Lok Sabha Question No. 4898 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: Conservation of Medicinal Plants in Maharashtra
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA ADMITTED UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4898 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31 ST  MARCH 2023

## CONSERVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN MAHARASHTRA

## 4898. SHRI SHRINIWAS PATIL:

## WILL THE MINISTER OF AYUSH BE PLEASED TO STATE:

- (a) the measures taken by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) for the conservation, development and management of medicinal plants in the State of Maharashtra;
- (b) the number of such projects supported by NMPB in the State of Maharashtra;
- (c) the total area in terms of hectares supported for cultivation, the number of nurseries, postharvest management units and processing units or rural district collection centres set up in the State of Maharashtra; and
- (d) the  number  of  Regional  cum  Facilitation  Centres  set  up  by  NMPB  in  the  State  of Maharashtra?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(a) & (b): The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of Ayush  since 2008-09 is implementing 'Central Sector Scheme on Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants' throughout the country  including state of Maharashtra. Under the scheme, the project based support is provided for following activities:

- (i) In-situ conservation through development of Medicinal Plants Conservation and Development Areas (MPCDAs).
- (ii) In-situ/Ex-situ resource augmentation.
- (iii) Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) / Panchayats / Van Panchayats / Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) / Self Help Groups (SHGs).
- (iv) Ex-situ conservation through establishment of herbal gardens.
- (v) IEC activities like Training / workshops / Seminars/ Conferences etc.
- (vi) Research & Development.

- (vii)

The number of projects supported by NMPB on above activities in state of Maharashtra are given below:

| Activities                                                                                                           |   Number of projects supported |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| In-situ conservation through MPCDAs, In-situ/Ex-situ resource augmentation                                           |                             25 |
| Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) / Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) etc. |                              2 |
| Herbal Gardens                                                                                                       |                             23 |
| IEC activities                                                                                                       |                             16 |
| Research &Development                                                                                                |                             14 |
| Promotion of Marketing and Trade                                                                                     |                              1 |

(c): To promote the cultivation of medicinal plants, the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India had  implemented  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  National  Ayush  Mission  (NAM)  during financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21 throughout the country including state of Maharashtra. As per the scheme guidelines, the support was provided for following activities:

- (i) Cultivation of prioritized medicinal plants on farmer's land.
- (ii) Establishment of nurseries with backward linkages for raising and supply of quality planting material.
- (iii) Post-harvest management with forward linkages.
- (iv) Primary processing, marketing infrastructure etc.

The  area for cultivation of medicinal  plants, number  of  nurseries, post-harvest management unit, semi / processing units and rural / district collection centre supported in state of    Maharashtra  under  'Medicinal  Plants'  component  of  National  Ayush  Mission  (NAM) scheme during the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21 is given below:

|   S. No. | Activities                    |   2015- 16 |   2016- 17 |   2017- 18 |   2018- 19 |   2019- 20 |   2020- 21 |   TOTAL |
|----------|-------------------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|---------|
|        1 | Cultivation (Area in hectare) |        327 |          0 |        444 |          0 |        520 |          0 |    1291 |
|        2 | Number of Nurseries           |          0 |          0 |          2 |          0 |          4 |          0 |      06 |
|        3 | Post-Harvest Management Units |          0 |          0 |          2 |          0 |          8 |          0 |      10 |
|        4 | Processing Units              |          0 |          0 |          1 |          0 |          1 |          0 |      02 |
|        5 | Rural Collection Centres      |          0 |          0 |          1 |          0 |          0 |          0 |      01 |

(d): As per  Scheme guideline provision of Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants, the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of Ayush has supported one Regional Cum Facilitation Centre (RCFC) on project mode for Western Region in Department of Botany, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU),  Ganeshkhind,  Pune,  Maharashtra  to  covers  the  states  of  Goa,  Gujarat,  Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu.