On the occasion of CSIR-CIMAP Kisan Mela 2019 organized on 31st January, a new Linalool rich and high yielding variety CIM-SUKHDA of inter-specific hybrid of Basil was released for commercial cultivation by Hon’ble Chief Guest, Dr. Mangla Roy, former Director General, ICAR.

The genus Ocimum belonging to family Lamiaceae, possesses a high level of morphological as well as chemical variability caused by polyploidy and inter- and intra-specific hybridization. The economic importance of the genus is mainly due to its diverse essential oil produced. The extracted essential oils are used as a flavouring for food, in fragrances and in traditional medicines. Due to the tremendous human demand for new flavours, many O. basilicum cultivars have been bred during the long cultivation of the herb.

In prerequisite of this, an inter-specific hybrid rich in Linalool suitable for South Indian climatic condition is developed through breeding efforts from O. basilicum with O. africanum.

Besides high Linalool (75-80%) content variety also gives herb yield of 225-230 kg/ha and oil yield of 100-105 kg/ha. The Linalool (-) content of this variety is of 99.00 percent purity and comparable with the other Linalool producing crops.