Lok Sabha Question No. 4783 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-20
Subject: Expansion and Cultivation of Medicinal Plants
Ministry: AYUSH
Asked by: Dr. Rajesh Mishra, Shri Sudheer Gupta, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat, Shri Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane, Shri Mahesh Kashyap, Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan, Dr. Nishikant Dubey, Shri Damodar Agrawal, Dr. K Sudhakar, Shri Nalin Soren, Shri Krishna Prasad Tenneti, Smt. D K Aruna, Shri Chavan Ravindra Vasantrao, Shri Balabhadra Majhi, Shri Khagen Murmu, Shri Lumbaram Choudhary, Shri Bhojraj Nag, Shri Dineshbhai Makwana, Shri Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Shri Dulu Mahato, Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato, Shri P P Chaudhary, Shri Parbhubhai Nagarbhai Vasava, Smt. Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Shri Ramesh Awasthi, Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey, Dr. Manna Lal Rawat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA ADMITTED UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.

## †4783 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 th  MARCH, 2026

' Expansion and Cultivation of Medicinal Plants '

## †4783. Dr. Rajesh Mishra:

Shri Sudheer Gupta:

Smt. Aparajita Sarangi:

Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat:

Shri Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane:

Shri Mahesh Kashyap:

Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan:

Dr. Nishikant Dubey:

Shri Damodar Agrawal:

Dr. K Sudhakar:

Shri Nalin Soren:

Shri Krishna Prasad Tenneti:

Smt. D K Aruna:

Shri Chavan Ravindra Vasantrao:

Shri Balabhadra Majhi:

Shri Khagen Murmu:

Shri Lumbaram Choudhary:

Shri Bhojraj Nag:

Shri Dineshbhai Makwana:

Shri Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri:

Shri Dulu Mahato:

Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato:

Shri P P Chaudhary:

Shri Parbhubhai Nagarbhai Vasava:

Smt. Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah:

Shri Ramesh Awasthi:

Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey:

Dr. Manna Lal Rawat:

Will the Minister of Ayush be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  projects  sanctioned  and  funds  released  under  the  Central  Sector  Scheme  for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants in the country during the last five years, State/UT-wise including Jharkhand, Jammu  and  Kashmir, particularly in Nabarangpur of Odisha;
- (b) the  details  of  the  measurable  impact  of  the  said  Scheme  on  the  expansion  of  acreage  and cultivation of medicinal plants across the country;
- (c) the  specific  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  in-situ  and  ex-situ  conservation  of  Rare, Endangered  and  Threatened  (RET)  species  of  medicinal  plants,  particularly  in  the  Pali Parliamentary constituency of Rajasthan;
- (d) the effectiveness of e-CHARAK mobile application in improving market access and ensuring price transparency for medicinal plant growers; and
- (e) whether  there  is  an  existing  monitoring  mechanism  to  track  the  survival  rate  of  plantations, productivity and income growth of medicinal plant cultivators and if so, the details thereof?

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## ANSWER (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  including  Jharkhand,  Jammu  and  Kashmir  and  Odisha  during  the  last  five years.  The State/UT-wise details of projects sanctioned and funds released under the scheme during last five years is at Annexure-1 .

(b): The 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  (QPM)  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.

Under Integrated Component from FY 2023-24, total 15 project proposal approved to different organization by NMPB across the country to cover approximately 2000 hectare area under cultivation of medicinal plants by providing the QPM to the farmers.  For State of Jammu & Kashmir Integrated Component project approved for an amount of ₹ 82.50 lakh during the F.Y. 2023-24 to J&K Medicinal Plants  Board  to  raise  the  planting  material  for  distribution  to  the  farmers  for  medicinal  plants cultivation and establishment of infrastructure for Post-Harvest Management and Marketing.

(c): Under the above Central Sector Scheme, NMPB, Ministry of Ayush is providing project based support to State Forest Departments for in-situ conservation of medicinal plants in their natural habitats by way of establishing Medicinal Plants Conservation and Development Areas (MPCDAs), Resource Augmentation/ Plantation of Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) species of medicinal plants in forest  areas  through  in-situ  resource  augmentation  and  plantation  outside  designated  forest  areas through ex-situ resource augmentation throughout the country including State of Rajasthan.

(d): To provide a platform for trade of Medicinal Plants & easy market access, NMPB, Ministry of Ayush has launched 'e -CHARAK' mobile application as well as web portal for the promotion and marketing of medicinal plants/herbs. 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 application has 11037 Registered Users, 3,05,41,062 Visitors, 7,587 Posted items and 71,14,683 Buyer Sellers Interactions.

(e): The  NMPB,  Ministry  of  Ayush,  Government  of  India,  conducts  periodic  monitoring  and evaluation  of  projects  implemented  under  its  Central  Sector  Scheme.  The  monitoring  is  carried  out through  the  Regional  Cum  Facilitation  Centres  (RCFCs)  of  NMPB  to  ensure  effective  tracking  of plantation survival, cultivation practices, productivity levels and the socio-economic benefits accrued to farmers.

In addition, to enhance the productivity and income of medicinal plants cultivators, the NMPB, Ministry of Ayush through its RCFCs distribute Quality Planting Material (QPM) and impart training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Good Field Collection Practices (GFCPs) and Post Harvest Management (PHM) aspects.

The State/UT-wise details of projects sanctioned and funds released under the Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants in the country during the last five years.

| S. No.   | State             |   No. of projects sanctioned |   Fund released (₹ in lakhs) |
|----------|-------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1.       | Andaman &Nicobar  |                            1 |                        24.5  |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh    |                           16 |                       466.78 |
| 3.       | Arunachal Pradesh |                            5 |                        79.67 |
| 4.       | Assam             |                           24 |                      1063    |
| 5.       | Bihar             |                            2 |                        43.09 |
| 6.       | Chandigarh        |                            3 |                        58.32 |
| 7.       | Chhattisgarh      |                            5 |                       158.25 |
| 8.       | Delhi             |                           39 |                      1116.84 |
| 9.       | Goa               |                            1 |                        47.24 |
| 10.      | Gujarat           |                           14 |                      1348.02 |
| 11.      | Haryana           |                           16 |                       515.72 |
| 12.      | Himachal Pradesh  |                           20 |                       730.12 |
| 13.      | Jammu &Kashmir    |                           14 |                       679.4  |
| 14.      | Jharkhand         |                            6 |                        14.2  |
| 15.      | Karnataka         |                           32 |                      1585.04 |
| 16.      | Kerala            |                           31 |                      1379.74 |
| 17.      | Ladakh            |                            4 |                        91.75 |
| 18.      | Lakshadweep       |                            0 |                        26.17 |
| 19.      | Madhya Pradesh    |                           27 |                       594.03 |
| 20.      | Maharashtra       |                           25 |                       828.99 |
| 21.      | Manipur           |                            8 |                       141.94 |
| 22.      | Meghalaya         |                            2 |                        31.15 |
| 23.      | Mizoram           |                            7 |                       325.77 |
| 24.      | Nagaland          |                            3 |                        97.93 |
| 25.      | Odisha            |                           20 |                       150.28 |
| 26.      | Punjab            |                           13 |                       195.48 |
| 27.      | Puducherry        |                            4 |                        96.75 |
| 28.      | Rajasthan         |                           12 |                       224.26 |
| 29.      | Sikkim            |                            3 |                       520.22 |
| 30.      | Tamil Nadu        |                           51 |                       687.31 |
| 31.      | Telangana         |                           14 |                       544.47 |
| 32.      | Tripura           |                            1 |                         0    |
| 33.      | Uttar Pradesh     |                           38 |                      1096.64 |
| 34.      | Uttarakhand       |                           26 |                       700.21 |
| 35.      | West Bengal       |                           11 |                       842.22 |
| Total    | Total             |                          498 |                     16505.5  |