The Medicinal Plants Sector in India: a Review

ARCHIV JDRC Lib.

The Medicinal Plants Sector in India: A Review

Jason Holley and Kiran Cherla

South Asia Regional Office, IDRC,Canada Medicinaland Aromatic Plants Programin Asia (MAPPA) New Delhi, India.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproducedor transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permissionin writing from the publisher.

The presentationof materialin this publicationdoes not imply theexpression of any opinion on the part of MAPPAor IDRC concerningthe legal status of any country,or the delineation offrontiers or boundaries.

Design& production: Christopher Samuel Artstock, New De/h, India

Medicinal & Aromatic Plants Program in Asia (MAPPA) ID RC/SARO 17, Jor Bagh New Delhi 110003 India. Introduction Contents

Foreword (vii)

Acknowledgements (ix)

Executive Summary (xi)

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: The Medicinal Plants Resource Base 9

1.1 The Cultural-HistoricalContext 11 1.2 TheResourceBase 13 1.3 The Collectorsand their Background 16 1.4 The Policy Environment 19 1.5 Interventionsto Dateon the Resource Base 22

Chapter 2: Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Uses 29

2.1 The Policy Environment 33 2.2 Interventionsto Date 34

Chapter 3: The Marketing Channels: From Harvest to Market 35

3.1 The Main Actors in the Trade 37 3.2 The Chainof Transactions 38 3.3 TransformationPoints to of the Raw Materials 39 3.4 Marketingmargins 39 3.5 OverallTrends in Pricing 41 3.6 The Policy Environment 42 3.7 Interventionsto Date 42 Chapter 4: The International Market 45

4.1 Detailed Studies Concerningthe Export of MedicinalPlants. 47 4.2 The Policy Environment 50 Chapter 5: Domestic Drug Production 53

5.1 The Indian Systemsof Medicineand Homeopathy.(ISM) 55 5.2 The Allopathic Industry 58 5.3 The Policy Environment 58 5.4 Interventionsto Date 60

(v) Chapter 6: Information and Coordination in the Sector 63

6.1 Databases 65 6.2 Publications 66 6.3 International and Regional Nefworks 66

Chapter 7: Towards a Sustainable and Equitable Medicinal Plant Sector 69

7.1 Constraints,Opportunities and Targets 71 7.2 RecommendedInterventions 72

Acronyms 79 Bibliography 85 Appendices 93

1. A Red Data List of Indian MedicinalPlants 95 2. Some of the Major CultivationAreas of Medicinaland Aromatic Plants 98 3. Developmentof StandardizedAgrotechnology Underway at Indian ResearchCentres 99 4. Species UnderStudy by CIMAP for Tissue Culture Propagation 100 5. HerbalGardens in India 101 6. ImportantSpecies in the HerbalGarden, Tropical Forest Research Institute,Jabalpur 104 7. MedicinalPlants ConservationAreas in South India 106 8. Some of the most Important MedicinalPlants used by Local Tribes 107 9. TirupatiDeclaration of Tribal and Folk MedicinalPlant Resources 114

(vi) Executive Summary

This report reviews the currentstatus of the medicinalplant sector in India, which supports the primary healthcare needs of most of the country's population. Much of the health care sector is informal, especially since India has three major systems of traditionalmedicine. However,many plant productsare used for tribal and folk medicinalpractices which have not been properlystudied. India thereforeis one of the world's most medico-culturallydiverse countries. Added to this scenario is the practice of Western medicineand past effortsto change indigenousmedicine: in fact both have benefitedfrom each other since indigenoussystems introduceddrugs to the Western pharmacopoeias while Westernmedicine helpedupgrade a few important raw plant productsto some degree of standardization.

The synergies describedabove led to India becomingan active participantin the global medicinalplant market, Although an insignificantsupplier of finished products,India may be the world's largestsupplier of raw materials. This global trade is stronglygeared to the needsof importers:hence emphasis on productionfor the trade is often on plants introduced into India. Nonetheless,India exports significantquantities of raw materials to other Asian countries and some of these exports are associatedwith traditional medicine. However, India's comparativeadvantage in producingmaterials for export has not been exploitedto the full at all.

With the exception of a limited number of plant species,the productionbase relies mainly on materials harvested from the wild. Current practices are unsustainableand many studies have emphasized rapid depletionof the natural resource base. This problemis further compoundedby the inequitablenature of the harvestingand marketingof the plants,thereby perpetuating impoverishmentfor those chargedwith stewarding and gathering the resource. Evidencepoints to a limited number of peopleprofiting in dramaticdisproportion to their inputs.

Nonetheless, India, known to be a storehouseof biological diversity, has to focus on sustainingthe resourcebase of medicinalplants. Efforts to relieve pressureon wild plants through cultivation have made a good start but have a long way to go. This is a complexissue by virtue of the sheer numbers of plant species and the needs for sustainablepropagation, suitable agronomic practices, the selection of superiorgenotypes and linking productionto people.

Constraints exist at all levels especially in relation to the documentationof the sector. The report discusses these in relation to the resource base; use of medicinalplants at the local level; marketingchannels; exports; the domestic drug production sector and coordination efforts and information. Although the overall sector is largely informal, it works in practice. Howeverthe constraintsare likely to have an increasing impact, resulting perhaps in a crisis situation.

It is not a simple matterof supplyingmissing documentation. Thereare extremelydiverse stakeholders spanning the formal sectors of agriculture,forestry, health care and industry (as well as actors outside of these formal sectors). Medicinalplants fall into segments of these formal sectors and receive more or less attention dependingon policy. For instance,they are one of the most valuablecomponents of the non-timber forest productssector, being importantgenerators of revenue.

Most of the availabledata regardingthe formal sectorsare in aggregateform and such statistics supply little informationabout howthe market actuallyworks; they rely solely on market price as an indicatorof value. Much more attentiontherefore needsto be given to the socio-institutionalcontext of the market.

(xi) On the other hand,the governmenthas in place a wide range of organizationswith initiativesaimed at strengtheningvarious aspects of the sector and coordinatingparts of it. These are supplementedby many non-governmentalinitiatives, several supported by outside donors. New government coordination efforts would not however be feasible at presentdue to the currentlyapparent constraints.

It is clear that a set of interventionsat various levels could lead to the promotionof the sustainableand equitabledevelopment of the sector and help to averta crisis. These could pave the wayfor sharplyfocused strategic planningfor the future. The report outlines a number of these interventions.

(xii) Foreword

Accordingto the WorldHealth Organization,over 80percent of the world's populationrelies ontraditional forms of medicine, largely plant-based,to meet primaryhealth care needs.

In India,the collection and processing ofmedicinal plants and plantproducts contributesat least 35,000,000 man days each year to the national economy, as a source of both full and part-time employment. Micro- studies suggest that a large number of those employed are women. In recognitionof the significanceof the sub-sector,and the fact that it is largely undocumented,the World Bank and the IDRC Medicinal Plants Network (IMPN) agreedto producethis state-of-the-artreport on the medicinalplants sector in India.

The reportsuggests that despitea wealth of resources-biological,human and financial-beingavailable, the lack of a coordinatedapproach, which considers sustainableand equitable developmentto be short as well as long-term goalsfor thesub-sector, has resulted in the simultaneous under-utilization and overexploitation ofthe valuable plant resources.

It is hoped that the report, will be a step towards achieving such a coordinated effort. In addition to identifyinginformation gaps and research priorities,it outlinesa setof possible interventionsat variouslevels which could lead tothe promotionof the sustainableand equitabledevelopment of the sub-sectorfor human and environmentalbenefit. These could pave the wayfor sharplyfocused strategic planning in the future.

We hope th'at the report will be useful to government agencies, development planners, researchers, NGOs, and donor agencies,who can worktogether to make the sector more sustainableand equitable.

Roger Finan Madhav Karki, Ph.D. Regional Director& ProgramOfficer Program Coordinator South Asia RegionalOffice (SARO) Medicinal & AromaticPlants Program in Asia (MAPPA) IDRC, New Delhi, India. SARO/IDRC, New Delhi, India. Acknowledgments

Although only two names are listed as the authors of this report, several other researchersmentioned belowhave been instrumentalin the preparationof this review.

To begin with, we would like to thank Dr. D. N. Tewan, Former Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Researchand Education (ICFRE)and Dr. V. P. K. Nambiar, Chief Botanistat the Arya Vaidya Sala, both membersof IMPN's ResearchAdvisory Group, who contributedin documentation of different aspects of the medicinalplant sub-sector.In addition, we owe a great deal to the keen editorialeye of ProfessorTrevor Williams, a long-timeadvisor tothe network.

We would like to thank Mr. Madhusudan and Mr. Jyothi Tewari for their compilation of domesticand international trade data from the records maintainedby the Governmentof India;as well as their colleagues, Vinod and Rameshfor synthesizingthis informationin a computerized, readilydisplayable format. Ms. Radhika Johari deserves special thanks for her, editorialassistance.

We are also grateful for the cooperationand support ofthe recentlyformed Committeeon IndianSys- tems of Medicineand Homeopathy,which has beencharged with developingthese sectorsfor the NinthFive Year Planby the Governmentof India. The invitationextended by the Committeeto IMPNto collaborate in the fulfillmentof this goal has facilitated our accessto important informationand has also enabled us to ensure thatthe report is relevant to current and plannednational prioritiesand activities in India.

Thanks are also due to the participantsof the SouthAsia Conferenceon Tribal and Folk MedicinalPlant Resourcesorganized by IMPNin Tirupati, and the associatedSeminar on Pharmacologyand Folk Medicine, as well as the Conferenceon the Role of Bamboo,Rattan, and Medicinal Plants in Mountain Development, held in Pokhara,Nepal, under the auspicesof IDRC/IMPN,INBAR, IPGRI and ICIMOD. Participantsof both conferencescontributed valuable papers providingthe most upto date informationin their respectiveareas of expertise. friaddition, our subsequentconsultations and discussionswith many ofthem, helpedus toidentify important areasof concern for the report.

We would liketo extend our gratitudeto the large number of IMPNmembers and associates,throughout India,who we consultedand from whom we receivedvaluable informationdunng theentire preparation period of the report. They include scientists working in research institutes and universities; NGOs; government agenciesand member ofthe private sector. In particular,we wish to thank Dr. M. S. Swaminathan,Director, M.S. SwaminathanResearch Foundation, Chennai; Dr. S. Natesh, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Dr. DarsanSankar, Director, Foundation for Revitalizationof Local Health Traditions(FRLHT), Banga- lore; Dr. S. Vedavathy, Director, Herbal FolkloreResearch Centre, Tirupati, Dr. S. Parekh, Director, Research Division, Zandu Pharmaceuticalsand Dr. N. Hegde, President,BAIF, Pune.

Finally, we would like to thank IDRC and the World Bank for providing funding for the research and publicationof this report, aswell as the followingindividuals for their invaluablesupport: Dr. Cherla Sastry, the former Directorof the IDRC MedicinalPlants Network(IMPN) for hisguidance, encouragement and construc- tive comments. We are also thankful to Dr. MadhavKarki, ProgramCoordinator for his substantialtechnical and editorialinputs.

Our interactionswith all of these committedindividuals throughout the study periodhave encouragedus inour convictionthat despitethe enormous amOunt ofwork that remainsto be done,this report'sraison d'etre- the sustainableand equitable developmentof the medicinalplants sector-canindeed be achieved.

(ix) The Medicinal Plants Sector in India: A Review Introduction Medicinal Plants: The Global View

Human beings have been utilizing plants for basic preventive and curative health care since time immemorial. Recent estimates suggestthat over 9,000 plants have known medicinalapplications in various culturesand countries, and this is withouthaving conducted comprehensive research amongstseveral indigenous and other communities(Farnsworth and Soejarto 1991).

Medicinal plants are used at the householdlevel by women taking care of their families, at the village level by medicinemen or tribal shamans,and by the practitionersof classical traditionalsystems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, or the Japanese Kampo system. According to the World Health Organization,over 80% ofthe world's population,or 4.3 billion people, rely upon such traditionalplant-based systems of medicineto provide them with primary healthcare (Bannermanet. al. 1983).

Allopathicmedicine too owes a tremendousdebt to medicinalplants: one in four prescriptionsfilled in a country like the United States are either a synthesizedform of or derived from plant materials(Srivastava, et. al. 1995).

Even from the earliest trade data available, it is clear that the global market for medicinal plants has always been very large. According to the InternationalTrade Centre, as far back as 1967, the total value of importsof starting materials of plant origin for the pharmaceuticaland cosmetics industrywas ofthe order of USD 52.9 million. From this amount, the total values grew to USD 71.2 million in 1971, and then showed a steady annual growth rate of approximately5-7% through to the mid-i980s (Atisso 1983).

To give an example of the extent of trade volumes even at that time, according to one report commis- sioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature, the total import in 1980 of vegetablematerials used in pharmacy" by the EuropeanEconomic Communitywas 80,738 tons (Lewington1992). India was the largestsupplier by far, with 10,055 tons of plants and 14 tons of vegetable alkaloids and their derivatives.

However, it is only during the last decade that the real significance of the medicinal plants sector has begun to be realized. Interest in natural materialsby the dominanteconomic powers had waned fromthe late 1 960s to the early 1 980s as new possibilitiesin biotechnologyand the synthesizationof drugs beckoned. But by the mid-i980s, there was a renewed interest in natural materialsand approachesto health care, coupled with a recognitionthat technology alone could not solve the pressing health care needsof the world's population (Tempestaand King 1994).

This new drive for natural and plant-basedmedicines made itself felt in the market from the mid-i 980s onwards. As Table 1.1 illustrates,growth in the market in various regions is now on average 3 to 4 times the average growth rates of the national economies in the same regions. Some of these phenomenalrates, in some cases nearly 20%, imply that the market is now doubling in size every 4-5 years.

The participationof various companiesin the market also attests to its new strengthand importance.By 1990, some 223 major companiesworldwide (of which about half were in the United States) were reportedly screeningplants for new leads; the figure had been zero in 1980 (Aryal 1993).

3 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Also in 1990, more than 2000 companiesin Europealone were marketing herbal medicinals, with 30% havinga turnoverin excess of $20 million-expenditure in the United Stateson "unconventional, alternative, or unorthodox"therapies reached$13.7 billion dollars during the same year (Tewari 1996). The so-called

Table 1.1 Natural Medicines Market: Regional Growth Rates 1991-98 (in %)

1991 -92 Region 1993-981

EU 5 8 Rest of Europe 8 12 SE Asia 12 12 Japan 15 15 South Asia 15 15

Source: Grunwald (1994)

'riutraceuticals"sector--consisting of herbal medicineswhich are dubbedfood or dietary supplementsin order to pass FDA criteria more easily--isnow estimatedto be valued at USD27 billion (Anon 1995).

The use of such alternative medicines has become increasingly popular in the developed world. For example, 1 in 3 Americans have at some time used unconventionalmedical therapies according to a national telephone survey published in the New EnglandJournal of Medicinein 1993. In another survey conductedin 1994, it was found that 60% of doctors had at some time referred patients to practitioners of alternative medicine. In responseto the overwhelminginterest in alternativetherapies, many of the prestigiousallopathic medical institutions have also recognized their importance:an example is the National Institute of Health which created the Office of AlternativeMedicine in 1991 to provide the public with information on alternative treatmentsand to assess those therapieswhich have provensuccessful. (Kolata 1996).

Accordingto one account, in 1992 significantamounts of at least 74 species of medicinalplants were being commerciallytraded in the global market(Handa 1992). In additionto these major species, hundreds of others are bought and sold in lesser quantitiesacross nationalboundaries, sometimesillegally.

A comparisonof the volumesof traded materials with those of the previous decade also provides dra- matic evidence of the market's growth. During the last 3 years, approximately40,000 tons of plant drug materials(valued at DM 160 million)were imported into Germany, annually (Lange 1996), implyingthat one country's imports in the mid 1 990s equalled half the number of plants imported by the entire continent in the mid 1980s.

Considering the Role for India

The global context briefly sketchedabove suggestsseveral tremendous opportunities for India,a country unrivaled in terms of diversity of medicalsystems and practices,in additionto being a major storehouseof

4 Introduction

biological diversity, with 2 of the 14 megabiodiversityareas of the world locatedwithin its borders. The global marketwould appearto be more receptivethan ever to the mountingof a concentratedIndian effort atsupply- ing it with medicalmaterials and know-how.Such an effort would also appearto be increasinglyremunerative for the country. India is of course already an active participantin the global medicinal plants market having been for some time the world's largest supplier of raw materials (though an insignificantsupplier of finished products) (Patnaik 1994). Of the 74 species accountedfor in one of the studies mentionedabove, India was known to be exporting22 and importing8 (Handa 1992),while the Germanstudy quoted earlier, which is now underway, has found India to be Germany'slargest trading partnerby far (Lange1996). Moreover, medicinal plants are one ofthe most important componentsof the non-woodforest productssector which supplies over 80% of India's net forest annual export earnings(FAQ 1995,Jam 1996).

