough: proving that plant adaptability holds untapped potential and that new agro-ecological frontiers still await discovery.
Ultimately, the milestone paves the way for India to reduce its import dependence, and for farmers to enhance their incomes and build a self-reliant supply chain for this culturally important spice. In all, the success of heeng cultivation in India owes itself to the efforts of CSIR-IHBT, ICAR-NBPGR, the Himachal Pradesh government, the State Agriculture Department, and the region's progressive farmers.
Sanjay Kumar is former Director, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur. Shekhar C. Mande is Distinguished Professor at the Savitribai Phule Pune University and the former Director General, CSIR.