India: Steps for promoting Medicinal Plants


14:35 IST
RAJYA SABHA

Medicinal plant resources in the country are threatened by over exploitation to meet the demand of herbal industries. As per the information received from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, about 95% of medicinal plants used by the herbal industries are harvested from the wild primarily from forests.

The total annual demand of botanical raw drugs in the country for the year 2005-06 has been estimated as 3,19,500 MT with corresponding trade value of Rs. 1,069 crores as per the collaborative study conducted by the Department of AYUSH with the assistance of the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT). In addition to above, rapid threat assessment exercises for the wild medicinal plants species occurring in different states have also been taken up. These assessments have involved conducting Conservation Assessment and Management Prioritization using International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List Categories. These exercises have involved undertaking assessments for a total of 359 prioritized wild medicinal plant species. Out of the 359 species taken up for assessment, 335 have been assigned Red List status ranging from Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable to Near Threatened. In addition, a total number of 15 medicinal plants species recorded in trade have been found threatened.

Some of the rare medicinal plants reported to be threatened have been relocated during the last decade including Utleria salicifolia and Hydnocarpus pentandra in Western Ghats, Gymnocladus assamicus and Begonia tessaricarpa from Arunachal Pradesh and Agapetes smithiana in Sikkim as reported by the Botanical Survey of India.

National Medicinal Plants Board which was constituted on 24th November, 2000 has been implementing a Central Sector scheme for development and cultivation of medicinal plants since the year 2000-01. This scheme was revised and renamed as “Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants” during 2008-09. The States Forest Departments have been granted assistance for protection and propagation of endangered species of medicinal plants, especially used by the herbal industries. Projects for setting up of 29 Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas (MPCAs) have also been implemented in the states covering mainly the medicinal plants viz. Asoka, Guggal and Dashmool varieties. The scheme is being implemented with an outlay of Rs. 321.30 crores during the 11th Plan.

In addition to above, a new “Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Mission on Medicinal Plants” with a total outlay of Rs. 630 crores is being implemented since 2008-09 by the National Medicinal Plants Board. A total number of 24 states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have been covered so far under the scheme. Since the implementation of the Mission started only in the year 2008-09, it is too early to make any impact assessment.

This information was given by Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in written reply to a question raised in Rajya Sabha today.