Lok Sabha Question No. 3353 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-17
Subject: Medicinal Plants
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: P. Ravindhranath, Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3353

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 th  DECEMBER, 2021

## MEDICINAL PLANTS

## 3353.   SHRI P RAVINDHRANATH: SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

(a) whether the market of medicinal plants has increased manifold recently within the country  as  well  as  all  over  the  world  to  meet  the  demand  for  Indian  Traditional Medicines;

(b) if so, whether the government has analysed availability of medicinal herbs/plants in the country and the expected expansion of the medicinal plants market all over the world;

(c) if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government proposes to enhance cultivation of medicinal plants on 75000  hectares  of  land  across  the  country  through  the  National  Medicinal  Plants Board, if so, the details thereof and the follow up action taken by the Government in this regard;

(e) whether any of the important herbal plants are becoming rare/endangered; and

(f)  if  so,  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  adequate  production  of medicinal plants in the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AYUSH

## (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

- (a): Yes, the market of Medicinal Plants has increased in India as well as all over the world in last few years due to awareness among people towards natural herbs and Traditional Medicines.

(b & C): National  Medicinal  Plants  Board  (NMPB),  Ministry  of  AYUSH has compiled  &  published  a  book  in  2017  entitled  'Medicinal  Plants  in  India:  An

Assessment of their Demand and Supply' authored by  Dr. G. S. Goraya & Shri D.K. Ved .Book is available at https://nmpb.nic.in/publications

The Demand & Supply study (Ved & Goraya, 2017) has been depicted in the form  of  comprehensive  inventory  of  1622  herbal  raw  drugs  correlated  to  1178 medicinal  plant  species  in  commercial  demand.  Total  consumption  of  herbal  raw drugs in the country for the year 2014-15 has been estimated at 5,12,000 MT with corresponding trade value of Rs. 7,000 crore. Herbal raw drugs obtained from 242 medicinal plant species collected, cultivated or imported largely for use in health care are  used  in  high  quantities,  with  each  species  being  used  more  than  100MT  per year.

Further  analysis  of  these  242  species  reveals  that  supply  source  of  15 species (6%) is through import; 54 species (22%) are obtained from Cultivation; 59 species (25%) are wild collected from landscapes outside forests; and 114 species (47%) are collected from forests (36) species from the Himalayan temperate forests and 78 species from tropical forests).

The  quantum  of  medicinal  plants  exported  under  HS  Code  1211  from  the country  during  the  last  two  financial  years  i.e.  2019-20  to  2020-21  (data  source: https://tradestat.commerce.gov.in/eidb/icomq.asp available at website of Department of Commerce, M/o Commerce & Industry) is as follows:

## (Values in US $ Million)

|   S.No. |   HS Code | Commodity                                                                                                                     |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |
|---------|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|
|       1 |      1211 | PLNTS AND PRTS OF PLNTS INCLD SEDS AND FRUTS USD FOR PRFUMRY PHRMACY/INSCTCIDL OR SMLR PUR FRSH/DRID, CHLD/FROZ W/N CUT CRSHD |    283.52 |    377.63 |

(d) Yes, Ministry of AYUSH has prepared a draft scheme namely 'Pradhan Mantri VRIKSH  AYUSH  Yojana'  for  the  promotion  of  Medicinal  Plant  Cultivation,  Postharvest  management and Marketing support by involving farmers and the AYUSH industry. The proposed scheme has been submitted for the approval of the Cabinet.

- (e) As  per  the  data  received  from  Botanical Survey of India (BSI), an organization under Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has reported that some of the medicinal & aromatic plants with high commercial value became endangered or critically endangered due to over exploitation and anthropogenic activities. About 76 threatened and critically endangered species are given as follows:

Aconitum balfouri, Aconitum chasmanthum,  Aconitum  deinorrhizum, Aconitum falconeri var latilobum, Aconitum ferox, Aconitum heterophyllum, Acorus gramineus, Allium  stracheyi,  Amyris  balsamifera,  Angelica  glauca,  Anogeissus  sericea  var. numularia,  Aquillaria  mallaccensis,  Aquilaria khasiana,  Aristolochia  bracteolata, Aristolochia indica, Arnebia benthamii, Atropa acuminata, Berberis affinis, Berberis apiculata,  Berberis  aristata,  Bergenia  stracheyi,  Boronia  megastigma,  Capparis pachyphylla, Carum villosum, Cedrus deodara,Chlorophytum borivilianum, Colchicum  luteum, Commiphora  wightii, Coptis teeta, Coscinium  fenestratum, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Dioscorea deltoidea, Elaeocarpus prunifolius,  Ephedra gerardiana, Ferrula gummosa, Gaultheria fragrantissima, Gentiana kurooa, Gloriosa superba,  Gymnocladus  assamicus,  Hedychium  coronarium,  Hedychium  spicatum, Hyoscyamus  niger,  Hydnocarpus  macrocarpa,  Inula  racemosa,  Iphigenia  indica, Iphigenia  pallida,  Iphigenia  stellata,  Jurinea  dolomiaea,  Kolanchoe  roseus,Lilium polyphyllum, Madhuca  insignis, Myristica fragrans, Myroxylon balsamum  var. pereirae, Nardostachys grandiflora, Origanum  vulgare, Panax  pseudoginseng, Picrorhiza kurrooa,  Podophyllum  hexandrum,  Pogostemon  cablin,  Pterocarpus santalinus, Rauvolfia serpentina, Rheum emodi, Santalum album, Satureja horensis, Saussurea bracteata, Saussurea costus, Saussurea gnaphalodes, Swertia chirayita, Taxus wallichiana, Taxocarpus kurzii,Tribulus rajasthanensis, Urginea indica, Urginea maritima and Valeriana leschenaultia, Vitex peduncularis.

(f) The  National  Medicinal  Plants  Board  is  presently  implementing  a  'Central Sector  Scheme  on  Conservation,  Development  and  Sustainable  Management  of Medicinal Plants' throughout the country which supports the following activities:

- i). In-situ conservation/ Ex-situ conservation
- ii). Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs)/Panchayats/ Van Panchayats/ Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs)/ Self Help Groups (SHGs).
- iii). IEC activities like Training/ Workshops/ Seminars/ Conference etc.
- iv). Research & Development.
- v). Promotion, marketing and trade of medicinal plants produce.

Beside this, CSIR-CIMAP is hosting a National Gene Bank of Medicinal and Aromatic  Plants  and  is  conserving  genetic  resources  of  medicinal  and  aromatic plants  in  India  through  seed  and  field  gene  banks.  In  seed  bank  around  2476 accessions  belonging  to  515  different  medicinal  and  aromatic  plants  species  are being  conserved.  Besides,  live  plants  of  868  accessions  of  227  medicinal  and aromatic plants species are conserved in the institute's Field Gene Bank.

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