Lok Sabha Question No. 4988 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: Production and Processing of Herbs
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: M. Selvaraj

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4988 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31/03/2023

## PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF HERBS

## 4988.  SHRI M. SELVARAJ:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any special scheme has been launched for the production and processing of herbs in the country including Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether provisions have been made for marketing and imparting training to the farmers in the technology required under the said scheme and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether there is any proposal to connect the farmers with the new research;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether skill development is being carried out in this sector and if so, the details thereof?

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

(a) Yes, Sir. Ministry of Ayush, Government of India had implemented 'Centrally Sponsored Scheme' of National Ayush Mission (NAM) to promote the cultivation of medicinal plants since 2015-16 to 2020-21. Under 'Medicinal Plants' component of the National Ayush Mission (NAM) Scheme, 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  including  Tamil  Nadu.  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 forward linkages.
- (iv) Primary processing, marketing infrastructure etc.

Till  date,  Ministry  of  Ayush  had  supported  56,305  hectare  area  under  cultivation  of medicinal plants and 25 no. of processing units throughout the country including Tamil Nadu from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21. Detail is given at Annexure - I .

- (b) Yes,  Sir.  There  was  a  provision  to  provide  the  financial  assistance  for  establishment  of marketing infrastructure viz. rural / district collection centres / retail outlets under medicinal plants component of National Ayush Mission (NAM) scheme. The state / UT wise detail of marketing infrastructure is given at Annexure - II .

Under the same scheme, the financial assistance was also provided to the State Implementing Agency for organization of training programmes to the farmers on Good Agricultural Practices and Good Field Collection Practices of medicinal plants. Till date, Ministry of Ayush had supported 19061 farmers for the training under flexi component of National Ayush Mission (NAM) scheme throughout the country from the F.Y. 2015-16 to 2020-21. The state / UT wise detail of farmers is given at Annexure - II .

- (c) & (d) No, Sir. However, National Medicinal Plants Board, Ministry of Ayush under its Central Sector Scheme on 'Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants' provides  project  based  financial  support  to  carryout  research  activities  on  various  aspects  of medicinal  plants  to  the  universities  /  research  institutions/organizations  across  the  country.  The details  of  research  projects  supported  during  financial  year  2018-19  to  2022-23  theme-wise  for different research activities on various aspects of medicinal plants are given below:

## Details of projects sanctioned for various research activities during financial year 2018-19 to 2022-23.

| Sr. No.   | Research Areas                                                                                               |   Number of Projects |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
| 1.        | Survey, identification, characterization and conservation of medical plants                                  |                   05 |
| 2.        | Post-harvest Management, assessment of heavy metals and integrated post management                           |                   07 |
| 3.        | Varietal development and prospect of marketing                                                               |                   02 |
| 4.        | Genotype identification, genetic improvement, genome study and germplasm collection& conservation            |                   07 |
| 5.        | Development of agro techniques, standardization of nursery techniques and cultivation practices              |                   08 |
| 6.        | In-vitro propagation studies, micro-propagation chemical &molecular profiling and phyto-chemicals evaluation |                   15 |
| 7.        | Bioactivity guided fractionation studies and pre-clinical studies                                            |                   08 |
| 8.        | Intercropping and sustainable production technology                                                          |                   02 |
| 9.        | Documentation and development of geo-tag digital library                                                     |                   04 |
| 10.       | Finding out substitute and authentication of raw drugs                                                       |                   09 |
| Total     | Total                                                                                                        |                   67 |

- (e) Yes, Sir. The National Medicinal Plants Board, Ministry of Ayush, Government of India is presently  implementing  Central  Sector  Scheme  on  'Conservation,  Development  and  Sustainable

Management  of  Medicinal  Plants'  throughout  the  country.  Under  the  same  scheme,  NMPB, Ministry  of  Ayush  has  supported  562  projects  to  State  Forest  Departments  for  Conservation, Resource Augmentation of medicinal plants and support to JFMCs/BMCs etc. for value addition and livelihood generation in forest areas, 264  projects under Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities to aware the local masses about the medicinal plants, 89 projects for establishment of nurseries to raise the quality planting material, 19 projects under marketing of medicinal plants and 224 projects for establishment of herbal garden throughout the country since its inception. Detail is given at Annexure - III .