Despitethese promisingindications, however, it is unclear whether India is trulyexploiting her comparative advantage in the medicinalplants sector and tappingthe full potential of an expandingconsumer base. In addition, several concerns arise in relation to the current consequences of participationin the market, with regard to the sustainabilityand equitabilityof prevailing practicesin the sector.

Although only micro-studiesare currently available in this regard, most of these indicate that current practicesare both unsustainable,as hey rapidlydeplete the naturalsupplies of the country's plant base, and inequitable, perpetuating impoverishmentfor those charged with stewarding and harvestingthe resource, while a few profit in dramaticdisproportion to their inputs. Negative impacts on local primaryhealth care, as plants become diverted to nationaland internationalmarkets, have also been cited in some cases. To add to all of these negative aspects, the market in India has been shown to be highly inefficient and imperfect.

The need of the hour, then, is to replan India'sparticipation in the expandingglobal market,in light of the interests of all the stakeholderswho are affected and who play a role in this sector. There is a needto collate all the availableinformation regarding medicinal plants developmentin the countryin orderto obtaina comprehensive overview which will provide the necessary insight for coordinated and effective action. Such an overview could form the basis of a renewed developmentof India's medicinalplants sector, and a strategic exploitationof her comparativeadvantage in the global market on a sustainableand equitable basis.

s nd Object!ves o the Revew

Itwas with the intention of providingsuch a comprehensiveoverview that the InternationalDevelopment ResearchCentre and the World Bank's Departmentof Agricultureand Natural Resourcescommissioned the authors to conduct a state-of-the-artreview of the medicinalplants sector in India.

Medicinal plants, of course, do not presently constitute a sector as typically defined in international developmentdiscourse; generally they have been defined as a forestry sub-sector,or less often, as a sub- sector in health care. However, this review takes up medicinal plants as an independent sector for two reasons: 1) to emphasize that none of the various 'homes' to which medicinal plants have been assigned provide a sufficient base of expertise for their sustainableand equitable development;and 2) to provide an organizationalframework for the community of researchersand stakeholders,to whom this paper will be circulated,to think through this area of common interest and move forward together.

This reviewthen is a mappingexercise, which tries to identifythe who, what, how,where, why and when of medicinal plants development in India, in order to supply a comprehensive understandingand overall pictureto researchers, NGOs,health care workers,private companies, conservation and developmentagen- cies,

5 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

policy makers and other interestedstakeholders. It is intendedto provide a frameworkand knowledge base, and an initial wayforward, for those interestedin seeing India exploit her comparativeadvantage in the global market, both sustainablyand equitably.

Limits and Constraints Faced

There is no dearth of interest in medicinalplants amongst the Indian research community. As a single example, the IDRC Medicinal Plants Network, a South-Asia focused initiative operating from New Delhi, already maintainsan activedatabase of over 900 Indianresearchers and developmentspecialists working on medicinalplants projects after only one year of activecompilation. When a call for proposalsin the field was issued, over 250 responseswere receivedwithin the subscribed period, a tremendous number considering that the grants were of the magnitudeof only USD 15,000.

Unfortunately, however, this interest has not resulted in the developmentof a strong and high-quality knowledge base for the sector. Instead, one finds in a review such as this one several instances where informationis either unobtainableor unreliable. Several factors contributeto this situation.

The most importantamong these is the highly secretiveand complex nature of the trade in raw materials. Most experts consulted agreed that the largest part of the trade occurs in the informal sector, and is absent from official statistics and trade catalogues. As previous authors have also found (see Lewington 1993), nearly everyone involved in the medicinalplants trade is very hesitantto divulge informationwhich is essential to a complete understanding--such as prices, supply sources, points of transformation,and transport routes. As a result, despite assiduousefforts, we still cannot claim to have a complete picture of the trade scenario, and have most likely erred in the direction of conservativelyestimating the volumes of materials undertrade.

Information available regardingthe formal sector is also limited. Most data is available only in aggregate form, such as numbers of species being exported or overall value of the trade to India. These statistics unfortunatelysupply little informationabout how the market actually works, and may even obscure such vital information to policy makers such as seasonal fluctuations and the like. In addition, in most cases, no explanationsare given for how the aggregationswere calculatedor verified(i.e. dry weights or fresh weights; exchangevalues in effect; self-reportingby companiesor based on registrationwithgovernments, etc.). The lack of methodologicalexplanation makes it virtually impossible to compare and synthesize related sets of information;or to understandwhy two sets of statistics, purportingto cover the same phenomena over the same time period, give differing results.

Moreover, these statistics rely exclusivelyon market price as an indicator of value, a narrow approach which neglects environmental, cultural, personal,and long-term methods of assigning value. The social context of the market which is extremely important in the medicinal plants sector, involving as it does, a complex market spread across time and space, is there by lost.

This constraint is related to a general lack of strategic focus in the bulk of current socio-economic research on medicinalplants in India. The largest group ofscientists currentlyworking with medicinal plants appearsto be those in the natural sciences--includingbotanists, taxonomists, and chemists; and the applied sciences such as biotechnologyand health care. In most instances where economic or social analysis has been undertaken,it has been bythese same scientists,the majority ofwhom are untrainedand unqualifiedto conductsuch research. While laudableas an attemptto bridge the disciplinarybarrier, this has unfortunately

6 Introduction

also resulted in a generally lower quality of socio-economicanalysis related to medicinal plants as against other resources, with analysis tending to oversimplifycomplex market and policy realities such as the frequently suggested solution: cut out the middleman. In addition, there is a regrettable absence of any research community or peer group working on socio-economicand policy aspects of medicinalplants, such as that which exists with regard to agro-technology, biotechnology,and the like, which would assist in defining higher standardsof quality.

Methodology

The consequencesof the absence of an extensiveknowledge base is that in many places there remain gaps which need to be filled; where these occur, the study takes note ofthem. However,these have not been so numerousas to make it impossibleto give a reasonablepicture of the sector. In the absence of the usual sourcesof informationfor commoditystudies, this review utilizesa hybrid approachfollowing in partthe model articulatedby Arnold (1994). The review attemptsto understand the market by meansof the official' sources availableregarding the macro-leveltrade, as well as the few well-documentedcase studies ofthe micro-level situation,supplemented by interviews and discussions with experts in the field who are participantsin the IDRC Medicinal Plants Network. Where commontrends and tendencies appear, they are highlighted;and where gaps remain,they are acknowledged. In this way, the review serves asa stock-taking not only of the developmentscenario, but of the research scenario as well.

The review is structured to follow the medicinalplants from their origins in forests and on farms through to their application in formulations or as unprocessedmaterials. For this purpose, we have identified five major stages which medicinal plants may pass through on their way from collection to use.

Different peopleand plants are engagedat each stage,and the review attemptsto provide information on not only on the volumes and numbersof peopleinvolved; but also to understand which ones are involved, why they are involved, how and to what extent they are involved, and when they are involved, It also tries to understandand describe how changes at differentpoints have affectedthe participationof peopleand plants at the same or other points. Such factors are of crucial importancein consideringdevelopment initiatives for the sector.

7 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Chapter Overviews

The chapterswhich follow take an in-depthlook at each ofthe stages of medicinalplant use as follows.

Chapter One focuses on the first stage of the process, that of Collection of MedicinalPlants. Here we examinethe current state of the resource base; the peopleinvolved in the activity and their socio-economic and demographic make-up; the locations at which collection takes place; the methods by which collection takes place;the policiesand regulationscurrently in force pertainingto forestuse and product harvesting;and the various interventionsmade in the area so far, including cultivationof plants, in-situ and ex-situconservation, and joint forest management.

ChapterTwo follows the path ofthe plants to their use in the informal healthcare sector,where the vast majorityare used in folk and tribal remedies. This aspectof medicinalplant use is oftenforgotten in analyses which concentrateon marketopportunities or the "Big 3" (Ayurveda,Siddha, and Unani) systems oftraditional medicine, and requires an in-depthstudy to understand how such market participation and promotion will affect local standards of health care, and how tribal and folk medicinalpractices and plants can be strength- ened and madesustaining and self-sustainable.

Chapter Three examinesthe marketingchannels through which plants which are not used locally pass on their way from harvest to final market. It makes use of availableinformation to characterize the different types of markets in which medicinalplants are bought and sold, and to understandwho is involved in the trade. In addition, it attempts to determinethe transformationpoints of the raw materials into products;the pricingpatterns and determinants;the margins of profit accruingto different stakeholders; and the present role of the government and policy. This chapter also documents and analyzes some of the interventionsof the state to date, such as the developmentof marketing cooperatives,as well as ongoing projectsin commodity studies and market analysis.

Chapter Four describes in greater detail the InternationalMarket briefly sketchedabove, with particular emphasis on India's performanceduring the past twenty years. It provides details regardingIndia's exports and imports of medicinal plants and medicinalplant-derived drugs, identifyingmajor commoditiesand trade partners, as well as describingthe presentnational and international regulatoryenvironment.

Chapter Five looks at the other major destination of plants harvested in India, that is, the country's domesticdrug productionsector. It considersthe size and scope of both the traditionaland allopathic manufacturers, their links to primary healthcare,and the current policy environmentin which they operate. It also documents organizationsand initiativesaimed at strengtheningthe capacity of these manufacturers,both nationalas well as international.

ChapterSix then takes stock of the currentefforts at coordinationand informationin the sector, including networks, databases, and publications.

Finally, ChapterSeven draws conclusionsfrom the informationpresented in the previous chapters,and makes recommendationsfor the sustainableand equitabledevelopment of the sector,articulating the potential roles that various stakeholderscould play in such efforts.

8 Chapter 1

The Medicinal Plants Re source Base Chapter 1 The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

11 The CuturaHistorica Context

Medicinalsystems in India date back to at least 5000 BC, coincidingwith the emergenceof the cities of the agricultural based Indus Valleycivilization around4500 BC. This civilization was, however, superim- posed upon earlier mesolithic hunter - gatherersocieties centred in Mehrgathin the plains of Kacchi, which themselvesbore traces of a similar society based in the Vindhyas,south of the River Ganges. Whilefarming villageshad emerged by 9000 BC in Mehrgath, which was situatedin the transitionalzone betweenthe hills of Baluchistariand the Irido-Gangeticplains, settlementbecame more pronouncedby about 5500 BC. However, colonizationof the alluvial plains only occurred after the formation of more complex societies, firstly in the Indus Basin and 2500 years later in the Ganges valley. This latter delay was due to the impenetrablenature ofthis area which was denselyforested and thereforeunsuitable for densehuman populations until the advent of the iron age.

While far more is known about the food habits as opposed to the use of medicines of these early peoples,several factors influenced the developmentof medicinalsystems over a period of time.

Firstly, ethnic changes between 2000 BC and 1500 BC, resulting from the arrival of Aryan immi- grants, led to the domination of a new culture over the earlier pre-CaucasoidDravidians settlers. These immigrantscame from areas immediatelynorth and west of the Indus valley and had links to the first city civilizations of Mesopotamia, for example, Sumer where, as in Egypt, medicinalsystems were established. These influencesnecessarly had an impact on the developmentof the Vedic period with its written texts.

A second major factor involved the trade linksof the Indus valley civilizationoverland to Gandharaand Bactriain Afghanistan,as well as by sea to Persia and the Persian Gulf. Although the Persian Empireunder Darius had alreadyincorporated the Indusvalley, some 200 to300 yearsearlier, pavingthe way for Alexander's expeditionaryforces, the Mauryandynasty had united most of the country, barring the South by 250 BC. The resultingties between the emerging Indiancivilization and other civilizationswith which it came into contact, must undoubtedlyhave affected not just trade relations but also available knowledge regardingthe use of plants for food and medicine

By the time of the post-Vedicperiod (after 600 BC), when medicinehad been modifiedaccording to rational, scientificprinciples, as opposedto magical principles, the materiamedica was extensiveand incor- poratedplants from neighboring regions.

Soon afterwards,world trade, particularlywith regard to spices began to intensify, both along sea routes as well as overland routes, resulting in linkages betweenthe Near Eastand East and SoutheastAsia. By the time of the Graeco-Romanera, pepperand ginger form India, and cassia, cinnamon and cloves from South EastAsia, all ofwhich were usedfor their medicinal properties, were widely known in the Mediterranean.

India obtained,by diffusion ratherthan by trade, some important medicinalspecies including Cannabis sat/vaand garlic from Central Asia; Aloe vera, Cum/numcymin urn, opium poppyand Glycyrrhiza(liquorice) from the Mediterranean; nutmegfrom SoutheastAsia; Thgonella foenum-graecum,Crocus sativus, Carum carvi(caraway) and Medicago sat/va (alfalfa) from SouthwestAsia; Coriandrurnsativurn from the Mediterra

11 A Review- of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

nean and Southwest Asia; Ric/nuscoinmunis, So/anumni'rum and tamarind from Africa; Acorusca/amus from the Eurasian steppes; Lepid/umsativum (cress)from Tibet; and numerousother species. Most ofthese were ancient introductions. A further influx took place after the Muslim conquest of India from 1221 AD onwards, placing a new emphasison the Graeco-Arabsystem of Medicine(Unani) which had already incorpo- rated elementsfrom Egypt,Greece, Persia, Indiaitself and China. At one point in time, approximatelyaround 1526AD, the Vedic and Unanisystems interactedand functionedin an integratedmanner as documentedby Bala (1982, 1985 and 1991).

Traditionalsystems of medicinecontinued to be used in India even during the British era when western systemwere promoteddue to outbreaksof epidemicdiseases such as cholera, smallpox and malaria. How- ever,the adoption of public health measures was a novel concept, even in Britain, during this period, and as a result, no divergence between western and Indianmedicine occurred until the ascendance of drug theory and practicein Europetowards the end ofthe nineteenthcentury.

Over time other influencesfrom the East, particularlythe Chinese/Tibetansystems of medicineaffected the medicinalcultures of numeroustribal peoplesof India. More importantly, oriental medicinalplants diffused into diverse regions of the Himalayasand interacted with those used in the Indiansubcontinent.

Althoughmany of the ancientas well as the more recent introductionsand innovationsdescribed above, have become vital componentsof traditionalmedicine systems, India has over the millennia primarily relied on her own indigenousplant diversity in this regard.This is not surprisingin light of the fact that she is one of the only countries to contain two of the globally identified areas of megabiodiversity, in addition to being a centre of origin and diversity for many crop species. The BotanicalSurvey of India records over 15,000 plant speciesoccurring in the country, ofwhich at least 7,500have beenused for medicinalpurposes (Pushpangadan 1995).

Attemptsto document the plant wealth of India have continued since the landmark publication by Watt (1889-96). Around 1700species have beendocumented for their biological propertiesand drugaction (FRLHT 1996) and data is available for approximately1200 species, especially those most frequently used in traditional Indiansystems of medicine, resulting in a reasonableknowledge base. However,there is still a lack of documentationrelating to the properties, natural distribution,ecological tolerances and uses of a number of valuable medicinal species. Furthermore,the summaries of information which exist only provide broad as opposed to detailedinformation as shown in Table1 .2 and 1 .3.

Table 1 .2 Distribution of Medicinal Plants by Habit (based on analysisof 1079 South Indian species)

Habit Number Percentage

Herbs 344 32 % Shrubs 220 20 % Trees 354 33 % Climbers 127 12 % Others 34 3 %

Source: FRLHT (1996)

12 The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

Table 1.3 Distribution of Medicinal Plants by Parts Used (based on analysis of 1079 South Indian species)

Parts Percentage

Roots 26.6% Leaves 5.8% Flowers 5.2% Fruits 10.3 % Seeds 6.6% Stem 5.5% Wood 2.8% Bark 13.5% Whole Plant 16.3 % Rhizome 4.4 %

Source: FRLHT (1996)

Before concluding this section, two areas of concern should be noted. Firstly, it has not always been appreciatedthat documentationof direct relevanceto medicinaluse is an internationaltask, given the interde- pendence of nations in relation to research or to plant exchanges-whetherfor medicines,food, fibre or other economicpurposes. Thus, for example, listing researchon activeprinciples draws on publicationsfrom scores of countries,including India. (Asolkar, Kakkar and Chakre 1992)

A final relevant point byway of introductionconcerns the importanceof medicinalplants in international trade. This implies that acceleratedattempts to harvest and trade materials,or to cultivate medicinalplants for profit, can well result in a focus on non-indigenousplants with consequent repercussionson the availability of the resource base to sustain national needs.

Medicinalplant species are increasingly under threat. At present,it is feared that 15-20 percent of the total vascularflora of India (over 3,000 species)may fall under one of the IUCNcategories of threatened, rare, or endangered.While a comprehensive analysis of the status of medicinal plant species has never been carried out, it is estimated that approximatelyone third of the plant species listed in the Red Data Book of India, may have medicinal properties (Bisen et al. 1996).

