Lok Sabha Question No. 1645 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-16
Subject: Cultivation of Medicinal Plants
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Kuldeep Rai Sharma, DNV Senthilkumar. S., Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Amol Ramsing Kolhe

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1645 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16/12/2022

## CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

## 1645.  SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR S.:

SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- a) the achievement made by the Government under implementation of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) to promote cultivation of Medicinal Plants in the country;
- b) whether  the  Government  is  implementing  the  scheme  on  conservation,  development  and sustainable management of medicinal plants and if so, the details thereof along with the activities supported/ success achieved;
- c) whether Union  Government  has  received any proposal from the State  Government  of Maharashtra  and  Tamil  Nadu  for  setting  up  of  Regional  Centres  to  promote  and  support  the farming of medicinal plants;
- d) if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon, State-wise;
- e) whether  Government  promotes  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  in  these  States  and  if  so,  the details thereof along with the quantum of medicinal plants and herbs produced in these States; and
- f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to promote the cultivation of the medicinal plants among farmers and also encourage the development of Cultivation Clusters for the same in the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AYUSH

(SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(a): Ministry of Ayush, Government of India had implemented Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Ayush Mission (NAM) to promote the cultivation of medicinal plants from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21. Under its 'Medicinal Plants' component, market driven cultivation of 140 prioritized medicinal plants in identified clusters/zones was supported and implemented in a mission

mode  through  selected  State  Implementing  agencies  throughout  the  country.  As  per  the  scheme guidelines, the support was provided for:

- (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 forwarding linkages.
- (iv) Primary processing, marketing infrastructure etc.

Ministry  of  Ayush  had  supported  56,305  hectare  area,  220  nurseries,  354  post-harvest management units etc. under medicinal plants component of National Ayush Mission (NAM) from the financial  year 2015-16 to 2020-21. The details of activities supported under NAM scheme for medicinal plants component is given at Annexure - I .

(b): Yes, Madam & Sir. National Medicinal Plants Board, Ministry of Ayush is implementing a scheme entitled 'Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management  of  Medicinal  Plants.'  Under  the  scheme  project  based  support  is  provided  for following activities on medicinal plants:

- (i) Survey Inventorisation, In-situ Conservation through Medicinal Plants Conservation and Development Areas (MPCDA) and Resource augmentation
- (ii) Ex-situ Conservation  /  Establishment  of  Herbal  Garden  (HG),  School  Herbal  Garden (SHG) and Home Herbal Garden (HHG)
- (iii) Support  to  Joint  Forest  Management  Committees  /  Panchayats  /  Van  Panchayats  / Biodiversity  Management  Committees  /  Self  Help  Groups  for  value  addition  activities like  drying,  primary  processing,  storage  etc.  of  Medicinal  Plants  and  thereby  generate livelihood to these communities.
- (iv) Research & Development
- (v) Information, Education and Communication (IEC) etc.

Till  date,  NMPB,  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  supported  1497  no.  of  projects  throughout  the country under Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of  Medicinal  Plants  since  its  inception.  Under  the  same  scheme,  NMPB,  Ministry  of  Ayush  has supported 82436.87 hectare area under In-situ / Ex-situ Conservation and Resource augmentation, 24,000 herbal gardens, 1175 JFMCs, 233 seminars / workshop / conferences / buyer-seller meets / trainings and 57  no. of nurseries. Beside this, NMPB has developed 'e-CHARAK' app to provide a platform  for  trade  of  Medicinal  Plants  &  to  provide  easy  market  access  and  developed  a  NMPB helpline  in  collaboration  with  CDAC  Hyderabad  The  details  of  activities  supported  and  achieved under  Central  Sector  Scheme  for  Conservation,  Development  and  Sustainable  Management  of Medicinal Plants is given at Annexure - II .

(c) & (d): Yes,  Madam  &  Sir.  Under  Central  Sector  Scheme  for  Conservation,  Development and  Sustainable  Management  of  Medicinal  Plants  of  National  Medicinal  Plants  Board  (NMPB), Ministry of Ayush there is a provision to establish Regional Cum Facilitation Centres (RCFCs) in the existing government institution on project mode.  The main activities of the RCFCs to coordinate

with various implementing agencies in the different states in their region, impart training to farmers / collectors of medicinal plants, development of Quality Planting material (QPM) of medicinal plants.