Detail  of  area  supported  under  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  and  processing  units  under Medicinal Plants Component of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) scheme from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21

| S. No. State        |   Area supported under cultivation (In ha) |   Number of Processing Unit |
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1 Andhra Pradesh    |                                       4350 |                           0 |
| 2 Arunachal Pradesh |                                        364 |                           0 |
| 3 Assam             |                                        624 |                           0 |
| 4 Bihar             |                                        175 |                           7 |
| 5 Chhattisgarh      |                                        400 |                           1 |
| 6 Goa               |                                        113 |                           0 |
| 7 Gujarat           |                                        936 |                           3 |
| 8 Haryana           |                                        420 |                           0 |
| 9 Himachal Pradesh  |                                        236 |                           0 |
| 10 Jammu &Kashmir   |                                        141 |                           4 |
| 11 Karnataka        |                                       3926 |                           1 |
| 12 Kerala           |                                       2269 |                           0 |
| 13 Madhya Pradesh   |                                      12551 |                           0 |
| 14 Maharashtra      |                                       1290 |                           2 |
| 15 Manipur          |                                        616 |                           0 |
| 16 Meghalaya        |                                        178 |                           0 |
| 17 Mizoram          |                                        373 |                           1 |
| 18 Nagaland         |                                        752 |                           0 |
| 19 Orissa           |                                        866 |                           0 |
| 20 Puducherry       |                                         50 |                           0 |
| 21 Punjab           |                                        598 |                           0 |
| 22 Rajasthan        |                                       4113 |                           4 |
| 23 Sikkim           |                                        237 |                           0 |
| 24 Tamil Nadu       |                                       3931 |                           0 |
| 25 Telangana        |                                       1674 |                           0 |
| 26 Tripura          |                                        256 |                           0 |
| 27 Uttarakhand      |                                        802 |                           0 |
| 28 Uttar Pradesh    |                                      12300 |                           0 |
| 29 West Bengal      |                                       1764 |                           2 |
| TOTAL               |                                      56305 |                          25 |

State/UT wise details of Marketing Infrastructure (rural / district collection centres / retail outlets), Information, Education & Communication (IEC) activities and number of farmers (trained) supported under Medicinal Plants Component of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) scheme from the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21.

| S. No.   | State             |   Marketing infrastructure |   IEC activities under Flexi component |   Number of farmers for Training |
|----------|-------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |                          1 |                                     12 |                              385 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |                          0 |                                      1 |                              275 |
| 3        | Assam             |                          5 |                                      2 |                              350 |
| 4        | Bihar             |                          0 |                                      3 |                              700 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |                          2 |                                      6 |                              600 |
| 6        | Goa               |                          0 |                                      1 |                              120 |
| 7        | Gujarat           |                          1 |                                      9 |                             1200 |
| 8        | Haryana           |                          0 |                                      6 |                               75 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  |                          0 |                                      3 |                                0 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir    |                          1 |                                      4 |                             1207 |
| 11       | Karnataka         |                          0 |                                     14 |                              375 |
| 12       | Kerala            |                          5 |                                      5 |                              200 |
| 13       | Madhya Pradesh    |                          1 |                                     64 |                             1590 |
| 14       | Maharashtra       |                          1 |                                      2 |                              300 |
| 15       | Manipur           |                          2 |                                      3 |                              450 |
| 16       | Meghalaya         |                          1 |                                      4 |                              100 |
| 17       | Mizoram           |                          1 |                                     10 |                             1100 |
| 18       | Nagaland          |                          0 |                                      1 |                                0 |
| 19       | Orissa            |                          0 |                                      3 |                              200 |
| 20       | Puducherry        |                          0 |                                      0 |                               50 |
| 21       | Punjab            |                          0 |                                     10 |                              450 |
| 22       | Rajasthan         |                          6 |                                     18 |                             2500 |
| 23       | Sikkim            |                          0 |                                      1 |                                0 |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu        |                          0 |                                      0 |                              250 |
| 25       | Telangana         |                          6 |                                     12 |                             1235 |
| 26       | Tripura           |                          0 |                                      0 |                              249 |
| 27       | Uttarakhand       |                          0 |                                      3 |                             1000 |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh     |                          8 |                                     32 |                             3200 |
| 29       | West Bengal       |                          1 |                                      6 |                              900 |
|          | TOTAL             |                         42 |                                    235 |                            19061 |