The piecemealefforts which have been undertaken tc assessthe threat to medicinalplants bear out the assumptionthat the number threatened is high. At least 120 medicinalspecies have been officiallyclassified as endangered(Jam 1987) and a threat assessmentexercise recentlycarried out by an NGO in South India (FRLHT 1996) showed that of 78 plants occurring in the three states of Kerala, Karnataka,and Tamil Nadu only 21 were at low risk (Appendix 1).

13 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

However,what is requiredis specific data,for exampleon whether aspecies under threat in one region ofthe country is at low risk elsewhere,or whether estimatedthreats are for species which are old introductions from other countries(See Appendix2) from where new germplasmcould be obtained.

The largestgap in knowledgerelates to paucity of informationon patternsof genetic diversity as well as which segmentsof the species' genepool/distributionneed attention for conservationand for further develop- mentthrough domesticationand cultivation. It is well known that certainsources of a particularspecies may be more efficaciousfor medicinaluse than other sources. This is an area requiringstrategic attention.

The pressures exented on the resource base are to a large degreecaused by overexploitation(over- collecting)as well as in many cases by poorcollecting techniques.It is often easier to uprootthe entire plant ratherthan to selectivelygather the specificparts required,especially where commercialprofits are available for the collectors.

As resultof the above factors, togetherwith increasingpopulations, increaseddemands for crude drugs and lack of a comprehensiveknowledge base, the continuedavailability of plant material fromthe wild cannot be scientificallyor practically assured.

Nor has the resource base been replaced to any significant extent by cultivation. Nearly all experts consulted in the field agreed that the vast majority of plants continue to be harvested from the wild, with estimates of up to 100 per cent for wild-harvesting in some of the predominately rural and tribal regions (Vedavathy, pers.comm., 1996;Nambiar, pers.comm., 1996), though usually in the order of 95 percent(FRLHT data for Karnataka,Kerala and Tamil Nadu).

Even ri cases where official organizationshave set up cultivation of certain species to supply external markets it is still inadequate. An ongoing study of the imported pharmaceuticalplant materials of India's largesttrading partner, Germany, suggeststhat 70-90 percent of the species acquired by the country are primarilywild-harvested (Lange 1996), a practicenow commonlyknown as 'mopping.'

The forestsof India, covering 19.4 percentof the country's total geographicalarea, or 328 millionhect- ares of land, form the major ecosystems for the provision of medicinal plants. Of this area, the largest proportions are coveredby tropicalwet, tropicalmoist deciduous,and tropicaldry deciduoustypes. However, it should be noted that medicinalspecies are unevenlyobtained not only from the differentforest types but also the different regions of India.

The forests of Himachal Pradesh,said to have beenthe birthplaceof Ayurveda,are known to supply a very large proportion ofthe medicinalplant requirementsof India, with one estimatequoting figures as high as 80 percent of all Ayurvedic drugs, 46 percent of all Unani drugs, and 33 percent of all allopathic drugs developedin India (Aryal 1993). The WesternGhats, one of the hotspot areas of mega-biodiversity,form a second major supply source, While the Himalayas representa third heterogeneoussource. Unfortunately, however, informationregarding major supply zones is often protectivelyguarded as a result of increasing scarcity of supply, and is far from being well documented.

Additionally,not all the plant sources are Indian. It is importantto note that Indian markets are heavily supplied by plants from surrounding SAARC countries, especially Nepal and Bhutan. These countries, whose processingsectors are minisculein comparisonto those of India, have supplied medicinalplants both legally and illegallyto India for centuries. Many plants ofTibetan origin have entered India following ancient trade routes throughthe corridorsof Nepaland Bhutan(Edwards 1993).

14 The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

Table 1.4 Forest Types in India and Their Distribution

lwet 5.13 8.0 Tropicalevergreen 2.64 4.1 Tropical moist deciduous 23.68 37.0 Littoraland swamp 0.40 0.6 Tropicaldry deciduous 18.36 28.6 Tropicalthorn 1.65 2.6 Tropicaldry evergreen 0.14 0.2 Sub-tropicalbroad leaved hill 0.28 0.4 Sub-tropicalpine 4.24 6.4 Sub-tropicaldry evergreen 1.25 2.0 Montanewet temperate 2.34 3.6 Himalayanmoist temperate 2.20 3.4 Himalayandry temperate 0.03 Sub-alpineand alpine 1.86 2.9

Source: Bajaj (1990)

The importanceof these two countries in supplying medicinalplants also draws attention to the significance of mountainecosystems in providing medicinalplants in India. A conference,organized in May 1996 in Pokhara,Nepal, by IDRC,the InternationalCentre for Integrated MountainDevelopment (ICIMOD), and the InternationalPlant Genetic ResourcesInstitute (IPGRI), on the role of BambooRattan and MedicinalPlants in MountainDevelopment documented the great importanceof medicinalplant collection in mountainenviron- ments. Researchersat the Workshop estimated that over 120 million people in the Himalayan region rely primarily on plant products, mostly extracted from the wild, among which medicinal plants were one of the major groups (Karki, Rao, Rao & Williams 1997).

Much more needs to be done to understand the economic pressures sustainingthe trade of medicinal plants across borders. However,it is interestingto note that species of high attitude origin are generally of high value while those originatingat lower attitudes are of lowervalue as the following twoexamples illustrate:

Swertia c/i/ray/ta (chirayata) is one of the low-value,low-altitude plants. It is collected for a bitter principle activeagainst fever and digestivedisorders, with long establisheduse inAyurvedic medicine. It is aherb found at mid-altitudes (1 200-3000 m) on open ground and recent slash-and-burnforest. Most chirayata in Indian commerce is collected from East Nepal. India also exports the extract chiretta containing the glyco- side chiratinto Europeand Asia (Edwards1993).

Nardostachysjatamansi(jatamansi)is a high-altitude,high-value plant. Itis aperennial herb from the alpine Himalayas (5000 m) and occurs in Nepal, Bhutan, Kashmir, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh. The rhizomes are collected. Although non-processedexports are officially bannedfrom Nepal, a major illegal trade continues to India for extractionof a pale yellow volatileoil of high valueas a drugfor numerousailments, and an ingredient in perfumes. Interestinglythis plant was listed in the pharmacopoeiaof Hippocrates,a Greek who lived during 460-357 BC.

. 15 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

1.3 The Collectors and theft Background

The secrecyof the medicinalplants trade, as well as seasonalvariations, make it difficult to determine the precisenumber of peopleinvolved in collectingmedicinal plants from the wild. However, some data exists regardingcollection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as a whole, which can provide a broad brush attemptto estimate those collecting medicinalplants.

Accordingto a study carriedout in 1987by the NationalCentre for HumanSettlements and the Environ- mentin NewDelhi, over 50 million people were living in and around forests in India and relying upon NTFPsfor subsistenceand cash income(NCHSE 1987). To take a single regional example,an intensivestudy in Tamil Nadu revealed that on average, more than 100,000persons enter the forests of the state each day to collect forest products, including medicinalplants (Appasamy1993).

All availableevidence suggeststhat it is the poorest of the poorwho rely on the harvestingof NTFPs, such as medicinalplants, for their earnings(Godoy and Bawa1993; Appasamy 1993). This is particularlythe case where people have had relatively unrestrictedaccess to forests as common property resources: the plants are easily accessible, and the markets do not demand a high level of processing or related skills (Edwards 1993). Table1 .5 illustratesdivergences betweenhigh and low income groups in terms of dependence on NTFPS. Common property resourcesare a vital componentof incomefor the poor, which, if dimin- ished, would exert a major impact on their ability to meet their most basic survival needs.

The role of women has also begun to receivea significantamount of attentionfrom those involved with medicinalplants as well as with alternativeapproaches to forest development. It is widely held among the papers and case studies obtained during this study that women play a major role in collecting, and in some cases marketing medicinal plants, especially since these activitiescoincide with their basic responsibilities of providing health care to childrenand families (Nambiar, pers.comm. 1996; Vedavathy, pers. comm. 1996; Arnold 1994; Pokhara Declaration). While men living in and near foreststend to be involved with the higher income-generatingtimber trade, anecdotal evidence suggeststhat women have been a major force in the collectionand utilization of products such as medicinalplants. However, researchfindings which thoroughly considerthe extent and nature of women's participationare not yet available. The Medicinal Plants Resource Base mw

Table 1 .5 Degree of Dependence by Rich and Poor on Common Property Resources

State Common Property Resource Contribution

Household Income (%) Days of Category employment per

, household

Ar,dhraPradesh Poor 17 139 Wealthy 1 35 Gujarat Poor 18 196 Wealthy 1 80 Karnataka Poor 20 185 Wealthy 3 34 MadhyaPradesh Poor 22 183 Wealthy 2 52 Maharashtra Poor 14 128 Wealthy 1 43 Rajasthan Poor 23 165 Wealthy 2 61 TamilNadu Poor 22 137 Wealthy 2 31

Source: Jodha (1990)

There is a close relationshipbetween medicinalplants and other NTFPs in the lives of those who collect them. Case studies have revealedthat, collectionof medicinalplants has typicallycomprised one component of a number of livelihood strategies pursued by forest and fringe dwelling communities. Activities which usuallyaccompany collection of the plants include collection of other NTFPs such as resins,gums, bamboo and cane, honey,and the like (Godoy and Bawa 1993). In additionto these extractive activities, manycase studies have indicatedthat the families involved are also active in the agricultural sector.

Table 1 .6 depicts the contribution of various rural activitiesto the livelihood security of a small tropical Sri Lankanvillage studied in 1992 (Gunatilakeet al. 1993). Medicinalplants contributedapproximately 24 per cent of the total family income;while livestock contributed35 percent; cardamomcollection 33 percent,and a range of other activities made up the remainingincome. Significantly,these figures are averages, and both incomesand labor inputs from different activitieswould vary from season to season. It is likely that a similar situationwould befound in India.

In addition to recognizing that medicinal plants usually comprise only one of a number of income- generatingactivities of the collectors,it is also important to note that research outside the South Asia region suggeststhat extraction of medicinalplants and other non-timberforest productsis a job of necessity rather than of choice, and that it may be only astand-by until more profitablemeans of making a living, are available, particularlythrough livestock and agriculture activities (Browder 1992). As noted in a survey of NTFP case studies conducted in 1993, the richer householdsand villages become, the less time they tend to spend collecting medicinalplants and other NTFPs; instead,they turn to more attractive non-forestbased occupations such as agricultureand business enterprises(Godoy and Bawa 1993).

17 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 1.6 Contribution to the Total Income By Each Activity of the Farming and Forest Collection System

Activity Participatin households % contribution to Average contribution income to income # % total ($/family/year)

Rice Cultivation 56 93 11.5 195.50 Other Annual Crops 35 58 4.5 117.10 PerennialCrops 17 28 1.7 91.80 Kitchen Gardens 59 98 3.9 63.60 Livestock 33 55 0.3 24.40 NTFP 60 100 16.2 253.10 Shifting Cultivation 52 86 20.3 365.60 Cardamom 41 68 26.0 607.90 Other Income 49 81 15.5 294.10

Source: Gunatilake et. al., (1993)

In fact, accordingto the same survey,richer householdsand villages tend to: a) extract fewer plants and animals;b) spend less time foragingand more timein non-forestryoccupations; C) consumefewer wild plants and game; and d) use more domesticatedanimals and industrialsubstitutes (Godoy and Bawa 1993).

This has very important implicationsfor developmentprojects which seekto capture greater benefits locally from medicinal plants, suggesting that livelihood choices are very susceptible to change, and that participationwill depend upon trade-offs,given the informaland opportunisticnature of the market.

An additional considerationis the possibility that as these products become more valuable, especially medicinal plants, their access will tend to be monopolized by the richer segments of society. Access to markets, political authority,and the like, can enablethe rich to divert the flow of medicinal plants so that they are better served and provided for by these, while the poorforest-dwellers lose access to the resources as they becomemore valuable (Dove 1994). Medicinal plant collecting,in other words, could gothe way of timber ri moving from a poorman's source of incometo that of a rich man; and even, from a poor man's source of medicineto that of a rich man.

There are virtually no known comprehensivestudies regardingthe methodsby which medicinal plants are harvestedfrom thewild. However,conventional wisdom holds that the collectingmethods are unscientific and unsustainable,with estimates as high as 70 percentof the plants being destructivelyharvested (Godoy and Bawa1993, FRLHT 1996).

Methods of collection also vary in relation to who is collecting the plants and for whatuse. Godoy and tend Bawa (1993) have suggestedthat plants destinedfor local use by the collectoror his immediate society to be harvested more sustainably than those destined for commercial markets. Tribal groups and those with close connections to the forest and land are also reported to use very sustainable methods of extractingmedicinal plants for use in their own formulations,in some cases including elaborate rituals which are designed specificallyto promotethe health and future yields ofthe plants. (Vihari 1996; Vedavathy1996).

18 fWiI The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

In addition, it has been found that poor villages tend to extract low volumes of a number of forest productsof low value; whereas richervillages remove greatervolumes of fewer goods of higher value. This intensificationor specializationby the wealthiergroups is due to fact that richergroups tend to be less reliant on forests for subsistence needs, and can therefore focus on high-value, low-volume products such as medicinalplants, which providethe highestremunerative gains (Godoyand Bawa 1993).

t4 The Pocy En•virorment Common Property and Forest Access Laws

Although in numerous parts of India, forests have in effect been managed as common property re- sourcessince time immemorial,this has not officially, been the case since 1878,when the colonial government legislated the Forest Act, dividing forests into three categorieswhich even now continue to be used: reservedforests, protected forests, and village forests. Reserved forests and protected forests were under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department,and constituted by far the largest portion of forest lands in the country. The differencebetween reserved and protectedforests lay in the use of resources,which in reserved forestswas tightly restricted,whereas in protectedforests, ForestDepartment officials were allowedto make use ofthe resourcesfor purposeswhich were seen to benefitthe colonial economy.

The conceptof villageforests entailedthat communities dwelling in or near forestareas should havethe right to make use of them. The village forests were thus under the control of the village Panchayat, a semi- democraticallycomprised council which still prevailsin Indianvillages. However,though officially underlocal control, in practicethe state could still overridethe decisionsof the village.This situationcontinued even after independence,and in fact, the National ForestPolicy Resolution of 1952specifically stated that the claimsof communitiesin and aroundthe forests could not override'national interests.'

Jodha (1990) has shown that from 1952 to 1982, common property resources declined dramatically, even as populationpressure increased. As Table1 .7 shows, in all ofthe seven Statesstudied, there has been a dramaticincrease in persons per hectare ofcommon propertyresources; in severalstates, this numberhas increasednearly threefold during the survey period.

As it becameapparent that local needs frequentlycould not be met without somedegree of control being exerted over the local resource, a movement began to ensure that forest policies were more in line with peoples' actual needs. In 1982, a Report of the Committee on Forests and Tribals stated that three areas must be addressedby forestpolicy: ecologicalsecurity; products used for food, fodder, fibre, timber,and other domesticneeds of the rural and tribal populations;and materials used by cottage, small, medium, and large industries(Appasamy 1993). This was an attemptto shift the focus of forest policy away from the 'sustained yield' conceptwhich mainly benefitted large-scaleindustry, and to emphasizeforests as a meansof meeting the needs of a variety of stakeholders,including forest-dwellersand future generations.

19 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 1 .7 Decline in area of common property resources (CPR) and increase in population pressure on them

Average area of Decline since Persons per ha of CPA State CPRs per village 1950-52 (ha) (%) 1951 1981

AndhraPradesh 827 42 4.8 13.4 Gujarat 589 44 8.2 23.8 Karnataka 1165 40 4.6 11.7 MadhyaPradesh 1435 41 1.4 4.7 Maharashtra 918 31 4.0 8.8 Rajasthan 1849 55 1.3 5.0 TamilNadu 412 50 10.1 28.6

Source: Jodha (1990)

The 1982 reportdescribed above was actually incorporatedto some extent at the policy-makinglevel while the 1988 National Forest Policy specificallyaddressed many of the issues concerned. One section of the policy read, "the life ofthe tribals and the other poor living within and nearforests revolves aroundforests. The rightsand concessionsenjoyed by them shouldbe fully protected, theirdomestic requirements of fuelwood, fodder, minor forest produceand constructiontimber should be the first charge on the forest produce." Unfor- tunately, however, the ForestPolicy is not a legalenactment, serving ratheras a setof guidelines for interpret- ing the laws. This leaves the rights of forest-dwellingcommunities to some degree of control and access to forest producelegally unprotected in most casesand vulnerableto strong-armtactics used by state and local forest departments,as well as by industry.

