Review Article Open Access

Medicinal Plants: Cultivation to Value Addition: Problems and Issues

Abstract

Natural products (crude drugs, extracts and pure compounds) have been derived from higher plants, microbes and animals. The medicinal preparations are based upon these raw materials. The journey of raw materials from its origin to finished product goes like: Cultivator– Collector– FDC– Pharmacy– Retailer– User. The pharmaceutical research has received much attention and has been recognized as complex and multidisciplinary activity. On a global scale alone USA and Japan contributes over 50 % new drugs. It is estimated that India contributes to Rs. 100 million out of about 2500 million markets of pharma based industries. This comes to merely 1 %, the figure that does not seem to be considerably significant. The state of Gujarat has approximately some 900 pharmaceutical units that contribute very little to this 1 % global share of India, in spite of it being bestowed with variations in topographical features, rainfall pattern and diversified agro climatic and agro ecological zones. The total number of medicinal plant lore comes to 18,000 species in India (MoEF, 2010). Gujarat too has rich medicinal plant diversity with 1500 species routinely used by different pharmaceutical companies. The advancements and scientific inputs are not sufficient to combat the problem of quality assurance, continuous supply for the ever increasing demands of medicinal plants. The problems arises at several stages of the journey from non-availability of planting material, conventional methods for agricultural packaging practices, cultivation as per GAP norms and the most prominent problem of lacunae in getting technically skilled man power. Further the issues like adulteration and substitution of drugs, manipulations in quality control parameters do affect the theme of “Co-operative management” and “Combination of Techno– Economy” in spite of tremendous advances made in field of herbal technology. There are still a large number of issues like market potential, marketing channels, buy back guarantee for which suitable drugs filtered under GMP and GAP rules is not available or if available is not reaching to required persons. The present compilation highlights all such problems and issues from source raw material to finished product available in market.

Vikas Kumar, Ajeesh R, Amit A Revale and Manas R Nayak

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