Lok Sabha Question No. 4611 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-20
Subject: Financial Assistance for Cultivation Plants
Ministry: AYUSH
Asked by: Shri Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Shri Bharat Singh Kushwah

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. † 4611 ANSWERED ON 20/03/2026

' Financial Assistance for Cultivation Plants '

## † 4611. Shri Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa: Shri Bharat Singh Kushwah:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

- (a) the steps being taken by the Government for the promotion and growth of medicinal plants in the country;
- (b) whether the farmers engaged in cultivation of medicinal plants are being provided financial assistance or assistance for sale of produce;
- (c) if so, the details of farmers across the country including Madhya Pradesh who have benefited from it;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to assist the Government of Punjab to promote medicinal plants, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) the details of the funds released to the Government of Punjab during the last three years and the outcome thereof;
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  survey  to  discover  rare  species  of medicinal plants and herbs and if so, the details thereof;
- (g) whether  the  Government  has  got  any  research  conducted  on  the  medicinal properties and effects of these plants during the last five years, if so, the details thereof; and
- (h) the details of the steps taken by the Government to improve market access and price transparency for producers of medicinal plants?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) The  National  Medicinal  Plants  Board  (NMPB),  Ministry  of  Ayush  is  implementing 'Central  Sector  Scheme  for  Conservation,  Development  and  Sustainable  Management  of Medicinal Plants' throughout the country. 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. Ex-situ conservation through establishment of herbal gardens.
- iv. Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) / Panchayats / Van Panchayats / Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) / Self Help Groups (SHGs).
- v. IEC activities like Training / workshops / Seminars/ Conferences etc.
- vi. Research & Development.
- vii.  Promotion of marketing and trade of medicinal plants produce.
- viii. Forward and backward linkage in supply chain of medicinal plants.

Till date, NMPB has supported 138 projects to organise the training program/seminars/workshops for promotion of medicinal plants throughout the country from the Financial Year 2020-21 to 2024-25. Besides this, NMPB, Ministry of Ayush, through its RCFCs conducted awareness & training programs for the promotion and growth of medicinal plants in the country.

(b) & (c) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) -  Centrally Sponsored Scheme for holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic and medicinal plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo throughout the country.

Under MIDH scheme, provision has been made for providing assistance for area expansion of short duration medicinal plants i.e. non-perennial in nature and non-tree species. Details of cost norms alongwith the pattern of assistance is given at Annexure -I.

Besides  this,  NMPB,  Ministry  of  Ayush  has  supported  projects  under  Forward  and Backward  Linkage  in  Supply  Chain  of  Medicinal  Plants  (Integrated  Component)  of  existing Central Sector Scheme  from the F.Y. 2023-24, wherein project based support is provided for Infrastructure for Quality Planting Material to raise the planting material of medicinal plants for cultivation,  Information  Education  Communication  (IEC)  activities  to  aware  the  farmers, Infrastructure for Post-Harvest Management and Marketing to increase the marketability of the medicinal plants, adding value to the produce, increasing profitability and reducing losses, Quality Testing and Certification of raw material.  NMPB has approved total 15 project proposals to the different states including Madhya Pradesh under Forward and Backward Linkages in supply chain of  Medicinal  Plants  (Integrated  Component)  of  Central  Sector  Scheme  of  NMPB  from  the Financial Year 2023 -24 to till date to cover approximately 2000 hectare area under cultivation of medicinal plants by providing the QPM to the farmers. Detail is given at Annexure-II.

(d) & (e) As per the information received from Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the detail of fund allocated and released to Punjab State under MIDH scheme for implementation of various interventions during last three years is given below:

| Year    |   Allocation (Rs. in Crore) |   Release (Rs. in Crore) |
|---------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|
| 2022-23 |                       51.83 |                    15.55 |
| 2023-24 |                       49.77 |                    22.39 |
| 2024-25 |                       66.67 |                    25    |

Beside this, NMPB has also supported projects for an amount of Rs. 32.255 lakh  to the Punjab state under  Research & Development and Information, Education and Communication activities of  Central  Sector  Scheme  (CSS)  on  'C -onservation,  Development  and  Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants' for promotion of medicinal plants during the last three year.

- (f) Yes, the Government of India has conducted extensive surveys and studies to identify rare, endangered,  and  threatened  species  of  medicinal  plants  and  herbs  across  the  country.  These activities are primarily carried out by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It is reported that:
- An estimated more than 8,000 species of medicinal plants are found in India.
- Surveys  by  different  government  agencies  have  identified  over  5,250  plant  species  and documented over 9,567 folk claims for various ailments.
- (g) NMPB has supported projects under Research and Development activity of Central Sector Scheme  for  conservation,  development  and  sustainable  Management  of  Medicinal  Plants  on different aspects of medicinal plants.  The detail is given at Annexure-III.
- (h) To improve market access and price transparency, NMPB has launched 'e -CHARAK' mobile application as well as web portal for the promotion and marketing of medicinal plants/herbs for trade of Medicinal Plants & easy market access, The '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.

Currently, e-Charak mobile has Registered users-11,119; Total visitors-30565540; Posted items-7,588; Buyer Sellers Interactions-7114690.

**********

## Cost norms for cultivation activities as per MIDH scheme

| Nameof the Component                                                                                                                                                               | Cost Norms      | Pattern of Assistance                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Medicinal Plants (Mulethi, Shatavari, Kalihari, Shwet Musali, Gugggal, Manjishtha, Kutki, Atees, Jatamansi, Ashwagandha, Brahmi, Tulsi, Vidarikand, Pippali, Chirata, Pushkarmool) | Rs. 1.5 Lakh/ha | Assistance @40%ingeneral areas for an area upto 2 ha. on pro rata basis for meeting the expenditure on planting material and cost of material for Integrated Nutrient Management / Integrated Pest Management etc. in 2 instalments of 60:40 In the case of North East &Himalayan States, Scheduled areas including TSP (Tribal Sub Plan) areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands, assistance will be @ 50% for an area upto 2 ha. on pro rata basis. |

## Annexure -I

Details of projects supported under Integrated Component of  Central Sector Scheme for  Conservation,  Development  and  Sustainable  Management  of  Medicinal  Plants during the last three year, State/UT-wise

| S. No.   | F.Y.    | State          |   No. of projects |   Total approved amount (In lakh) |
|----------|---------|----------------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 1        | 2023-24 | Andhra Pradesh |                01 |                            120    |
| 2        | 2023-24 | Jammu &Kashmir |                01 |                             82.5  |
| 3        | 2023-24 | Mizoram        |                01 |                            120    |
| 4        | 2023-24 | Uttarakhand    |                01 |                            120    |
| 5        | 2024-25 | Karnataka      |                01 |                            120    |
| 6        | 2024-25 | Tamil Nadu     |                01 |                             95    |
| 7        | 2024-25 | Kerala         |                01 |                            120    |
| 8.       | 2024-25 | Madhya Pradesh |                01 |                            119.95 |
| 9.       | 2024-25 | Delhi          |                01 |                            120    |
| 10.      | 2025-26 | Rajasthan      |                02 |                            240    |
| 11.      | 2025-26 | Uttar Pradesh  |                02 |                            220    |
| 12.      | 2025-26 | Gujarat        |                01 |                            120    |
| 13.      | 2025-26 | Haryana        |                01 |                            120    |
|          | Total   |                |                15 |                           1717.45 |

## Details  of  project  supported  under  Research  &  Development  Activity  of  Central Sector Scheme on different aspects of medicinal plants

| S.No.   | Research activity                                                                                            |   No of projects |
|---------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
| 1       | Bioactivity guided fractionation studies and pre-clinical studies                                            |               11 |
| 2       | Development of agro techniques, standardization of nursery techniques                                        |                6 |
| 3       | Documentation and development of geo tag digital library                                                     |                3 |
| 4       | Finding out substitute and authentication of raw drugs                                                       |                9 |
| 5       | Genotype Identification, genetic improvement, genome study and germplasm collection &conservation            |                6 |
| 6       | Intercropping and sustainable production technology                                                          |                2 |
| 7       | In-vitro propagation studies, micro-propagation chemical& molecular profiling and phyto-chemicals evaluation |               15 |
| 8       | Post-harvest Management, assessment of heavy metals and integrated pest management                           |                4 |
| 9       | Survey, identification, characterization and conservation of medicinal plants                                |                5 |
| 10      | Varietal development and prospect of marketing                                                               |                0 |
| Total   | Total                                                                                                        |               61 |