At the sametime, policy makersat the state governmentlevel have in many cases attemptedto ensure access to the forests by tribal and other poor communities. In Kerala, for example, under the Monopoly Procurementand Marketing Polic' Act of 1978, permissionwas given to tribal and tribal societies to collect 120 items from the forests, of which 73 were known to be medicinal plants. Unfortunatelythe collection monopolyin this casewas of questionable benefitsince only 15-25 items were actually collected due to the fact that the prices obtainedfor the remainingitems were not remunerative(Santhosh 1996).

Similar policies are known to have been enacted in other states, frequently linked to government-oper- ated marketing cooperatives. Unfortunately, these legally monopolistic(only tribals sell) and monopsonistic (only cooperatives buy) markets have tended to fail and have rarely allowed the poor communities they intended to serve to actually benefitfrom their harvestingfrom the forest, as further discussed in Chapter 3. Forest Products Regulations

In terms of policy, medicinalplants have generallybeen lumped into the broad category of Minor Forest Produce(MFP). Even the relatively progressive1988 ForestPolicy Resolution continues to use this terminol- ogy. However, as the markets and sizes of the user communitiessuggest, a more accurate designationfor these productswould be NonTimber ForestProducts (NTFPs), which has recentlygained widespread recognition aroundthe world.

20 fft The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

Nonetheless,NTFPs, including medicinalplants, have rarely been considered as warrantingthe enormous amountof considerationand research given to timber policies. However, some provisionfor regulation was made as early as 1927 under the Indian Forest Act. This Act defined two types of forest produce, for which permits,registration, and licensing were requiredwhen collected and traded:

Section2 (4) (a) regulatedselected forest products,regardless of their origin in forests or elsewhere; for the most part it identifiedtree species used for timber;

Section 2 (4) (b) regulated all non-tree plants, all parts or produceof such plants, including leaves, flowers, and fruits and all parts or produceof trees not specifiedin the first category,but only when originating in a forest.

Most medicinal plants are covered under sub-section (b), and are not subject to regulations unless extractedfrom the forests. However,some items such as bark and wood-oilfrom certaintrees were covered undersub-section (a); and subsequentstate amendmentsto the Act have added several medicinalspecies to this sub-section, as shown in Table 1 .8, subjectingto significant regulation regardlessof origin.

Additionally,in some cases complicationsassociated with managementof the differenttypes of forests describedearlier can become burdensomeand overwhelmingto the collectorsof the plants. One such case fromthe Central Himalayan forestswas documentedin 1993. The governmenthad recentlycome undersharp criticism bythe Forest Panchayatof the village Khaljhuni, regardingthe commercialexploitation of MFP. The detailedand laborious procedureof gaininggovernment permits was found to comprise 13 percentof the total costs faced by the villagers in extracting MFP. This situation encouraged illegal extraction, in addition to increasingopportunities for (greed) and corruptionon the part of bureaucrats,at the villagers' expense (Rao and Saxena 1996).

Table 1.8 Medicinal Species Included by State Amendments in Section 2 (4) (a) of 1927 Indian Forestry Act

Gujarat Rauwolfiaserpent/na, Kadaya gum Maharashtra Rosha grass includingoil, Rauwo/fia serpent/na Karnataka Sandalwoodoil, roshagrass and oil, Phy/lanthusemb/ica, Terminalia chebula, Terminal/a be/er/ca,Cappañs moon/ TamilNadu Sandalwood Kerala Gum,fibres and roots of sandalwoodand rosewood Orissa Gums, roots of Patargaruda,sandalwood, tamarind Uttar Pradesh Gum,Chiraunji

Source: Jha (1990)

21 A Rev ew of the Mcthcinal ants Sector ndia

M tta anyo 'p c mci ral r r ri i a ic if 1 resou cc bar it 'cIt as rcce edtfe nost c v ti i to o r p ye liE r al n t ativ s A r Li tiv y arg or p fin er tcd it j mly mdi ci ura "C ti ar ci ma I r group of p0 y mike s a d soua s icr t h cv ou yb cn v Ic nt a w s w e hc nc d ital y as a part of for try r d9 ttt H ar p y r i pa h ocus 'fforts have been con etracdpr'narly r c lb 1 i rid n tF e vcrr ent fo oint Fo st Manage i rt V Li L c a 'ri 'ia pIai4"

Gventhcdcriando tFem f a oi ru u ar 1 i ma opl of awmatc i and he crei' ng deple on oft c for at esource basi. £ a ci g h iumbc f 1' d na p1 nt ult ation appears be ar ilportar ctrat y for rcscar F ir ci Lipiie t lo cv ac ord g to r £ £ if iate of rio e if an 400 plant ape scd for p c ,i tio ii ed e b 1 ia 'i r a r I s' han 20 a curronby u dci cultivaton r ucou'i y(FRLH 1996)

Th' ot ii r n II' v ti r nt r o mt Ito r oiiitn h nh A 1°95 tudy goe cd th it thc c I a of I F igF a tu H na aya i 'iE rbs u d yield productspri ci am ywherc b wc m . 1 0 Sa 000 o c r Ith o t a a Ci ooin r h riarkc ng cha It cae pric s am pa d Naut y" I 9a V h at alt up i e' ri t a of r turn vary '- w dely medicin p ti car b i lee o F' a ir ci c ia ( 9 4) p r°d a. ig a inua (p hcctarc) rcomes o R 1200 0th ougi 'i ci rop irg 1 io al I ci h rb i j i at tudo medk,im aI' te id to commrard igher pr b t tiC C ov r at c i cai Data for 'ne low alttude op'fr mit e \riarkan a rcgiol f Mdhya P a c h 'I I 9 s ìov e ci r c e ins fo fou profitabe socci ult'vatiii e a u 'ii 'i t i C I c or red cii I p1 n a fr m ftc wi ci.

1H (U I. U p r I markanta p n M hy ad F

u sv r ai Eta naga ( 931) 2 The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

Most of the produce of cultivated medicinaland aromatic plants is exported as crude drugs e.g. Psyl- I/urn, senna leaves, opium poppy and Asgand. Unfortunately, however, due to emphasis being placed on importantcash crops, as well as thefact that the majorityof the cultivated species are not indigenousto India, most cultivationefforts are not alleviating the pressure being exerted on the natural resource base.

Nevertheless,a number of techniqueshave been developedto increasethe quality and yield ofmany of the cultivated species. It is estimated that Indian public sector research institutions have developed stan- dardizedpractices for the propagationand agronomyof a total of about 40 species (Chadhaand Gupta 1995; (FRLHT1996). Public Sector Research Efforts

Much of the research progress to date has resulted from the decision of the Indian Council for Agricul- tural Research (ICAR) to establish an All-India Coordinated Research Project on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (AICRPMAP), in 1972, underthe auspicesof the National Bureau of PlantGenetic Resources (NBPGR). Efforts have mainly focusedon the developmentof agro-technologytechniques, including propagationmeth- ods for medicinaland aromatic plants. Aromatic plants have however tended to receive more attention,perhaps becausetheir market values are in general more widely known.

ICAR works through a networkof research stations, includingthe National Research Centrefor Medici- nal and Aromatic Plants located in Anand, Gujarat, which specializes in domestication, and has created structurallinks between the NBPGR and its Plant BreedingDivision in order to developimproved varieties of some of the medicinal plant species used in allopathicpreparations.

Another major national public researchorganization, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has also played a significant role with regard to cultivationof medicinalplants, through its creation of CIMAP, the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, in Lucknow. CIMAP is now a preeminent institutionin India focusing on agro-technologyas well as basic studies; improvement and enhancementof the resource base, and chemistry and related research regardingproduct development from plants. Priority species are also frequently aromatic plants. To illustratethe current research focus those species accorded priority for rapidclonal propagationand geneticmanipulation are listed in Appendix 4.

In connectionwith the two major research efforts describedabove, the Central Governmentinitiated a five year program(1992-1997) implemented by the Ministryof Agriculture to accelerateresearch and development of medicinalplants. With the support of 16 state agriculturaluniversities, state horticultureand agriculture departments,regional research laboratoriesand the InternationalCrop Research Institutefor the Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the GOI is establishing herbal gardens, nursery centres and demonstrationseed productioncentres nation-wide. Private Sector Research Efforts

Private companies have also begun to invest in the cultivation of medicinal plants, since they face difficultieswith regard to increasingsupply gaps as well as in some cases adulteratedmaterials from the wild. One such company,the Arya Vaidya Sala, in Kottakal, Kerala, in addition to maintainingtwo large herbal gardens, has also undertaken research on the propagation of 10 species, the demand for which currently outstrips supply, or may soon do so.

23 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 1.10 Species Under Agro-technical Research by the Arya Vaidya Sala, 1995

Species Number of formulations in which Quantity demanded annually species is utilized by AVS by AVS (kg)

Bal/osperinummontanuril 27 1000 Celastruspan/cu/atus 15 540 Cosc/n/umfenestraturn 70 3300 Cratevanuivala 13 1840 Emb//caribes 75 3030 Hem/desmusind/cus 30 19000 Holostemmaada -kodien 40 3860 Rub/acordifo//a 40 4200 Saracaasoca 3 5310 Tr/chosanthes lobata 32 5800

Source: Bajaj and Williams (1995)

A comparisonof the species depictedin Table1 .10 with those shown in Appendices2 and 3 revealsthat there is no overlap in research efforts and that the AVSventure is complementaryto that of the government. Further, the AVSventure which has been undertaken with funding by IDRC is encouragingthe participationof farmers, who are now enthusiastic about cultivating medicinal crops, and is investigating the potential of intercropping the selectedmedicinal species with other economicallyviable species to create an added incen- tive for farmers.

Other traditional drug manufacturersin India have also begun to invest in cultivation experimentsand developments. Some of the companies are undertaking R&D programsthrough the creation of company foundations, such as the Zandu Foundation for Health Care in Mumbai and the Shree Dhootapapeshwar Ayurvedic Research Foundation in Bangaloreand Panvel. These companies are actively involved in the developmentof cultivationmethods of medicinal plantsof importanceto them,with the direct participationand partnershipof local farmers and tribal women. (Lambert1996). All such efforts Will result in an increasein the number of medicinalplant species cultivated,particularly indigenous Indian species. Ex-Situ Conservation

Establishingcollections of medicinal plant gemplasm is another means of helping to maintain the resource base. At present such collectionsinclude those designatedas genebanksas well as herbal gardens. Many of these are scientific referencecollections of species, as are specimensof medicinalplants grown in botanicalgardens. Forthe collection of living plants to constitutea major conservationfield genebank,a wide range of intraspecificdiversity is needed,well documentedin relationto its origins and uses. However,there is no comprehensivedocumentation available on existing collectionsto ascertain to whatextent they act as ax s/tucollections or as sources of planting materials. Nonetheless,the list of major collections described below (and in Appendix 5) highlightsthe interest and activitiesbeing devotedto this area.

24 4*ta The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

Herbal Gardens

India has joined the G-15 Gene Banks for Medicinaland Aromatic Plants (GEBMAP) initiative, and currentlyacts as the coordinatorfor the Asian countriesin the network. Three gene banks have beenestablished in the country; one through the Central Institutefor Medicinaland Aromatic Plants in Lucknow; one managed by the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources in New Delhi; and one coordinated by the TropicalBotanical Garden and ResearchInstitute, Trivandrum. The Department of Biotechnologyis the nodal agency to which this work has been assigned.

The Tropical Forest Research Institute (TFRI), Jabalpur, has established a herbal garden with a collectionof 461 species, includingrare and endangered species (seeAppendix 6). Emphasis is on propagationfor large-scale cultivationof species with market potential, and rehabilitationof species on the verge of extinction.

The Forest Research Instituteat Dehra Dun hascollected significantmedicinal and aromaticplants of the Himalayanregion and is using the NWFP nursery at Chakrata and the botanicalgarden at Dehradun to produce large numbers of plants. Cultivation and harvesting techniques have been standardizedfor a number of these plants. The following rare and endangered species were ear- marked for protection in the garden: Taxus baccata, P/crorhizakurrea, Nardostachysjatarnansi Orch/slat/fo/la, Crocus sat/va, Bun/urnpersicurn.

The Departmentof IndianSystems of Medicineand Health, Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare, has promotedthe establishmentof small herbal gardens in educationalinstitutions as a means of furthering traditionalmedicine systems.

The Central Council of Research in Ayurveda and Siddha situated in Pune maintainsa Medicinal Plant Garden,which houses 320 species of medicinaland aromatic plants, including a number of endangered species.

It is not clear towhat extent the collectionsoverlap, and how far they address the conservationneeds of the country. Almost certainly, an assessmentis needed and the strategy being pursued requiresdefinition. The responsibleorganizations include several GOl departments,as well as internationalagencies with an interest in this feld such as G-1 5; IUCN; WWF; BotanicGardens ConservationInternational, IDRC, Canada, and some the UN Agencies. In-Situ Conservation

Several institutions,including ICFRE, TFRI, the Forest Survey of India, the BotanicalSurvey of India, and CIMAP, have conductedvegetation surveys revealingcontinuing lossesof the medicinalplants resource base (Tewari 1996). Additionally,several meetings of experts organized in the region have called for ajudi- cious mix and balanceof ex-s/tuand /n-situapproachesto conservation:IDRC, for instancehas in the past 3 to 4 years repeatedly stressed this need (Bajaj and WiUiams 1995;Tirupati Declaration1996; Karki, Rao,Rao & Williams 1997). Government Initiatives

/n-sftuconservation of biodiversityhas for some time been given priorityby the GOl althoughit is still too early to assess the success of its initiatives in protecting biodiversityand their consequencesfor local meansof incomegeneration and land access.

25 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

The governmentcreated forest preservationplots in 1905and sincethen has establishedthem throughout the diverse forest ecosystems of India. These include 65 nationalparks, 426 sanctuaries, 13 biosphere reserves, 316 preservationplots and more than 7200 sacred/religiousgroves. This networkcovers more than 5 percentof the nation'sgeographical area, and is coordinated/monitoredby the Ministryof Environmentand Forests (Bhatnagarand Bisen1996). Ithas been strengthenedon numerousoccasions, most notablythrough the Forest(Conservation) Act of 1980and the Conservationof Forests and Natural EcosystemsAct of 1995. The extent to which the networkprotects India's medicinal plant biodiversityis however not well understood due to the need for inventoryand documentation.

The Wildlife(Protection) Act of 1972refers mostly to the protectionof species within the protectedareas network, with only a small numberof plant species being covered regardlessof location. The only medicinal species among these is kuth, which is also a restrictedspecies identifiedby the Convention on International Trade in EndangeredSpecies (CITES),covered in more detail in Chapter 4.

However,a policy dialogue has been initiated regardingmedicinal plants conservation, and statements of support for such a policy are forthcomingfrom many ofthe stakeholdersin the sector, includingthe private companieswhich depend upon a continuoussource of raw materials supply (Lambert1996). More recentlya meeting of governmental, non-governmental,and private sector representativeswas held at the M. S SwaminathanResearch Foundation in Chennaiin 1996,in orderto beginthe long processof developing and enacting nationalpolicy. Non-Government Initiatives

A key organization involved in mobilizing a movementfor medicinalplants conservation policy is the recently-formed Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions(FRLHT), with headquartersin Banga- lore and funded by DANIDA. FRLHT establisheda coordinated networkof 30 in-situ research areas in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala between 1993 and 1997. These medicinal plant conservation areas, (MPCAs)average 200 hectaresin size, and are located within notified forest reservesor wildlifesanc- tuaries (FRLHT 1995). They are listed in Appendix 7.

Many of the MPCAs have contiguousforest communitieswhose cooperationand involvementbenefit these in-situ conservation sites. With their assistance, unwanted animal grazing and accidental fires which may damagethe flora of these reserves can be prevented. To ensure that the MPCAs continue to exist in the long-term,FRLHThas obtained commitmentsfrom the State Forest Departmentsinvolved to maintain them beyond the durationof the project. Joint Forest Management

Achievingthe empowermentand involvementof people is also the primary thrust of a growing movement in India known as Joint Forest Management(JFM). JFM refers to cooperative agreements made between village communitiesand the local forest departmentsto protect a particulararea of state-ownedforest land and then sharethe final harvest (Sundar1996). As such, it offersan approach which allows communities to have a greater degreeof controland access to state-ownedlands, and enables them to benefit more than from predominanttenure and forestproperty policies.

Startedin the Arabari Hills ofWest Bengal byA. K. Banerjeein the 1 970s, JFM has proved to be a novel and workableconcept in achievingthe combinedobjectives of developmentand conservation. In 1990, the Ministry of Environment and Forests wrote to the Forest Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, requestingthem to actively encourageparticipation of communitiesin rehabilitationof degradedforest areas,

26 The Medicinal Plants Resource Base

and to attempt to replicate successes. Although many areas have been slow to adopt JFM (Guha 1994), it is estimatedthat 10,000 to 15,000village forest protectionand managementgroups are currently protecting over 1 .5 million hectaresof state forest lands (Sundar 1996).

Although not extensively documented,medicinal plants and other NTFPs have a potentiallyimportant role to play in JFM schemes.

27 Chapter 2

Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Uses Chapter 2 Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Uses.

In order to understandthe extent to which medicinal plants are used at the local community level, a useful distinctioncan be employed relatedto the type of medical practice:

AIIopathi, generally understood as 'modern' medicine, and based predominantlyon the principles of Western Post-EnlightenmentScience which has dominated the last three centuries.

Classical Traditional, referring to the documentedand standardized"Great Tradition" systems of medicine,including (in India) Ayurveda,Siddha, Unani, Amchi, and Homeopathy,with different epistemologicalbases to that of WesternScience.

Folk Traditional, referring to those medical practices which are usually transmitted orally from generationto generation and whose use is generallyconfined to a particulargeographical region or group of people such as a tribe or caste community.

Most studies and common wisdom in India suggest that few people adhere solely to any one of these types of medicine, more often shifting from one to the other, based on a combination of factors including preference, faith, availability, and cost. A recent study by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,con- cluded that less than 30 percent of India's populationis adequately served by modern medicine and the primaryhealth care centres which were meantto reach the most remoteareas. The organized Indiansystems of medicine(ISM) are said to have similar levels of penetration. Hence it has been asserted by some that up to 500 million people continue to take recourse to some form of traditional folk medicine, including local innovationson classical systems (FRLHT 1995).

Although this assertion cannot be conclusively proven, there is informationto suggest that it may be correct. According to the AnthropologicalSurvey of India, there are over 4,635 tribes spread throughoutthe country, most of whom live near forests and depend upontheir resourcesto fulfil basic needs. In addition,the majority of India's populationof nearly 1 billion continuesto be rural and village-dwelling,frequently isolated from the usual meansof medical knowledgetransmission. Takingthese factors into account, an estimate of 500 million does not seem exaggerated.

While microstudiesconducted in South Asia reveal the existence of a large number of practitioners, displaying various levels of specialization, an shown in Table 2.1, millions of households still practise self medicationusing locally available remediesbased on medicinalplants.

A large number of species, many of which are indigenousto the South Asian region are used in these preparations,which are themselvesunique to India in many cases. The GOl has in recent years been active in placing medicinal plants within the broader context of ethnobotanythrough an All-India Coordinated Re- search Project on Ethnobotanyunder the Ministry of Environmentand Forests. The resulting findings are also of interest to private companies, mostly foreign-based,which are seeking to develop new drugs.

31 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 2.1 Some Practitionersof Folk Traditional Medicines in South India *

Housewivesand Mothers Home remedies food and nutrition Millions TraditionalBirth Attendants Normaldeliveries 700 000 HerbalHealers Commonailments 300 000 Bone Setters Orthopaedics 60 000 Visha Vaidhyas Natural Poisons 60000 Other Specialists Skin respiratory mentalillnesses About 1 pr300 arthritis dental wounds liver, HerbalHealers fistula piles

*Based on extrapolationsfrom micro-studies. Source: Sankar (1994)

Information abouttribal and folk practicesassists these companiesin identifyingprospective plants for future drug manufacture. In recent times, such 'biopospecting' companieshave attracted a great deal of attention,both positive and negative, at internationalfora, especially at the UN Conference on Environment and Developmentin 1992 and at subsequentdiscussions. What is clear is that the pharmaceuticalindustry whether internationalor nationalwill continue to benefitfrom traditionalknowledge, since many pharmaceutical productshave been derivedfrom plants-some 75 percent ofthese were discoveredby examiningthe use of these plants in traditional medicine (Tempestaand King 1994). Indeed, it has been shown that through consultationswith indigenouspeoples, thesuccess ratesfrom bio-prospecting can be increasedfrom approximately 1 in 10,000to even 1 in 2 (Anon 1995). Such considerations of benefit to pharmaceuticalindustries should not however cloud the major research objectivesstated by WHO: since the therapeuticpractices based almost entirely on the use of traditional herbal remediesare prescribed by traditionalmedical practitioners,who are respected membersof the community, the governmenthas responsibilitiesto formulate national policiesthat encouragethe nationaluse of herbal medicinesand to promote their safety and quality (WHO 1991, 1993). AWHO/IUCN/WWF Interna- tional Consultationon Conservationof MedicinalPlants noted that the loss of indigenouscultures has direct consequenceson the identificationof new medicinalspecies to benefitthe wider community (Akerelet 1991).

Growingurbanization and changingcultural preferences, the overexploitationof the plant resourcebase uponwhich traditionalmedicine depends, and the lack oforganized support and activitywith regard tofolk and tribal medicine, have led most experts working in this field to concludethat these traditions are slowly dying out (Bajaj and Williams 1995;Vedavathy, pers. comm. 1996).

Traditionaluses of medicinalplants may also decline due to increasingcommercialization of the medicinal plant sector, and diversion of raw materials for sale in markets. One study conducted in Arunachal Pradeshexamined the use of Mishmitita (Capt/steeta), a bitter rootthat isfourd at attitudes of between 2000 meters and 3000 meters in the districts of Dibang and Lohit. Over the last decade, local people have been sellingthe species for avery remunerativeprice of Rs. 1000 per kilogram locally, afterwhich it is exported via Calcutta to Japan and Switzerland. Though this plant was traditionally used by tribals for the treatment of fever, backache and dysentery, it is now being substituted by opium for local use due to the fact that all available supplies are for export, (Aryal 1993). The fact that other locally available species such as kutaya (Hollarrhenaant/dysenterica) and Barber/s are not being substituted is an indication of the locally specific natureof traditional knowledge.

32 Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous uses

What is surprising,however is that most studies relatingto folk and tribal medicine have concentrated more on the practices themselves, in isolation from the social and economic context in which they occur. Manualsand publicationsof ethnobotanical studiestend to be primarilylists of plantswith brief descriptionsof their methodsof use. In most cases, little informationis included regarding the numberof peopleknowledgable about the practices, or the demographic make-up of both the practitionersand the users of the medicines. The logic of the practice as understood by the practitioners themselves, as well as important associated rituals apart from drug administration,for example methods of collecting and processing, are also rarely reported.

P' 2. . i irh. V • flni en t

Policy implicationsrelating to the traditionalknowledge base of indigenouspeoples on medicinalplants and health care are complex due to the fact that they are coloured by debates on biodiversityconservation imperatives,knowledge systems for drugdiscovery, intellectual propertyrights/patents and equitablesharing of benefitsderived from indigenousknowledge. Although India is committedto the Conventionon Biological Diversity, questions of equity are yet to be fully addressed. The proposed UN Declarationon the Rights of IndigenousPeoples, as well as the activities of the InternationalLabor Organizationand the GeneralAgree- menton Tradeand Tariffs (GATT) all impingeon nationalpolicy developmentin this area. It will therefore be some time before policy is formulated and practical applicationsdeveloped. The latter are likely to devote attentionto encouragingcollaboration between all concernedparties in orderto foster respectfor the contribution of indigenousknowledge, as well as to ensuringthat regulationstake local laws and customsinto account in the utilization of biodiversity.

It is also imperativethat GOI policies regardingthe use of medicinalplants in health care are comprehensive period in their coverage in order to encompassall of the differenttypes of medicine-allopathic, classical traditionaland folk traditional.

Althoughthey may constitute the largest part of health care provisionamong India's population,especially amongthe poor, tribal and folk practicesare still not recognizedby GOI policiesdealing with healthcare or medicinal plants. However, these policies do recognize the value of the classical traditional systems. Furihermore,tribal practices have begun to assume greater importancein recent years due to the current debate on intellectualproperty rightsand the potential implicationsof bioprospecting.

There is however a danger, as articulated by severalNGOs, most notablythe Third World Network led by the Indianscientist Vandana Shiva, that new possibilitiesfor the exploitationof the poor, will be createdby the Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS)stipulations attached to GATT. India is a signatory to GATT and has agreedto comply with the stipulationsin principle,although a good deal of internaldebate continues with regard to who should obtain universally valid patients as well as the benefits which should accrue to the communitiesproviding the input knowledge.

— 33 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

22 Interventions to Date

Government resources tend to have been unevenlyallocated to those sectors of health care which utilize medicinalplants. Thus, the classicalsystems of Ayurveda,Siddha and Unanihave received considerable attention, as has allopathic medicine. Furthermore,issues relating to the domestic and international marketing aspects of medicinalplants, as well as the needfor wider ethnobotanicaldocumentation are also beingaddressed.

Nonetheless,the All-India CoordinatedResearch Projecton Ethnobotanywhich works to identify and document plants used by various ethnic groups has shown that a great deal needs to be done before the relevant pharmacopoeiais developedand is accorded the same priority as those developed for other systems. It is worth notingthat over 65 percentof tribal areas have been surveyed,and a databaseof the plants used in tribal medicineis being developed(see Appendix8).

Recognizingthe constraintsrelated to tribal medicine, the IDRC MedicinalPlants Network (IMPN)spon- soreda SouthAsia Regional Conferenceon Tribal and Folk Plant-Based Medicines, in September 1996, which was attendedby experts on tribal and indigenousculture and medicine, economicbotany, ethnobotany, forest and agriculturalresource management,pharmacology, publichealth, and socio-economicdevelopment, from India and some of the surroundingSAARC countries. 'The stated aim of the conferencewas to formulate an action plan for the developmentof sustainableand self-sustainingtribal and folk medicinal systems, and to this end participantsdrafted and endorseda Tirupati Declaration"which outlinesclear and concrete steps for achievingthis goal (see Appendix 9). Some of the areas which require policy developmentare raising the status of tribal and folk medicine as an effective health care resource; sustainable managementof the resource base; equitablesharing of benefitsand increasedlivelihood security for the poor.

34 Chapter 3

The Marketing Channels: • From Harvest to Market Chapter 3 The Marketing Channels: From Harvest to Market

WhileChapters 1 and 2 ofthis reportprovided background information on the medicinalplants resource base and its uses, the following chapter focuses on the commercialaspects of medicinalplants enteringthe market.Although the dearth of high quality research poses constraintson the extent to which overallconclu- sions can be drawn, it is still possible to provide an outline of the main actors involved; their transactions; points oftransformation of the raw materials;prices, and profit margins accrued in the trade, on the basis of availabledata.

3i The Main Actors in the Trade

Available case studies and published analyses (including Majumdar 1991; Dobriyal, et al. 1995; Olsen- Smith 1996; Arnold 1994;Chandan, pers. comm.1996; Edwards 1993; Lokamanyan; Bajajand Williams1995 and Aryal 1993) suggestthat there are five categoriesof actorsinvolved in the marketingchannels for medicinal plants, from their movementfrom the forest or farm, to their final export or consumptionas drugsor herbal preparations.These actors include:

Collectors Petty Traders Private Agents WholesaleDealers and Final Consumers.

With the exceptionof the collectors,who have been mentionedin Chapter 1, there is very little information availableby which to characterizethe marketactors. It appearsfrom relevantstudies conductedon this subjectthat men are the primaryparticipants in the marketbeyond the collectionstage, with no mention being madeof women's roles as agents,contractors, or wholesaledealers. Furthermore, importantsocio-economic data relatingto the social and economic backgroundsof traders, agentsand dealers, including questionsof whetheror not they belongto thesame families or castes, or are regionallyaffiliated, is not generally available.

In addition, little is known of the role played by the medicinal plants trade in the overall livelihoods of those involved-from the privateagents through to the final consumers. It is unclearfrom publishedinformation whethertraders tend to specialize in medicinalplants, or whether,like the majority ofthe collectors,they are involvedwith additional commoditiesor primarilywork in altogetherdifferent occupations. This information-- which would reveal the extent of each of the actor's stakes in the market--isextremely important in order to understand and assess their relativecontributions and needsin medicinalplants development.

Finally, since the numbers of peopleinvolved undereach of the categoriesdescribed aboveare difficult to estimate,the degree of concentrationof the marketat various stages of the processcannot be discerned.

37 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

32 The Chain of Transactions

A major reasonfor the informationgaps describedabove is the highlysecretive natureof the medicinal plants trade. Although it is difficult to procure reliable information regardingthe people, plants, and paths involved in the marketing channels, it is neverthelesspossible from the information available,to discern a general--though not universal--pathof transactionsfollowed by medicinalplants.

Before discussing the various stages of the marketing process, it is important to note, that many, and perhaps most, medicinalplants will not follow this exact path. In some cases, there may be multiple sales from one market(niandi)-basedprivate agentto another,or else the productsmay be directly supplied by the marketgent to the final consumers. In addition, trade activities may move in and out of both the formal sector, as well as the legal boundariesat various points of the chain oftransactions.

What frequently sets the chain of transactions in motion are advance orders placed by wholesale dealers in the large urban markets to privateagents, usually based in comparativelysmaller markets which may be situatedat considerabledistances from the wholesaler'slocation. These private agentsthen employ petty traders who visit the local markets.

Exceptwhere associatedwith agriculturalproducts or other forest goods, local marketsare rarely round- the-clockestablishments. Rather, they may be weekly or otherwise regularly-timed haats, usually held atthe village or multiple-villagelevel. Petty tradersvisit these marketsand buy directly from the collectors/farmers or their representatives.The purchaseof medicinal plants is generallybased on fresh weights, although some traders preferto use dry weights.

The petty traders then forward these items to the district level markets, or mandis, for sale to private agents, known as arhat/yas. These agentsare versatileand well organized:they are conversantwith ratesin rnand/es throughoutthe state, as well as with the prevailingrates in the larger markets.

Final transactionsgenerally take place in very large markets located in the urban centres. Currentlythe major known markets for medicinalplants are found in Amritsar, Calcutta,Chennai (Madras), Cochin, Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai (Bombay), and Tuticorn(Bhatnagar and Bisen 1996; Chandan, pers. comm. 1996; Olsen- Smith 1996). High-volumebuyers purchasethe productsfrom wholesalersto supply Indian productionindus- tries, or the internationalmarket.

Given that most of the trade occurs in the informal unorganizedsector, and that whatever little occur in the formal sectorsuffers from a great deal of false reporting and poor record-keeping,it is virtually impossible to assess the current volumes of trade in the domestic marketing channels. However, expansion of the volumeof trade seems indisputable.

In addition,there is little data availableon the social and institutional context of the market transactions, making it difficult to speculate on the decision-makingpatterns of the different actors involved. The role of social relationshipsof obligation,caste, familialties, and other connectionstherefore needs to beconsidered, as do decisions regardingpersonal health care and local uses of plants which also affect decision-making patterns.

Given that the private agents sometimesenter into advance contracts with the wholesalers, there is a distinct possibilitythat these agents may provide credit to petty traders, who in turn provide it to the villages or collectors:although this is a known practice in some cases, the overall extent to which it is done is not clear. In addition, little is known aboutthe trading scenario of non-casheconomies which still exist in large parts of India,especially in the NortheastRegion.

38 The Marketing Channels: From Harvest to Market

The dearth of market informationavailable to collectors and others located at adistance from the major urban markets also affects decision-making,while the lack of storage technologiesand facilities is another major factor, which probably acceleratessales of plants even when prices may not be as competitive.

33 Transformation Points of the Raw Materials

Most significantly,all the case studies indicate that virtually no processing or value addition occurs in the marketingchannels prior to purchase by the wholesale dealers. The few exceptionsto this involveonly the most basic processingof the products (Edwards 1993;Chandan, pers. comm., 1996).

The following descriptions of the processing methods involved for three spices-tikhur (Curcuma angustifolia), baibirang (Embelia tsjer/am), and safed mush (Chiorophytumtuberosum), collected from the forests of Madhya Pradesh, provide examples of cases where minor transformationof the raw materials is necessary. After collection, ba/b/rangis sun-dried; safed mush is washed to remove the outer cover; and tikhur is grated/cut into small pieces and then rubbed by hand and left to soak overnight in water. In the morning, after the tikhur has been thoroughly soaked, the starch that has settled in the buckets of water is removed and formed into cakes. Withthe exceptionof tikhur,these plants requirevery little additionallabor to prepare them for the market.

In general,there appearto be few if any processingor quality requirementsin the major Indian markets; wholesale agents buy maximum quantities of all specimens, and pay according to weight, regardless of quality. Even basic grading and cleaning operations tend to be centralized in major Indian cities (Edwards 1993).

34 Marketing Margins

It is a commonly held view among those associated with the medicinalplants sector that the marketing of medicinal plants--like other NTFPs and many agricultural products in developingcountries--is generally biased in favor of the so-called middleman,' resulting in low returns to the stewards and collectors of the resource. In many cases, prices paid by wholesalers are of a higher magnitude than the selling prices for collectors,even though no value addition to the plants occurs during the stages falling between the collector and the wholesaler.

Table 3.1, reveals the prices of some important medicinal plants collected in Madhya Pradesh. Of particularsignificance is the remarkabledisparity in the prices within the state and in Delhi, which in addition to Kanpur, Lucknowand Mumbai, is one ofthe majortrading centres to which the medicinalplants of Madhya Pradesh are transported.

