Despite the rapid growth of modern medicine, nearly 80 per cent of the global population relies on traditional herbal therapies for primary healthcare, according to the World Health Orgnisation (WHO). Besides, nearly 80 per cent of the raw material for all drugs comes from medicinal plants. India, with its rich diversity of therapeutic plants and well-developed ancient systems of herbal medication has, conventionally, held an esteemed place in this field. Yet, methods of commercial farming and collecting medicinal herbs from the wild, and the processing and marketing of herbal products remain rudimentary.
Though the availability of many commonly-used therapeutic plants is decreasing, their prices continue to be determined by buyers. The growers, therefore, do not get adequate returns. Consequently, many of the tribals and other farmers, who have been growing herbs to supplement diminishing supplies, are switching to other lucrative crops.
Little wonder, then, that India, despite being the original home to a number of therapeutic plant species – estimated at 15,000 – has a small share in the global herbal medicine market, which is expanding by 15 to 20 per cent a year.
Indeed, the problems besetting the farming of healing herbs are many and deep-rooted. The most significant among them include widely-fluctuating and unremunerative prices, and the lack of adequate research and development (R&D) support. The presence of a large number of stakeholders with divergent interests and varied raw-material needs makes this market quite complex. These stakeholders range from unregistered practitioners of traditional remedies at the village level to registered practitioners and licensed-pharmacists, besides small- and large-scale manufacturers of branded medicines of Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy and other systems.
The much-needed direct link between growers and end users of medicinal plants is missing. Moreover, the paucity of scientific research on medicinal, aromatic and other commercially-useful herbage has hampered the development of better quality and high-yielding varieties of these plants. The few research centres that were working on medicinal plants concentrated on a handful of herb species growing in and around the regions in which they were located.
This lacuna is now being addressed by engaging agricultural universities and research centres in organised research on different medicinal plants under the all-India coordinated project on the improvement of medicinal and aromatic plants and the Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research (DMAPR) at Anand in Gujarat. The Central Institute of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants along with regional research laboratories at Jammu, Bhubaneswar and Jorhat are also involved in this effort. These centres, significantly, are not only trying to enhance the quality and productivity of healer plant species, they are also producing superior planting material of improved varieties of these plants. In addition, they are disseminating information on modern techniques of cultivation. Some centres are organising training for herbal farmers in production and post-harvest handling of medicinal herbs.
According to DMAPR Director Satyabrata Maiti, the user industry should come forward to promote organised farming of medicinal plants. Herbal raw material of a standard and uniform quality, which is essential for preparing drugs of uniform potency, can be derived only from cultivated fields. The industry’s interest in herbal farming will, moreover, ensure assured marketing for the growers.
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In another move aimed at facilitating the supply of standard quality and hygienically-grown and handled medicinal plants for the drugs industry, the DMAPR and the Food and Agricultural Orgnisation (FAO) have collaborated to develop literature, training manual and tool-kit, for “good agricultural practices for medicinal plants”. Its need has been felt because of the stringent quality standards being laid down for the import of herbs and herbal medicines by a number of countries. This interactive tool-kit will help growers produce products that will conform with the global standards laid down by WHO. Besides, herbs that are grown with these practices and are duly certified can find a ready market and may even fetch premium prices. This is sure to woo more farmers to take up herb cultivation.