As per  guidelines  provision,  total  7  Regional  Cum  Facilitation  Centres  (RCFCs)  has  been identified and set up in different  regions of the country through open advertisement and selection through  a  committee  constituted  by  National  Medicinal  Plants  Board,  Ministry  of  Ayush.    The details of the proposals received from state of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu for setting up Regional Cum Facilitation Centre and the action taken thereon is as below:

|   S. No. | State       | Proposal received from                              | Action taken                                                                   |
|----------|-------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Maharashtra | Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra | The proposal considered and approved for setting up of RCFC in Western Region. |
|        2 | Tamil Nadu  | Proposal not received                               | -                                                                              |

- (e): Yes, Madam & Sir. In the past, Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, under medicinal plants component of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Ayush Mission (NAM) had promoted and supported cultivation of medicinal plants from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21 throughout the  country  including  Maharashtra  and  Tamil  Nadu.  Under  the  same  component,  subsidy  @30%, 50% and 75% of cultivation cost was provided for cultivation of 140 prioritized medicinal plants species  to  the  farmers  through  State  Implementing  Agencies.  Till  date,  Ministry  of  Ayush  has supported 56,305 hectare area under cultivation of medicinal plants from the financial year 2015-16 to  2020-21  throughout  the  country  including  Maharashtra  and  Tamil  Nadu.  The  detail  is  given below:

| Financial year   |   Maharashtra (Area in hectare) |   Tamil Nadu (Area in hectare) |
|------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 2015-16          |                             327 |                            633 |
| 2016-17          |                               0 |                            960 |
| 2017-18          |                             444 |                            673 |
| 2018-19          |                               0 |                            765 |
| 2019-20          |                             520 |                            900 |
| 2020-21          |                               0 |                              0 |
| TOTAL            |                            1291 |                           3931 |

(f): Under the 'Central Sector Scheme  on Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants', there is a provision to support the Information, Education and Communication  (IEC)  activities  (training  programmes,  buyer  seller  meets,  workshops,  seminars, conferences etc.) and establishment of nurseries & regional cum facilitation centres to promote the cultivation of medicinal plants among farmers.

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) has supported 233 projects under Information Education and Communication (IEC) activities to aware the local masses about the medicinal plants, 18 projects under marketing of medicinal plants, 57 projects for establishment of nurseries to raise the Quality Planting Material since its inception.

In  addition,  the  National  Medicinal  Plants  Board,  Ministry  of  Ayush  through  its  Regional Cum  Facilitation Centres (RCFCs)  is also providing financial and technical assistance to farmers/other  stakeholders  for  development  of  Quality  Planting  Material  of  medicinal  plants  and herbs in different States. As per Scheme guidelines provision, NMPB has set up 7 Regional Cum Facilitation  Centres  (RCFCs)  in  project  mode  to  promote  various  medicinal  plants  activities  in different phyto-geographical regions / areas of the country.

Besides this, Ministry of Ayush, Government of India had promoted cultivation of Medicinal Plants  throughout  the  country  under  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  the  National  Ayush  Mission (NAM.)  from  the  financial  year  2015-16  to  2020-21.  Ministry  of  Ayush  had  also  supported  235 workshops / buyer-seller meet / exposure visits under IEC activities and training for 19061 farmers in the country from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21 under the medicinal plants component of National  Ayush  Mission  scheme.  There  was  also  a  provision  for  creation  of  clusters  of  farmers having minimum 2 hectare of land for cultivation of medicinal plants within a radius of 15 km.