Studies which document these price differences, usuallyposit the view that the middleman exploitsthe lack of market informationto obtain acheap price. Certainly this is at least partlytrue: the market is imperfect in terms of price-settingbecause of the restrictedflow of information. However, the question of who benefits from this situation is more difficult to answer, requiring careful study of each transaction. In addition, such studies must also do away with the hypothesis of the 'middleman,' and instead recognize that there are several middlemen,including petty traders, contractors,and wholesale buyers, each of whom operates according to the different levels of informationavailable to him.

39 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 3.1 Prices of Important Medicinal Plants in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi Markets (All figures in Rs/kg)

Species Local Name Katni Price Jabalpur Price Delhi Price

Ernb//ca off/c/na//s Aonia 800 140 600 Termina/i be/erica Bahera 90 200 250 Ch/orophyturntuberosum Safed mush, Kulai 14,000 25,000 20,000 Curcumaarigustifolla Tikhur 2,000 — -- Embe//atsjer/am Baybirang 800 — 1,800 Acorus ca/amus Bach 1,200 900 -- D/oscoreadaeniona Baichandi 1,100 — -- Semecarpusanacard/um Bhilwa 100 1 QO 500 Cyperusrotundus Nagamotha, Mutha 200 900 — -- Swert/acf/ray/ta Chirayata 400 500 Woodfordiá flonbunda Dhawi phool, Dhua 200 — 700 Aeg/ernarme/os Belguda 225 — 500 -- RauwoIfiserpent/na Sarpgandha 2500 6000

Source: Prasad and Bhatnagar (1991)

While research on this question is lacking in India. it has been carried out in Nepal, which effectively serves as an Indian supply zone for medicinal plants, and helps to give some indication of the marketing channelsleading to Indian markets.

Table 3.2 Average Marketing Margins for main MAP species from Gorkha District, Central Nepal* Collectors Road Head Traders Terai WholesaIeJ Species Net Margin Gross Margin Net Margin Gross Margin Net Margin

Jatamansi 50.02 9.04 -8.72 40.94 25.55 Kutki 37.99 6.45 0.19 55.56 48.67 Chiayata 52.21 16.45 2.17 31.34 12.57

All figures representpercentages of Delhi wholesaleprices during the maintrading season (October 94- March 95) Source: Olsen Smith (1996)

Table 3.2 shows the marketing marginsfor jatamans kutki, and ch/ayataharvested from the Gorkha district of West Nepal. In this situation, margins of the final Delhi prices obtained by two categories of middlemen - the roadheadtrader, who is responsiblefor transporting the plants from the collector to the roadheadmarket; and the bordertown-based (Tarai) wholesalers, who movedthe plants fromthe roadheadto the Delhi market - were analyzed.

40 The Marketing Channels: From Harvest to Market

As shown in the table, collector prices for the plants were relatively high, and accountedfor 40 to 50 percent of the prices paid by wholesalers in Delhi. At first glance, the gross margins (ranging from 6.45 percentto 16.45percent) accruing tothe road-headtraders also appearto be relativelyfair, given that these tradersdo not add any value tothe raw materials. However, when consideredagainst the costs borne by the roadheadtraders--including storage, transport, royalties,and rent-seekingby local officials, their marginsof the Delhi prices are extremely low. Net margins range from a high of 2.17 percent down to even negative losses.

By contrast, the gross and net marginsof the Terai wholesalers, who alone are in contactwith the Delhi- basedtraders, are exceedingly high, with net margins of up to 48.47 percent.

This study highlightstwo major points. Firstly, it is evident that not all middlemenare equal, in terms of knowledgeof the market, and secondly,traders in closest proximityto the collectors make the least profit, a conclusionalso borne out byan ongoingstudy being conductedin HimachalPradesh (Chandan,pers. comm. 1996),This may be as importanttrend which needs to be given recognition.

35 Overall Trends in Pricing

Given the imperfections and complexities of the market as describedabove, price behavioris difficultto assess. Prices tend to be volatile and in some cases may follow 6 to 9 year cycles based on fluctuations between scarcity and over-supply,as well as seasonal variations. In addition, as noted above, prices also vary enormously in different places, a phenomenonwhich though still not fully understood, seems to be primarily a result of the general lack of informationdissemination and overall awarenessof differentbuyers and sellers at differentpoints in the chain.

Despite the variations in time and space, and the lack of extensive information, there is a reasonable body of evidence availablefrom micro-studiesto suggestthat medicinalplant prices are showing an overall, rise at a relatively fast rate. In some cases, this has been linked directly with the growing scarcity in supply of severalcommercially valuable species. Some examplesof these trends are given below.

In Madhya Pradesh, a study of the price behavior for twenty medicinalplant species revealed that the rates of most species had shown a considerable increase in the last decade. The sharpest increasein pricewas reported for Baibirangdueto a scarcesupply ofthe plantand a high demandfor it.

In Karnataka, a study conductedto observe the trend in rural prices demonstratedan increase in price for the majority of the 30 selected medicinalplants (Chandrakanth and Lokamanya1994). In fact, 75 percent of the medicinal plants showed a positive rate of increase, ranging from 0.18 per cent for the bark of Ailarithusexcelsato about 30 percent for the rootsof Stereospermumsuaveoleris. Prices varied accordingto the end use of the marketed plant part:the gum from roots of trees were more highly priced than the bark.

In Kerala, prices were monitoredat raw drug shops/standsin Thiruvananthapuramdistrict over the period 1990-1995. In these 5 years, almost all of the 155 plants recorded, demonstrateda very significantincrease in price; in several cases, as shown in Table3.3, the 1995 prices ofthese plants were in excess of 200% of the 1990price, and the prices of some had even quadrupled(Santhosh 1996).

41 AFkv f 1

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Cooperativesfor minor forest productshave beenestablished in several states of India, generallywork- ing with tribals, who in many instances have been granted monopoly rights on the collecting of minor forest produce,of which medicinalplants are a significantpart. Some ofthe most noteworthycooperative organizations currently dealing with medicinal plants are: the Girijan Service Cooperative society(GSCS);the Tribal DevelopmentCooperative Corporation,and at the state level, Forest DevelopmentCorporations, and Minor Forest ProduceDivisions. In addition, there are several other state-levelfederations or cooperatives.

The nationalgovernment also createdTRIFED, the Tribal Federation, through the Multi-StateCoopera- tive Act, 1984,which attempts to link these cooperativesfor the benefit of the tribes involved in collection of MFP. In additionto facilitating communicationand cooperationbetween the cooperatives,TRIFED is also developinga Marketing Information System. Case Studies

In Kerala,the Girijan ServiceCooperative Society (GSCS) is responsible for managingover 120 NTFPs which include medicinalherbs, spices, oils, seeds, dyes and edible productscollected from the forest hills of Kerala. In fact nearly61% of all NTFPscollected in the state were by GSCS cooperatives,of which there are 33 in total. However, assessmentsby the GSCS suggest that nearly 70% of these cooperativescurrently marketing NTFPsare functioning poorlyif at all (Thomasand Meerabai 1993).

A comparisonof the prices of NTFPs marketed through private tradersand the ScheduledCaste/Sched- uled Tribe (SC/ST) Federationshowed that private traders invariablyoffered higher prices than the SC/ST Federation. In addition, privatetraders were willingto purchaseseveral items not purchasedby GSCS,which confined its purchasesto a small group of thawell-known commerciallyvaluable species. Also, the SC/ST Federation'spoor record of timely payment to GSCS prevented them from collecting NTFPs on schedule, creating ampleopportunities for private traderswithout similar monetaryconstraints.

Due to the failure of the GSCS to provide competitiveprices, tribals in Kerala are now said to sell their materialsto middlemen,and at times directly to raw drug shops or herbal drug productionunits/agents. One study conductedin the Thiruvananthapuramdistrict of Kerala in 1995found significant differences between the buying prices ofgovernment-supported cooperatives and privateraw drug shops. The researchers involved cite one case of the plant Adhatoda vas/ca, a relativelyrare plant used in ayurvedicformulations, which was priced at Rs. 1 .4/kg by the tribal co-operativesociety; and Rs. 13.7/kg by the raw drug shop, a difference of nearly900% (Santhosh1996). Table3.4 shows a number of other plants which are also subject to significant price variation.

43 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 3.4 Variation of Prices in Medicinal Plants in Trivandrum District Between Raw Drug Shops and Tribal Cooperative Society (1995) (All prices in Rs/kg)

Botanical Name Co-Op. Raw Drug Percentage Price Shop Price Variation

Adathodavasica 1.40 13.75 882% EcIiotaa/ba 1.00 8.67 767% Terrr,/naliachebufa 3.80 15.71 313% Syzygluincum/ni 1.40 16.67 1091% Tragia/avo/ucrata 4.75 29.88 529% Cyperusrotundiis 1.90 12.75 571% Cleroderidrumserratum 1.90 28.00 1374% He/icteresisora 1.15 10.50 813% Motnordicad/oica 3.3 37.67 1042% Phy/lanthusainarus 1 18.57 1757%

Source: Santhosh (1996)

Giventhis situation, it is not surprisingthat in generalwhere cooperativesexist, about 27 to 33 percent of the total produce is still marketedthrough privatechannels (Bhatnagarand Bisen 1996).

A case study in the Central Himalayasalso illustratessome of the difficulties faced by cooperatives. A marketing federation was establishedfor the Khaljhunimedicinal plant collectors to protect their economic interests. This governmentcooperative aimed to help preventexploitation in distant markets,and, on behalfof the government,to ensurethat taxes were collectedfrom thecommerical sale of the medicinalplant products.

As in Kerala, the cooperatives were limited in the range of productsthey could purchase, constraining the villagers' potentialtrade. In addition,cooperatives would only purchasethe product at the motorable road head, incurring nearlytwice the transportationcost of pick-upfrom the village.Themaintenance costs of the cooperativewere also quite high and this preventedthem from pricing productsas competitively as private traders, e.g., cooperativeswould purchase P/crorrhizakurrooa at Rs. 22.25/kg and lichens at Rs. 10.55/kg (1993),while traders would offer Rs 56/kg and Rs 26/kg, respectively,for the same products. The cooperatives were also devoid of village representation which preventedany strong affiliationsfrom developing(Rao and Saxena1996).

44 Chapter 4

The International Market Chapter 4 The International Market

While all the studies regardingthe internationalmarket consulted for this report (Handa 1992; Patnaik 1994;Shiva 1994; Raju 1995; APEDA 1996; Bisen 1996;CHEMEXCIL 1996; Lambert 1996; Tewari 1996) share certain limitations, the range of available informationprovides a sense of the scope and size of the export market. The available studies agree on two basic facts: firstly, that India figures prominently at the global level; and secondly,that in termsof both volumesand prices, it is showing acceleratingannual rates of export growth.

One summaryof the medicinalplant export market suggeststhat exportsfrom India have beensteadily growingat the rate of 26 percent since 1991-92, with total exports rising to Rs. 1.65 billion,or approximately US$ 47 million in 1994-95 (Raju 1995). However,there figureswould appearto be an underestimateif com- pared with informationprovided by the Centrefor Minor ForestProducts (COMFORPTS), Dehra Dun as shown below.

Table 4.1 Medicinal Plants Export Values from 1960-61 to 1990-91 all figures in Rs. million

Period

1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91

Value 9.90 84.60 674.20 7675.0

Source: Shiva (1994)

Accordingto COMFORPTS, medicinalplant exports reacheda value of over US$ 260 million by 1990-9 1.

4.1 Detailed Studies Concerning the Export of Medicinal Plants

Less comprehensive studies focusing on a particular aspect of this sector, or on particular plants, suggest that the total official market for exports lies somewhere in between the two estimates presented above. One suchstudy has been conducted by CHEMEXCIL,the Basic Chemicals,Pharmaceuticals, and CosmeticsExport Council,a GOl-constitutedgroup comprisedof trade, government,and industryrepresenta- tives (Lambertet al. 1996).

As indicatedin Table4.2, accordingto CHEMEXCIL,exports ofcrude drugsand essentialoils from India from the companies under study constituted a market of nearly half a billion dollars in the past decade. In

47 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

1994-95alone, exportsof crude drugsexceeded US$53 million, representing an 18 percent growthrate over the previousyear, and almost a trebling of the market size as comparedto 1984-85.

Table 4.2 Export of Crude Drugs and Essential Oils from India Between 1985-1995 (All figures in US$ '000)

Year Crude Drugs EssenUal Oits Total Revenuel

1985-86 19,272 4,553 23,825 1986-87 16,848 6,889 23,737 1987-88 22,489 4,638 27,127 1988-89 17,805 4,974 22,779 1989-90 25,504 8,600 34,104 1990-91 36,802 5,821 42,623 1991-92 41,345 15,592 56,937 1992-93 48,417 15,267 63,684 1993-94 45,355 19,504 64,859 1994-95 53,219 V 13,250 66,459

Source: CHEMEXCIL, cited in Lambert (1996)

However, as recognized by the organizationitself, CHEMEXCIL'smembership represents a relatively small segmentof the industry-mainlythe larger companies.The estimate of US$53million neither takes into accountthe role of small enterprises, nor that ofthe informal/illegalmarket, thus reinforcingthe generallyheld conviction among experts interviewed that the total official market is significantly larger than indicated in many of the available statistics.

Keepingtrack of exports of medicinaland aromatic plants is officially the responsibility of the Agricul- tural and ProcessedFood Products Export DevelopmentAuthority (APEDA). APEDA uses the IndianTrade Classification Code based on the harmonized system (ITC-HS), which is in conformity with the two most widelyfollowed global classificationsystems, the BrusselsTariff Nomenclature and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) of the United Nations (Patnaik 1994). The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligenceand Statistics(DGCIS) in Calcuttapublishes a volume containingthe official trade statistics of all 11,000 commoditiescategorized under this system.

Medicinalplants fall under the designationcode 12.11, which is defined as "Plants and parts of plants (includingseeds and fruits), ofa kind used primarily in perfumery,in pharmacy,or for insecticidal, fungicidal, or similar purposes, fresh or dried,whether or not cut, crushed, or powdered."

The 36 groups of medicinalplants fallingwithin this categoryare not defined byspecies per Se. Instead, they are defined as groups such as 'ginseng roots,' or by local and trade namessuch as Chiraita. It should also be notedthat these groups do not accountfor all the plants, which are known to circulate in the international market. Nevertheless,this informationwhich is regularly publishedevery fiscal year, provides strong indicationsof some of the major contours of the market.

The ten most-exporteditems in terms both of weight and dollar value are listed in Table4.3, along with their export values over the period studied.

48 The International Market

Table 4.3 Reported Sale Values of the Top Ten Medicinal Plant Exports, 1990-94 (All figures in As. Millions)

Psyllium Husk 581.0 620.0 — 692.0 1,060.0 PsylliumSeed 56.9 65.2 56.7 62.9 77.1 SandalwoodChips/Dust 310.0 247.0 183.0 156.0 92.4 Senna Leaves and Pods 37.3 112.0 122.0 82.0 85.1 Tukmaria 2.96 — 2.47 2.22 18.9 Ayurvedic/Unani Herbs 35.2 56.2 99.4 85.3 99.8 Other Roots* 75.3 58.7 83.8 77.5 13.2 OtherHerbs* 45.8 103.0 145.0 102.0 75.4

* Includes all roots apart from those of liquorice,belladonna, cubebs, galaragal, ipecac, serpentina, zedovary,and kuth.

Source:APEDA (1995)

While several ofthe productsdescribed above have annualmarkets worth a sum in the region of USD 1 million,a productof particularinterest is lsabgol (Psylliumhusks), which in 1994 brought in sales of over one billion Rupees, or approximatelyUSD 30 million.Another importantaspect of these statistics concerns the significant variations which occur from one year to the next in terms of volumes of trade. Although it is impossibleto ascertainthe reasons for such fluctuationsfrom the data presented above, nevertheless,their scale and frequency suggestthat the market for medicinalplants is still very much at the embryonicstage.

Some of the importingcountries are very constant in their demandsfor plant materials and by far, the mostfrequent destinationsfor exports of medicinalplants are theUSA, Japan and Germany, followed by other European countries and the Middle East. India's top ten medicinal plant trading partners are listed in Table4.4.

Trade with borderingSouth Asian countries is also high, and is in fact probably much higher than be- lieved sincethe informal sectordominates a largepart of the trade with countries suchas Nepaland Bangladesh (Edwards 1993).

In additionto being a seller in the international marketfor medicinalplants, India is also buyer, especially from its neighbors,though often on an illegal informal basis as mentionedearlier. APEDA statistics for the period 1990-95reveal that the major countriesreporting salesto Indiaare Pakistan, Nepal, and Singapore, and that the greatestvolumes of imports are for liquoriceroots, poppy, and Ayurvedic/Unaniherbs.

49 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 4.4 Top Ten Export Destinations for Indian Medicinal Plants, 1990-94 (All figures in As millions)

Country 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Bangladesh 11.7 15.5 21.0 8.72 2.07 China/Taiwan 69.4 131 9.66 105 54.5 France 50.9 53.5 58.7 55.6 55.5 Germany 90.7 124 127 88.7 130 Italy 16.0 16.4 29.8 22.2 32.6 Japan 48.4 49.3 36.8 36.9 30.0 Pakistan 36.3 28.9 45.9 51.6 31.9 SaudiArabia 18.2 34.0 330 150 11.4 U A E 15.1 22.1 17.9 14.8 22.7

U K . 73.7 54.9 87.6 80.9 97.0 USA 49.7 548 683 600 653

Source: APEDA (1995)

Tflie Policy Enviro...mn.ient

The Customs Act of 1986, now in force through the Export/ImportPolicy (or EXIM policy) of 1992-97, is the primary regulatorypolicy relating to export of medicinalplants. The EXIM policy restricts the export of three major plant groups:

Species listed in the Appendicesof CITES, the Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species, to which India is a signatory;

Wild orchids;and

45 additional items of plants, plant portions, and their derivatives indicatedin Public Notice No. 47 dated March 30, 1994.

Medicinalplants have only recentlybegun to figure prominently in the Convention on International Tradein Endangered Species, or CITES and this is largely because of strong interest expressed by India in November1994 (Schippman 1996). India proposed 13 medicinal plant species for inclusion in the CITES Appendices,of which 3 were accepted. Currently,the total number of species regulated bythe Conventionis 9, as listedbelow. This number is howeverstill consideredto be very small comparedto the number of plants for which regulation through the Conventionwould be appropriate.Nevertheless, it represents a significant increase given the fact that only one medicinal species, .5aussurealappa, was originally covered by the Convention.

50 iti The International Market

Table 4.5 Medicinal Plants Regulated by CITES Convention

Species Name Common Name * Aqu//ar/a malaccen/s/s AgarTree D/oscoreade/toidea Psingli mingli Panaxqu/nquefol/a AmericanGinseng Podophyllumhexandrum Papra /Vakasa Prunusafricana Bankakji * Pterocarpussanta//ntis Kino/ Raktachandan Rauwo/fiaserpent/na Sarpgandha /Serpentwood Saussurea/appa Kut, Pachaka * Taxus wal//chiana Yew * Proposedby India in the CITES November1994 meeting.

Source: Schipmann 1996

Confusionregarding the export status of pharmaceuticalproducts composed of Saussureaand Aloein April 1994, was clarified by CITES provisions,since accordingto ResolutionConf. 5.9, not only living plants, but also cosmeticsand other pharmaceuticalsprepared fromliving plants are regulated (Nambiar, pers.comm., 1996). This means that these products,as well as the plants themselves,would requireexport permitsfrom their countries of origin before they could be traded in the international market.

There is, however, some concern among the internationalscientific community, that the actual imple- mentationof CITES regulationsand the requirementof export permitsfrom thecountries of origin is not being fulfilled with regard to medicinalplants (Schippman1996). The primary reasonfor this relatesto the lack of well-educatedcustoms officials atthe points of export. Identificationmanuals have still not been preparedfor the medicinal species listed in CITES, with the result that customs officials cannot distinguish between various plants, especially as medicinalsare generallydesignated bytheir trade names (ratherthan botanical names) by the time they reach the internationalmarkets, and are traded as parts, rather than whole plants. The forest department staff issuing transit or export permits are largely untrained in the identification of species in such forms and the preparationof identification manualsis generallyheld tobe the responsibilityof the country which proposesa species for inclusion. India has yet to producethese manuals.

In responseto these concerns, the German Ministryof Environmentis funding a study which will determine trade volumesof the plants; identify which parts and derivativesare the major trade commodities(and thereforerequire comprehensive standards for identification);review problemsof implementation; and make recommendationsfor improvedimplementation in the future (Schippman1996).

Since the issue of a Notice restrictingthe export of an additional 45 plant species, many of which are medicinalplants aswell as species covered under CITES,it has become a governmentrequirement to obtain a Certificateof Cultivation issued by a Regional Deputy Director(Wildlife), Chief Conservator of Forests or DivisionalForest Officers ofthe state from which the plantswere procured,in order to export them.This notice further restrictsexports tojust six major ports: Mumbai, Calcutta, Cochin, Delhi, Chennal,and Tuticorn.

mi 51 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

An additional export regulation of particularinterest on the Indian medicinalplants front concerns the total ban--imposedin 1969--onthe export of the roots of Rauwolfiaserpent/na, locally known as sarpagandha (Lambert1996). This species, known for its reserpinecontent, was banned in order to help develop a local extractionindustry in India. Althoughreserpine can nowbe synthesized,the processremains expensive and extractionis still not an economicallyviable activity. This action, taken nearlythree decades ago, and still in force,has not yet been implementedwith respectto any other medicinal plant species in thecountry. Further, there is no available informationregarding development of the extractionindustry, and the effectivenessof the policy.

52 Chapter 5

Domestic Drug Production Chapter 5 Domestic Drug Production

Medicinalplants are the raw materialsfor indigenousdrug manufacturerswithin India.These manufacturers can be divided into two types of enterprises:those which produce drugs used in the so-called Indian Systems of Medicineand Homeopathy(ISM); and those which produceallopathic drugs.

51 The Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM)

Unlike thefolk and tribal systems oftraditional medicineoutlined in Chapter 2, thetraditional systems of Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani are well-documented,highly formalized systems, which have evolved over centuries. Ayurvedadeveloped with the Aryan invasion (see Chapter 1). The origins of the Siddhasystem, whose practiceis mostly confinedto thesouth of India,particularly the state ofTamil Nadu, are however more contested. While some hold that the system is a variation of Ayurveda,others argue that it has pre-Aryan, Dravidianroots. The Unanisystem, as mentionedin Chapter 1, was a later introductionand continuesto be widely practiced especially in North India and among the country's Muslim community. Homeopathicmedi- cine is also often attached to the other three systems in describing India's medical diversity, and the policy and planning measures adopted by the government, officially recognize all four forms of medicinefor the purposesof nationalhealth services. Although not atraditional system, homeopathy like these other systems differs in its theoreticalorientation from allopathy, and is highly reliant on medicinal plants and nature-based cures. In additionto these four systems,Yoga, Naturopathy, and Amchi (Tibetan) medicineare also practiced in India,although the availabledatabases and degreesof recognitionaccorded to these systems appearto be lowat present.

ISM in Indiacommand thesame degreeof scope, organization,and reachthat is commonly associated with Western allopathic medicine in other countries. It has been estimated that there are approximately 460,000practitioners of the traditionalsystems, ofwhom about271 000 are registeredunder the state boards, and about 145,000practitioners of homeopathy(see Table 5.1).

There are also over 100 undergraduateteaching institutionsspecializing in traditionalsystems of medicine and awarding degrees in Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani, as well as over 20 postgraduatedepartments awardingdegrees and doctorates. Of the registeredpractitioners estimated by the study mentioned above, 117,774Ayurveda; 10,268 Unani; and 1,559Siddha were institutionallyqualified (Bajaj and Williams 1995).

Finally, traditional medicine hospitals account for 1,690 of the total number of hospitals in India, and there are at least 13,770dispensaries of traditional (mostly plant-based) medicines (Bajaj pers. comm. 1996).

55 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Table 5.1 Numbers of Practitioners of Indian Systems of Medicine

System of Medicine # Practitioners # Practitioners tristitutionally Qualified

Ayurveda(Registered) 223 000 117 774 Siddha(Registered) 18,128 10,268 Unani(Registered) 30,456 1,559 — Unreglstered* 189 416 Total 460 000 30456 * Estimate. Source: Bajaj and Williams (1995)

Size of the Industry

Accordingto the Office of the Drug ControllerGeneral of India, there were 7843 licensed pharmacies manufacturing drugs used in the ISM, and 857 licensedpharmacies manufacturing homeopathic medicines in 1991. The largest numbersof these pharmacies are locatedin the statesof Uttar Pradesh, Kerala,Maharashtra, and Gujarat, while the lowest (and sometimesnil) numbers occur in the states of the Northeastregion of the country.

In additionto approximately8000 ofthese licensed pharmacies, it is also well known that a number of other small-scaleprocessing enterprises are unlicensed and operate in the informal sector (Ahmed 1993). Unfortunately, data regardingthe participationof boththe licensedand unlicensedfirms in the medicinalplants raw materials trade, and the extentof their demandsfor raw materials,are not readily available. Further,the structuralbreakdown of the licensed pharmaciesin terms of largeand small companies is unknown, making it difficult to assess the level of concentrationin the market. Similarly, the size of the market for processed drugs, both domestic and international,is unknown, and though private research is known to have been conductedby many of the larger companies(Madhusudan pers. comm., 1996), in the face ofthese information gaps, which require extensive primary research, only a few case studies and examples can help to provide an indicationof the current characterof the industry.

Some of the most interesting statistics have been provided by the Arya Vaidya Sala, Kerala, which manufacturestraditional ayurvedic drugs for domestic use as well as for limited export. The Sala has provided detailed informationwith regard to plants used, people employed, and values of processed products (Table 5.2).

The relatively largenumbers of people,plants, and products involvedsuggest that thedomestic industry's consumptionof medicinalplants must indeeddwarf that of theformal exports market,especially as the Arya VaidyaSala is only one of 8,000 manufacturersinvolved in the sector and representsneither the largest nor smallest among these.

Growth has also occurred in this sector with one of the largest ayurvedic companies, Dabur India Ltd reporting annualgrowth rates of 25 percent in their sales since 1990,and a doubling of their turnover every three years. (Aryal 1993).

56 Domestic Drug Production

Table 5.2 Resource Use Patterns, Income, and Employment Generation Reported by Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakal, Kerala

Plants "imported from northern states" Number 550 Amount 500 tons (dryweight) Roots/rhizomes 25% Origin Calcutta, Orissa, Assam, Maharashtra,Delhi, MadhyaPradesh, Punjab, and Kashmir MarketValue Ca. As 5.2 crore (US$ 1.6 million) Collecting/Transport Cost 2-3% Plants cultivated in Kerala Number 150 Amount 400 tons Roots/Rhizomes 40% MarketValue Ca. Rs 4 crore (US$ 1.35 million) Numberof PeopleEmployed 1600 IncomeGenerated Rs 6 crore Medicinal Plant Processing in Kerala Numberof People Employed 540 Sales Values Ca. As 8 crore (US$ 2.65 million) AnnualStorage 540 tons EstimatedLoss in Storage 0.25 tons

Finally,estimates made by traders in Guwahatisuggest that the annualturnover of the pharmaceutical concerns in Assam, where only 18 licensed companies are known to be in operation, could be 'anything between Rs. 350 to450 crores,"requiring supplies of more than 700 metrictons of high-valuemedicinal plants in the region everyyear (Subhani1994).

Althoughno large-scalestudies have been conducted,some data has been collectedat the micro-level which bears this out. To take one example, a recent study of ayurvedic products in both the organized and unorganizedmarketing channels from 1987-1990revealed an increasein trade of nearly30 percent (Nambiar pers. comm., 1996). Links to Primary Health Care

Throughthe Five-YearPlans of the government,some attempts have been made to developISM as a main component of Primary Health Care (PHC). In addition, the 1982 Health Policy served to integratethe practitionersof traditional medical systems into the nation's health care system. Thus, for example,primary health care centers and dispensaries are now permitted in most states to have a traditional practitionerin additionto the two requiredallopathic physicians (Bannerman1982).

57 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

5.2 The Allopathic Industry

Although less involved generally in the utilization of medicinal plants, the allopathic pharmaceutical industry in India also needs to be understood in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the current scenario, as well as insights for developing more effective options when dealing with the traditional drugs industry.

Accordingto the Drug Controllerof India,the allopathicindustry has seen significant growth in the past few decades, thanks largely to a supportivepolitico-economic context. Industrial policies have in general favored indigenousgrowth while import policies restrictingthe import of drugs which are indigenouslypro- duced, along with customs tariff barriers, have servedto protect local industryfrom internationalcompetition in the domesticmarket (Gupta 1995).

Nevertheless, the role of India's allopathicindustries is mostly confinedto the productionof bulk drugs for mass consumption. The domesticcompanies cannot compete internationally, asthey are constrainedby outdated technologies, a limited production capacity, and high raw material/solventcosts. This last constraint is especially noteworthy as the prices of commonly used chemicals are 3 to 6 times higher then their international counterparts(Gupta 1995).

The export of a few of the bulk drugs produced in India is mainly possible because the companies involved import the materials they need duty free, and because the countries buying these products do not producethem locally as a result of the safety hazards and/orenvironmental degradation associated with their production.

5.3 The Policy Environment

Although affected by a large number of policies at the government level, the two most critical policy domains for indigenous industry are those regarding intellectualproperty rights, and standards and quality controls.

Intellectual Property Rights

As mentionedin Chapter 2, India has recentlyaccepted Trade RegulatedIntellectual Property (TRIPS) as a part of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). This agreement may have a significant impact on the country's drug manufacturingindustry, as it stipulatesthe adoptionof several minimum standards by membercountries. With regard to India's compliancewith these standards,a major debate is underway within the country.

The most significant aspect of TRIPS for the industry is its requirementthat patents be provided for inventionsin all fields of technology. The minimum term of patentingis 20 years from the date of filing (The Crucible Group 1994). Further, it is generally felt that patents should cover products, and not simply processes, in order to provide more effective protectionfor rights-holders.

58 Domestic Drug Production

India's presentsystem, based on the Patent Act of 1970,essentially defines processpatents. However, the implicationsof developingproduct patents could involvehigher investmentsin research and development by the traditional industry, given the likely returns though patent protection. This might then result in the availabilityof new drugs for primary health care, as well as improvementsin quality and productionstandards for existing drugs. Furthermore,it might have a relaxing effect on the secretive and defensive nature of the trade.

Enforcementof such patents is however difficult in a country with such large informal markets. Cheap and often adulteratedimitations are already known to abound in the marketplace. Few companies have the resourceswhich would be necessary eitherto ensure through legal action that their patents are secure, or to undertake massive and effective advertisingcampaigns which would create a niche for their own brands of innovativeproducts. Hence the change to a productpatent system might have less impact than in developed countries.

In addition,although companies might be inclined to invest more in research and new productdevelop- ment,the monopolyguaranteed to them by a product patent regime may encourage higher prices, such that accessto the productwould be difficult for poor consumers. Furthermore,if a market was developedfor such new products amongthe upperand upper-middleclasses, companies might begin to divert resourcestowards productionof these more profitableproducts, and away from the low profit-marginproducts purchasedby the poor.

Of all these issues,the major dilemma confronting India is how to apply patent law to formulationsand products which have been developedover thousands of years. In a sense, no one can claim innovation' of the medicines of the ISM. Yet, it is also argued that upgrading a simple production technology to a more sophisticated one, or adding or subtracting a single ingredient, does constitute an innovation of sorts. In addition, awarding rights to a single company or individual,when entire communitiesof practitioners have been involved, is also a difficult proposition-fewwould claim that it is fair for a private company to benefit exclusively from knowledge that was generatedin the public domain. At the same time, the government is facing pressureto encouragethis very situation as foreign companiesalready have access to patenting, and many fearthat India's wealth oftraditional knowledge may be damaged by these interests if the government does not act quickly to protect this knowledge. Quality Controls/Standards

Quality control and standards constitute another area where policy making is still a workin progress.' The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, was amended in 1964 to include Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, and provides for a limited set of controls over the production and sale of traditional medicines. The provisions include thefollowing: - Manufacturingshould be carried out under prescribedhygienic conditions,and also under the super vision ofa person having the prescribedqualifications - The raw materials used inthe prearation of drugs should be genuine and properly identified - The formula or the accurate list of all the ingredientscontained in the drugs, should be displayedon the label of every container

One difficulty in implementingthe Act was dueto this fact that specific sets of standards were lacking for the preparationof these traditional medicines. To fill this void, the PharmacopoeialLaboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM) was created in Ghaziabad by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Departmentof Health). PLIM houses the Drug Standardizationand Testing Unit, the Drug Depot, and the Herbariumand ReferenceMuseum. Pharmacopoeiasare also now availablefor each ofthe major ISM.

59 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Nevertheless,a universally recognizedset of quality control standards has still not been developedfor the preparationof ISM drugs, which pose serious challenges as they often contain a number of constituent plants, unlike the single principleallopathic medicines.Quality standards and guidelineswould by necessity differ from those for allopathic drugs, as the means of productionfor each type of drug is different. Some of the unique aspects of traditional medicine preparation that would need to be considered include specific meansof identifyingand collecting constituentplants, includingseasons for collections and appropriateages of plants; ecological origins; cleanliness in processing; and adherence to documented procedures in the ancienttexts of relevance (Bajaj and Williams 1995).

