Medicinal Plant Biodiversity in India: Harnessing Opportunities …
141
in the chain. The value chain approach provides practically implementable models to
attain set objectives, besides, plan action for development of medicinal plant sector.
Some of the key questions explored are what is the present status of medicinal plant
sector in India? Who are the stakeholders involved? What is the economic potential
of the sector? What is the present institutional arrangement of the sector? How could
you constitute effective linkages between cultivation of medicinal plants and food
security in India in the chain?
The study is based on both secondary and primary data sources. For secondary
data various documents, reports, journals and books are accessed. In addition, two
cases on the traditional use, conservation and economic potential of medicinal plants
in the Nanda Devi Biosphere, in the central Himalayan region of India and BRTTR
region in Karnataka, is presented.
The study aims to present analysis on quantity of collection and cultivation of
medicinal plants, and their economic and commercial potential. The study further
presents analytical model for harnessing medicinal plant cultivation for promoting
livelihood and food security. This article addresses the cultivation of medicinal plants
and economic viability, constraints in the cultivation of medicinal plants and economic potential medicinal plants in India. This paper also documents institutions
and agencies involved in development and promotion of medicinal plants in India.
Further, the study analyses resource base, utilisation and conservation of medicinal
plants across India. At the end the article presents analytical model for harnessing
medicinal plant cultivation for improved food security in India.
3 Definition of Medicinal Plants
Medicinal plants have been defined variously by different agencies:
The World Health Organization (WHO 2000:1, 2002) uses the umbrella term
‘traditional medicine’ and defines them ‘as the sum total of the knowledge, skills
and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different
cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health, as well as in the
prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illnesses’.
WHO (2003) defines Medicinal plants as ‘a plant (wild or cultivated) used for
medicinal purpose. Similarly, WHO (2003) defines Herbs as ‘Herbs include crude
plant material such as leaves, flowers, fruit, seed, stems, wood, bark, roots, rhizomes
or other plant parts, which may be entire, fragmented or powdered’. A series of
technical guidelines on quality control of herbal medicines are prepared by WHO
providing a detailed description of the techniques and measures for appropriate cultivation and collection of medicinal plants as well as record and document necessary
data and information during their processing (WHO 2003).
141
in the chain. The value chain approach provides practically implementable models to
attain set objectives, besides, plan action for development of medicinal plant sector.
Some of the key questions explored are what is the present status of medicinal plant
sector in India? Who are the stakeholders involved? What is the economic potential
of the sector? What is the present institutional arrangement of the sector? How could
you constitute effective linkages between cultivation of medicinal plants and food
security in India in the chain?
The study is based on both secondary and primary data sources. For secondary
data various documents, reports, journals and books are accessed. In addition, two
cases on the traditional use, conservation and economic potential of medicinal plants
in the Nanda Devi Biosphere, in the central Himalayan region of India and BRTTR
region in Karnataka, is presented.
The study aims to present analysis on quantity of collection and cultivation of
medicinal plants, and their economic and commercial potential. The study further
presents analytical model for harnessing medicinal plant cultivation for promoting
livelihood and food security. This article addresses the cultivation of medicinal plants
and economic viability, constraints in the cultivation of medicinal plants and economic potential medicinal plants in India. This paper also documents institutions
and agencies involved in development and promotion of medicinal plants in India.
Further, the study analyses resource base, utilisation and conservation of medicinal
plants across India. At the end the article presents analytical model for harnessing
medicinal plant cultivation for improved food security in India.
3 Definition of Medicinal Plants
Medicinal plants have been defined variously by different agencies:
The World Health Organization (WHO 2000:1, 2002) uses the umbrella term
‘traditional medicine’ and defines them ‘as the sum total of the knowledge, skills
and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different
cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health, as well as in the
prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illnesses’.
WHO (2003) defines Medicinal plants as ‘a plant (wild or cultivated) used for
medicinal purpose. Similarly, WHO (2003) defines Herbs as ‘Herbs include crude
plant material such as leaves, flowers, fruit, seed, stems, wood, bark, roots, rhizomes
or other plant parts, which may be entire, fragmented or powdered’. A series of
technical guidelines on quality control of herbal medicines are prepared by WHO
providing a detailed description of the techniques and measures for appropriate cultivation and collection of medicinal plants as well as record and document necessary
data and information during their processing (WHO 2003).