****

## Annexure-I

## Details of activities supported under Medicinal Plants Component of 'National Ayush Mission' (NAM) Scheme, Ministry of Ayush from the F.Y. 2015-16 to 2020-21

(Amount in lakhs)

|   S. No. | Activities supported                                |   2015- 16 |   2016- 17 |   2017- 18 |   2018- 19 |   2019- 20 |   2020- 21 |   TOTAL |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|---------|
|        1 | Cultivation of Medicinal Plants (Area in hectare)   |       8722 |      12109 |      10366 |       9958 |       6794 |       8356 |   56305 |
|        2 | Maintenance of cultivation                          |       2031 |        164 |        163 |        176 |        130 |         10 |    2673 |
|        3 | Establishment of Nursery                            |         32 |         39 |         38 |         38 |         50 |         23 |     220 |
|        4 | Post-harvest Management                             |         62 |         48 |         66 |         52 |         99 |         27 |     354 |
|        5 | Processing Unit                                     |          1 |          2 |          3 |          1 |         16 |          2 |      25 |
|        6 | Rural / District Collection Centres / Retail outlet |          0 |         11 |          9 |         17 |          2 |          3 |      42 |
|        7 | Seed germplasm centres                              |          0 |          3 |          5 |          0 |          1 |          1 |      10 |
|        8 | Demonstration plot                                  |          0 |          2 |          2 |          2 |          6 |          3 |      15 |

## Achievements under Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants:

|   Sr. No. | Activities supported                                                                                                                 |   No. of project supported | Achievements                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Survey Inventorisation, In-situ / Ex-situ Conservation and Resource augmentation                                                     |                        506 |  Area covered - 82436.87 hectare  Total no. of MPCDA - 105                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|         2 | Herbal Garden (HG) supported National /State level importance, School Herbal Gardens (SHGs) & Home Herbal Gardens (HHGs).            |                        223 |  Total No. of HG/ SHGs/ HHGs - 21293  Total no. of campaigns - 07 i. Amla campaigns ii. Moringa campaigns iii. 20-20 campaigns iv. 365 days campaigns v. Giloe campaigns vi. Ayush Apke dwar vii. NMPB has launched Ashwagandha                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|         3 | Establishment of nurseries                                                                                                           |                         57 |  To raise the planting material of medicinal plants.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|         4 | Support to Joint Forest Management Committees / Panchayats / Van Panchayats / Biodiversity Management Committees / Self Help Groups. |                         51 |  Supported 1,175 number of JFMC / Van Panchayat / BMCs for value addition of medicinal plants raw material and generation of livelihood to these communities.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|         5 | Research &Development                                                                                                                |                        402 |  Project supported on various aspects of medicinal plants such as the Bioactivity guided fractionation, Development of agro techniques, standardization of nursery techniques and cultivation practices, Documentation and development of geo tag digital library, Finding out substitute, Genotype Identification, genetic improvement, genome study and germplasm collection & conservation, Intercropping, In-vitro propagation studies, micro-propagation, chemical & molecular profiling, phyto-chemicals evaluation, Post-harvest Management techniques etc.  IPR/ Patent - NMPB so far identified 05 unique projects which are novel in nature and patentable. The filings of IPR are under process. |

|    |                                                     |      |  Publication: i. Total 175 research publication has been published in national as well as international journals under R&D supported projects during past 10 years. ii. Agro techniques have been published covering 104 medicinal plant.                                                                                    |
|----|-----------------------------------------------------|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 6. | Information, Education and Communication (IEC) etc. |  233 |  Total no. of Seminars / workshop / conferences / buyer-seller meets / trainings - 216  Total no. of NRDRs / RRDRs - 05  Schemes for Voluntary Certifications has been supported - 01  Projects on publication - 11  Publications - Professor Ayushman comic book - 3 series  International journal on medicinal plants |
| 7. | Marketing& IT                                       |   18 |  'e-CHARAK' app - To provide a platform for trade of Medicinal Plants &to provide easy market access.  Study on Assessment of Demand Supply of Medicinal Plants in India  NMPB Helpline - NMPB has developed a helpline in collaboration with CDAC Hyderabad                                                               |
| 9. | Regional Cum Facilitation Centres                   |    7 |  Developed 74,08,852 QPM of medicinal plants                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|    | Total No. of projects                               | 1497 |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |