Indian herbs follow two patterns. Seasonal crops such as ashwagandha, psyllium and kasuri methi have one main harvest a year. Perennial or fast-growing plants such as moringa, tulsi and curry leaves are cut several times a year.
The windows below are approximate. They shift with region, sowing date and weather, so confirm the timing for your herb and year with the supplier.
Approximate harvest windows
- Ashwagandha: usually sown in the late monsoon, with roots dug roughly January to March.
- Psyllium (isabgol): a winter crop, harvested roughly February to April in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
- Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaf): grown in winter, with leaves cut roughly December to March. See what kasuri methi is.
- Amla (Indian gooseberry): fruit harvested roughly November to February.
- Senna: grown as a field crop with several pickings of leaves and pods over its season. Timing differs between Tamil Nadu and western India.
- Moringa leaf: cut several times a year on established plantations. Drying is harder in the monsoon.
- Tulsi (holy basil): several cuttings a year, with growth slowing in cold or very dry months.
- Curry leaves and neem leaves: available through most of the year. Neem seed comes from fruit that ripens roughly in early summer to the monsoon.
- Mint: grown widely in north India, with main cuttings in the warmer months.
Why the monsoon matters
From roughly June to September, heavy rain makes open-air drying slow and risky. Leaves dried in damp weather can turn dark, mouldy or high in microbes. Many processors buy and dry more leaf before and after the monsoon, or use mechanical dryers.
A weak or late monsoon also affects crops that depend on soil moisture, and can shift supply and prices for the next season. Our article on weather, monsoon and crop prices explains the link.
What this means for buying
Ask for the harvest or crop year on every certificate of analysis, and on the bag labels. Fresh crop and old crop can look alike once cut or milled. For herbs with a marker compound, such as withanolides in ashwagandha, ask for the marker result on the new crop before you book.
- For single-harvest herbs, quality and price are often best soon after the new crop arrives.
- Old crop sold late in the season may be weaker in colour, aroma or marker content.
- For perennial herbs, ask which cutting your lot comes from and how it was dried.
- Book volume for single-harvest herbs before or at harvest if you need steady supply all year.
How we help
We track new crop arrivals and quality in the growing areas, and tell you when to sample and book. For single-harvest herbs we can help you fix seasonal prices with the processor, then follow production through to loading. Ask for a free sourcing review.