STATE MEDICINAL PLANT BOARD, KERALA DEAPRTMENT OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE GOVT. OF KERALA

ABOUT KERALA

ABOUT RAW MATERIALS

ABOUT RAW MATERIAL COLLECTION Only 7% of items is obtained from cultivated sources . Main collection is from the wild. Uncontrolled collection Unscientific and at times destructive harvesting Resource is depleting. Demand is increasing

ABOUT CULTIVATION Use of Herbs , Shrubs , Climbers, Trees by industry Large scale commercial cultivation yet to catch up Private cultivation mainly of annuals Standard techniques of cultivation of many species not developed Availability of quality planting material is a limitation . Economics of planting of many species not available

AVAILABILITY . Industry in need of large quantity of Raw Materials Roots , bark, stem, leaves , flowers and fruits are used Demand is increasing. Resource base can not cater to the demand unless alternate sources found out . Annuals by and large made available from different sources

AVAILABILITY Raw drugs from trees very scarce Many trees are in the Red Listed Category like. Saraca asoca, Aegle marmelose, Pterocarpus santalinus , Oroxylum indicum, Salacia oblonga, Garcinia gummi-gutta,Terminalia arjuna, Santalum album, Symplococos racemosa etc. All these are widely used for medicine preparation .

PROBLEMS Annuals and perennials equally important . While Cultivation of annuals is preferred by individuals very few cultivates trees. Large scale tree cultivation must for survival of Ayurveda industry in its present form . Long gestation of tree crops unattractive to individuals . Only Govt. Dept. may alone support tree crops cultivation .

SOME SOLUTIONS Present cultivation Technique of trees needs review. Closer espacement planting to be tried . Harvesting of roots by rotation through trench methods. Introduction of techniques to encourage growth of roots , thick foliage etc to be tried through appropriate soil conditioning. High yielding fast growing species to be identified through Research .

MARKETING Lack of clear economics on Medicinal plant cultivation. Unreliable market. Unorganised market. Exploitation by middle man.

STORAGE & HARVESTING Some guideline by Dabur / WWF Trafic India for storage .

Acceptability Traditional harvest / materials preferred by industry. Acceptability of parts from short rotation crops not sure . Adequate Research not available Research on large no of species simultaneously not feasible at the moment. Quality parameters quite vague . Available methods to increasing productivity using Hormones may have side effect.