Lok Sabha Question No. 665 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Production of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Uday Pratap Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †665 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09/12/2022

## PRODUCTION OF AROMATIC AND MEDICINAL PLANTS

## †665.  SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH:

Will the MINISTER OF AYUSH be pleased to state:

- a) whether  the  Government  has  framed/proposed  any  action  plan/policy  for  cultivation  and increasing production of aromatic plants/medicinal plants and herbs, if so, the details thereof;
- b) whether  any  measures  have  been  taken  under  the  said  policy  for  encouraging  production  and business of medicinal plants and providing training to the farmers in Madhya Pradesh, if so, the details thereof;
- c) whether  qualitative  land  has  been  selected/  proposed  to  be  selected  for  farming  of  medicinal plants in Madhya Pradesh; and
- d) if so, the details thereof, district-wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(a) Yes, National Medicinal Plants Board, Ministry of Ayush is implementing a scheme entitled 'Central Sector Scheme on Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants' wherein the following activities are supported:

- (i) In-situ conservation / Ex-situ conservation including establishment of herbal garden.
- (ii) Promotional  activities  including  establishment  of  nurseries  for  raising  the  planting material for plantation, marketing and trade of medicinal plants produce.
- (iii) Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) / Panchayats / Van  Panchayats  /  Biodiversity  Management  Committees  (BMCs)  /  Self  Help  Groups (SHGs).
- (iv) Information Education and communication (IEC) activities like Training / Workshops / Seminars/ Conferences etc.

(b) Yes,  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  raise  the quality planting material for encouraging production and business of medicinal plants.

National  Medicinal  Plants  Board  also  supports  various  institutes/organization  to  organise awareness programme, exposure visits and capacity building programmes (seminars / conferences / workshops etc.) for array of stakeholders through Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities and an amount of Rs. 64.55 lakh has been released to support 07 projects for training of farmers under IEC activities from the financial year 2015-16 to 2021-22 to Madhya Pradesh.

Beside this, Ministry of Ayush had supported 24 workshops / buyer-seller meet / exposure visits under IEC activities and training for 750 farmers in Madhya Pradesh from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21 under the medicinal plants component of National Ayush Mission scheme.

To provide a platform for trade of Medicinal Plants & to provide easy market access National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of Ayush has launched 'e-CHARAK' mobile application as well as web portal for the promotion and marketing of medicinal plants/herbs. 'e-CHARAK' is a platform to enable information exchange between various stakeholders mainly farmers involved in the  medicinal  plants  sector  across  the  country.  The  'e-CHARAK'  application  supports  different local  languages  and  it  also  provides  fortnightly  market  price  of  100  MPs  from  25  herbal  markets across India.

(c) & (d) Ministry of Ayush, Government of India had implemented the Centrally Sponsored Scheme  of  the  National  Ayush  Mission  (NAM)  from  the  financial  year  2015-16  to  2020-21  to promote the cultivation of Medicinal Plants throughout the country.

Under  the  medicinal  plants  component  of  National  Ayush  Mission  scheme,  Ministry  of Ayush has supported 12,551 hectare area under cultivation of medicinal plants in Madhya Pradesh from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21. The detail is given below:

| Financial year   |   Area in hectare |
|------------------|-------------------|
| 2015-16          |              1681 |
| 2016-17          |              2518 |
| 2017-18          |              2030 |
| 2018-19          |              1262 |
| 2019-20          |               790 |
| 2020-21          |              4270 |
| TOTAL            |             12551 |