State/UT wise details of projects supported under Central Sector Scheme on 'Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants'

| S.   | State              | No. of Project supported                                                          | No. of Project supported   | No. of Project supported              | No. of Project supported   | No. of Project supported    |
|------|--------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|---------------------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------|
| No.  | State              | Conservation, Resource Augmentation of medicinal plants and support to JFMCs/BMCs | Quality Planting Material  | Information, Education& Communication | Marketing and Trade        | Institutional Herbal Garden |
| 1    | Andaman &Nicobar   | 3                                                                                 | 0                          | 0                                     | 0                          | 2                           |
| 2    | Andhra Pradesh     | 18                                                                                | 6                          | 5                                     | 0                          | 10                          |
| 3    | Arunachal Pradesh  | 18                                                                                | 1                          | 6                                     | 0                          | 3                           |
| 4    | Assam              | 8                                                                                 | 3                          | 13                                    | 0                          | 13                          |
| 5    | Bihar              | 0                                                                                 | 1                          | 0                                     | 0                          | 1                           |
| 6    | Chhattisgarh       | 38                                                                                | 0                          | 1                                     | 0                          | 2                           |
| 7    | Chandigarh         | 1                                                                                 | 0                          | 0                                     | 0                          | 0                           |
| 8    | Delhi              | 0                                                                                 | 3                          | 44                                    | 10                         | 14                          |
| 9    | Dadra Nagar Haveli | 2                                                                                 | 0                          | 0                                     | 0                          | 0                           |
| 10   | Goa                | 4                                                                                 | 1                          | 0                                     | 0                          | 2                           |
| 11   | Gujarat            | 39                                                                                | 2                          | 6                                     | 0                          | 11                          |
| 12   | Haryana            | 9                                                                                 | 0                          | 3                                     | 0                          | 8                           |
| 13   | Himachal Pradesh   | 17                                                                                | 1                          | 4                                     | 0                          | 5                           |
| 14   | Jammu &Kashmir     | 7                                                                                 | 3                          | 2                                     | 0                          | 9                           |
| 15   | Jharkhand          | 10                                                                                | 3                          | 4                                     | 0                          | 4                           |
| 16   | Karnataka          | 32                                                                                | 2                          | 19                                    | 0                          | 10                          |
| 17   | Kerala             | 33                                                                                | 5                          | 10                                    | 0                          | 26                          |
| 18   | Ladakh             | 0                                                                                 | 0                          | 2                                     | 0                          | 0                           |
| 19   | Madhya Pradesh     | 44                                                                                | 4                          | 16                                    | 1                          | 1                           |
| 20   | Maharashtra        | 43                                                                                | 4                          | 19                                    | 1                          | 21                          |
| 21   | Manipur            | 14                                                                                | 3                          | 3                                     | 0                          | 2                           |
| 22   | Meghalaya          | 9                                                                                 | 0                          | 3                                     | 0                          | 0                           |
| 23   | Mizoram            | 25                                                                                | 1                          | 1                                     | 0                          | 3                           |
| 24   | Nagaland           | 11                                                                                | 3                          | 3                                     | 0                          | 1                           |
| 25   | Orissa             | 27                                                                                | 2                          | 10                                    | 0                          | 7                           |
| 26   | Pondicherry        | 0                                                                                 | 0                          | 0                                     | 0                          | 1                           |
| 27   | Punjab             | 9                                                                                 | 3                          | 8                                     | 0                          | 6                           |
| 28   | Rajasthan          | 22                                                                                | 3                          | 9                                     | 2                          | 9                           |
| 29   | Sikkim             | 31                                                                                | 2                          | 1                                     | 0                          | 0                           |
| 30   | Tamil Nadu         | 12                                                                                | 1                          | 21                                    | 0                          | 14                          |

| 31   | Telangana     |   2 |   4 |   6 |   3 |   5 |
|------|---------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
| 32   | Tripura       |  14 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
| 33   | Uttar Pradesh |  11 |   5 |  11 |   0 |  12 |
| 34   | Uttarakhand   |  39 |  19 |  14 |   0 |  11 |
| 35   | West Bengal   |  10 |   4 |  20 |   2 |  11 |
|      | Total         | 562 |  89 | 264 |  19 | 224 |