54 Interventions to Date

Interventions to date have been ofthree kinds:encouraging research and development;promoting traditional medicine;and developing partnershipsamong the ISM privatesector.

The Governmenthas recently recognizedthat with the signing ofGATT and the reductionof the entailed protectionistmeasures, the allopathicdrugs industryis very likely to suffer. It has been predicted by the Drug ControllerGeneral of India that by the time trade ceilings are reducedto the agreed ceiling of 25 percent in the year 2000. most bulk drugs produced in India will have been pricedout of the market by imports.

In an attemptto give a greater edge to the indigenousindustry, several incentives have been developed to encourageresearch and developmentin the privatesector, and to improveits chancesof being internationally competitive. These include (Gupta 1995):

- 100% income tax deduction of R & D expenditurefrom profits;

- Accelerated depreciationallowance at 40% instead of 25% if a plant is making goods based on indigenoustechnology; - Exemptionfrom price control for bulk drugs based on indigenoustechnology; and

- Weightedtax deduction at 125% for sponsored researchin approvednational laboratories.

As in most fields in India, research in traditional medicinecontinues to be largely the province of public sector institutions. The major national bodies for the Indian Systems of Medicineand Homeopathy are the Central Councils for Research, all based in New Delhi-one in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS); one in Unaril Medicine(CCRUM); one in Homeopathy(CCRHY); and one in Yoga and Naturopathy(CCRYN).

In addition,a Working Group on IndianSystems of Medicineand Homeopathywas recentlyset up bythe government,bringing together policy makers from the various ministries and departmentsdealing with traditional medicineand medicinalplants. This Group was convenedto make recommendationsfor the Ninth Five Year Plan, which started in 1997. The Group has proposed an investment of As. 18.4 billion (approximately USD 525 million) for a broad range of activities designed to provide support to the sector, as itemized in Table 5.3.

60 Domestic Drug Production

Table 5.3 Recommended Ninth Five Year Plan Budget for Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy Developed by the Working Group on ISM&H (all figures in Rs. 10 million)

Effective Use of ISM&H for Health for AtI 50 ISM&H Treatment Facilities at Block Level 110 Covering 25% of All Blocks ISM&H Facilities atthe Central Government 50 HealthScheme (Branchesin Dispensaries) Supportfor NGOs and GovernmentHospitals 100 Upgradingof Facilities and Standardsfor 225 Undergraduate/Postgraduate Studies MedicinalPlants and Herbs 125 Development/GermplasmBanks/Agrotechniques Researchand Developmentin }SMH 350 ProfessionalUpgrading Program 50 Strengtheningof Institutions,Building Centres 100 of Excellence Strengtheningof Laboratories 50 Strengtheningof Government Pharmacies 20 Other 610

CCRUM (1996)

Another major intervention necessaryto promotethe Ayurvedic system concerns the developmentof a detailedpharmacopoeia. This task, began in 1962, and by 1986,the Ministryof Health and Family Welfare presentedthe AyurvedicPharmacopoeia of Lndia, Volume 1, Part 1, with subsequentvolumes beingpublished asfurther experimentaldata becomesavailable (Dhanoa 1986).

At the international level, the Global Initiative for Traditional Systems of Health, (GIFTS), an NGO committedto the perpetuationof traditional medical systems, sponsored regionalworkshops in Asia, Africa and Latin America which culminated in an internationalmeeting held in the UK in 1995. India was a major participant during these conferences due to the emphasis placed on the Indian Systems of Medicine. A common theme throughout all the conferenceswas the need for clearly defined policies promotingthe safe utilization of traditional medicine, and the need to strengthen these systems-in order to ensure that they continue to provide health care to the millionswho depend on them.

National interests are linked to those of the World Health Organizationthrough the Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar,which is a WHO centre for traditionalsystems of medicine.

61 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Developing Partnerships among the ISM Private Sector

Althoughthe traditional drug processingand manufacturingcompanies are relatively unknown (with a few exceptionssuch as Zandu, Dhootapapeshwar, and thelarger companies such as IndianHerbs and Dabur), conventionalwisdom holds that these companiesare the major culprits accountingfor the rapid depletion of the resource base (Chapter 1); and for the continuing market inequities (Chapter 3). On the other hand, realizingthat such practicesare unsustainablein the long run for achievingprofitable business, many ofthese companieshave shown an interest in working together to address these problems. In many cases, too, the people engagedwith these companiesfeel a strong senseof moral obligation regarding the resource base and peoplewho harvest it.

Many of the larger companies have already begun to form alliances, with the government and other agenciesto address areas of mutual concern. CHEMEXCIL, the Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and CosmeticsExport Promotion Council,is one such example of this kind oftrade association, which looks into issues in the medicinalplants sector. The Councilrecently publisheda monographin 1992, Selected Medic!- na/Plants of/nd/a, which took up issues of identity, efficacy, safety and clinical usage of medicinal plants (Lambert1996). Its also maintainstrade statisticsand supportsthe developmentof a conservation policy for medicinalplants.

There are relativelyfewer efforts underwayto form partnershipswith the smallercompanies involved in the drug production sector, and it is difficult to gauge the significance of their participation in the absence of reliablestatistics. However,an ongoing study sponsored by the IDRC MedicinalPlants Network is undertaking a major survey ofthese companies in India and elsewhere in order to begin to understandtheir role in the process, as well as to identify constraintsand opportunitiesfor their growthand success, and the potentialfor partnership in activities designedto promote the sustainableand equitable developmentof the sector.

62 Chapter 6

Information and Coordination in the Sector Chapter 6 Information and Coordination in the Sector

The great diversity of the resource base, systems of medicine and actors involved in the medicinal plants sector makes the provision of reliable informationas well as coordinationa necessity for planning interventions. This chapter briefly examines the institutional base and the types of information currently availablein India.

61 Databases

In December 1995,the Centre for InternationalForestry Research (CIFOR) organized a workshop on non-wood forest products databases, to assess current informationresources. Among the databases accountedfor in India,three covered medicinalplants, two of which were locatedat the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), and the Centre for Minor Forest Products (COMFORPTS),Dehra Dun, respectively and covereda wide variety of NTFPs, including medicinal plants.The databasesat KFRI are primarilydescriptive, while those at COMFORPTSinclude descriptivebibliographic information.

Table 6.1 Institutions Participating in INMEDPLAN

Institution Location Responsibility I

Ayurvedic Research Institute Trivandrum Pharmacognosy BotanicalSurvey of India DehraDun Taxonomy Central Drug Research Institute Lucknow Pharmacology

Central Institutefor Medicinaland Lucknow Agro technology Aromatic Plants

Foundationfor Revitalization of Local Bangalore Coordination;Graphics Health Traditions LokSwasthaya ParamparaSamvardhan Coimbatore TraditionalMedicine Samiti NationalTropical BotanicalGarden Trivandrum TraditionalMedicine and Research Institute

Publicationand InformationDirectorate New Delhi Bibliography

Regional ResearchLaboratory (CSIR) Jammu Phytochemistry

Source:INMEDPLAN (1994)

65 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

In addition to the databases described above a large nationaldatabase on medicinal plants is being developedby the INMEDPLANinitiative. This involvesthe participation of 9 nodal agencies responsiblefor the provisionof different kinds of data based upontheir own research and developmentactivities (Table6.1).

The ultimate aim of INMEDPLANis to offer an on-line, real-timeaccessible version of the data held at each institution. The organizations involved in the initiative have recognized that serious gaps exist in the data currently held, and that many thousands of records maintained require updating. Further, the non- availabilityof standard recording formats to facilitate the computerizationof data has been a long standing problem. This is therefore being addressed by a series of meetings held since 1994, which have begun to identify such standards in each specializedfield.

Complementingthese databasesis one maintainedby the IDRC MedicinalPlants Network,which con- tains a list of researchers and institutionsworking on various aspects of medicinalplants.

6.2 Publications

By far the most active force in medicinal plant publications is the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), chiefly through its Publicationand Information Directorate(PID) in New Delhi. PID brings outone ofthe worlds foremost abstractingservices on medicinalplants, the bimonthlyMedicinal andAromat- ics Plants Abstract (MAPA), which scans some 600 journals published in 22 languagesfrom 55 countries around the world. Each issue also includes information on recent patents filed and papers presented at internationalworkshops, and is also availablefor on-line screeningthrough MAPIS (Medicinaland Aromatic Plants InformationService).

PID is associated with similar services throughout the world: the Japanese InformationCentre for Sci- ence and Technology, Tokyo;Thailand National DevelopmentCentre; DSIR, Wellington, New Zealand; and the National Libraryfor AgriculturalSciences, Bogor, Indonesia. The workon medicinalplants carried out by PID is also done in collaborationwith the IndianCouncil of Medical Research (ICMR),the government-spon- soredCentral Councilsfor Research in Ayurveda,Siddha, Unani, and Homeopathy,and INMEDPLAN.

The Central Institutefor Medicinaland Aromatic Plants (CIMAP),Lucknow, publishes a quarterlyjour- nal, CurrentResearch onMedicinal andAromat/c Plants (CROMAP),which includes reviews,abstracts, and marketing information,while The NGO, FRLHT, Bangalore, publishesa quarterly magazine Amruth, which focuses on issues of relevanceto conservationof medicinalplants.

6.3 International and Regional Networks

Networksdealing with medicinalplants inwhich India is representedhave been established by international organizationsincluding theUnited Nations Educational, Scientificand CulturalOrganization (UNESCO), the Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAQ), and the InternationalDevelopment Research Centre (IDRC).

66 Information and Coordination in the Sector

Asia-Pacific Information Network on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (APINMAP)

The APINMAP,network was establishedin 1987 by UNESCO,with the primaryobjective of collecting, collating, and disseminatinginformation on research, production, processing, trade, and developmentamong the participatingcountries. India has been represented in the network since its inception; other countries participatinginclude Australia, China, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Phillipines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. APINMAP's primary focus is on the sharing of information between participating representatives. The Network organizeda seriesof meetings which led to the draftingand endorsementof the ChiangmaiDeclaration, "Saving Lives by Saving Plants,"a combined undertakingby experts in health care and plant conservation.This has helpedto articulatethe basic issues of conservationand the role of medicinal plants in health care for all at a relatively early stage in terms of awarenessof medicinalplants in the greater internationalcommunity. APINMAPalso plans todistribute directories of institutionsand researchers in its membercountries.

Asian Network on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ANMAP)

FAO supports and coordinates ANMAP, the Asian Network on Medicinaland Aromatic Plants, whose main objectiveis toassist membernations in developingtheir resource base ofmedicinal plant raw materials, whether through exchangeof information,know-how, or germplasm. Countries representedin the network includeChina, India, Indonesia, Korea,Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand,and Vietnam. ANMAP publishesa bimonthly newsletter, NANMAF and organizesAsian symposiaon medicinalplants, spices, and other naturalproducts. A symposiumheld in the Philippinesin 1992, resultedin the Manila Declaration, which emphasizesthe ethical responsibilitiesof those involved in the utilization of Asian biological resources and which was endorsed by 283 scientistsfrom 31 countries. IDRC Medicinal Plants Network (IMPN)

The IDRC Medicinal Plants Network (IMPN),which is headquarteredin New Delhi, with a Secretariat operating out of IDRC's South Asia regional office; has an active portfolio of projects in the country. Other countriesrepresented in IMPN include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan,and Sri Lanka;active collabora- tors and advisers are based in Canada, the US, UK, and Sweden. In addition, IMPN is closely linked to networkson medicinalplants sponsored by IDRC in Latin America and Africa.

IMPN's general objective is to provide the researchand networkingfoundations required for developing medicinalplants in ways which benefitthe health, environmentand economiesof the peopleof South Asia. In particular, it has targeted the well-beingof women, the very poor, and tribal peoples. The Network'sactivities fall into three main categories: A Strategic Research Portfolio;A Country Studies Program;and Networking Services.

The Strategic Research Portfolio has been organized in terms of three thematic areas identifiedas prioritiesduring a meetingof regional experts in thedisciplines of botany, anthropology,pharmacology, chemistry, and forest products and forestry,held in Calicut in 1994. The priorityareas identifiedwere Biodiversity Conservation;Marketing and Enterprise;and Health and Medicines. IMPNsponsors a range of researchers, NGOs,government agencies, and the privatesector in each ofthese focus areas, the idea being to cover all aspects ofthe medicinalplants trade from productionthrough to consumption. Projectsare development-led, that is, research is oriented to provide tools and informationwhich lead to successfuldevelopment interventions. IMPN has recently been converted into an IDRC program called the Medicinaland Aromatic Plants Program in Asia (MAPPA).

67 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Some major Indian institutionsactive in the Network includethe M.S. SwaminathanResearch Founda- tion, the BharatiyaAgri-Industries Foundation (BAIF), the Indian Instituteof Science (II Sc.), the Vital Mallaya Scientific Research Foundation(V M S R F), and the Arya Vaidya Sala (A V S), Kottakal.

68 Chapter 7

Towards A Sustainable and Equitable ..•.He • Med vcrnal Plants Sector Chapter 7 Towards A Sustainable and Equitable Medicinal Plants Sector

MedicinalPlants sector in India operates in policy and institutionalvaccum. The sector faces a number of policy-'- and legal constraints. 71 Constraints, Opportunities and Targets

Earlier chapters of this report have highlightedthree overall constraints relatingto the medicinalplants sector in India. These are:

Depletion of the Resource Base, which is the foundation of the entire sector;

Decline of Folk Traditional Medicine, a source of primary health care for an estimated five hundred million people in thecountry; and

impoverishment of Rural People, who are the stewards of the resource and the holders of traditionalecological and medical knowledge,through inequitablemarketing channels.

The report has also identifiedthree major opportunitiesin this sector:

India's Comparative Advantage and her Potential to Play a Leading Role in the International Market, as a result of the growing importance of Indian exports in providing a source of revenuefor the country;

The Existence of a Strong Classical Traditional Medicine Sector with Developed Industrial and User Bases, which employs millions and provides for the health care needs of hundredsof millions of peoples.

A Growing Information Resource Bases, which can be built upon through collaborative efforts, and which links India to the internationalscientific community.

The constraints and opportunitiesdescribed above are closely related. Any initiative directed at one is very likely to have on impact on the others. It is thus essential that these issues should remain at the forefront,from the planning stage onwards,when consideringnew interventionsfor the sector, aswell as when assessingthe potential effects of proposed projects.

______71 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

lt is also evident that the medicinal plants sector spans a number of different agencies and organizations. Whether or not their efforts can be effectively coordinatedremains to be seen. They include: The Governmentof India and relevant State Governments,including the Ministries of Agricul- ture, Environmentand Forests,and Health;

The PrivateTraditional MedicineSector, including companiesactive in each of the Indian Sys- tems of Medicineand Homeopathy;

The Public Sector Research Institutionsand Universities, includingthose focusing both on agricultural as well as medical research;

RelevantNon-Governmental Organizations, which are locally involved in activities relatedto the medicinalplants sector,and which serve as representatives of the communitiesof collectorsand users ofplants and plant-deriveddrugs; and

Internationalnetworks in which India is represented,and internationalorganizations concerned with the broader aspects of biodiversity.

In termsof sustainabledevelopment, there are four obvioustargets, most ofwhich are recognizedby the governmentand by donors:

Focus on Women, Tribal Communities, and the Rural and Urban Poor who together constitute the largestgroup, both in terms of the peopleinvolved in theharvesting and collection of medicinalplants, as well as the users of folk and classical traditional medicines;

Focus on Environmental and Biodiversity Conservation, especially forests, as these continueto be the primaryhabitat for medicinalplants, and linkageswith incentivesrelated to the sustainablemanagement and rehabilitationof degraded lands;

International Trade. India has a comparative advantage in the market and can generate a strongerpresence globally; and

Public Health Improvement, with a wider and higher-qualityrange of naturally-derived products being madeavailable in the market, which are accessible to the poor as well as the rich.

71 Recommended hiterventions

With regard to interventionsfor the medicinalplants sector, there are three key inter-relatedareas which need to be addressed in light of the following considerations:longer-term actions, existing informationgaps and policy considerations.

72 Towards A Sustainable and Equitable Medicinal Plants Sector

Area 1: Sustaining the Resource Base Immediate Actions

A. Ex-situ conservation

Several medicinal plants are already threatened, rare, or endangered. In addition, the precautionary principle' applies to those whose status is currently unknownand to segments of genepools. There is an immediate need to consolidate and officially link the existing herbal gardens and genebanks, as well as referencespecimens in herbaria,to ensure that the 540 species of highest importancein the major classical systems, as well as those supplied to the internationalmarket, are protected in ex-situ reserves.This requires strategic planning since the range of germplasm obtained for each species must be representative. Plant collections need to evolve from being species referencecollections to being genetic resources collections.

Longer-Term Action A. Promoting Cultivation and Selection of Superior Genotypes

The low number of medicinalplants currentlybeing cultivatedshould be increased,in order to meet the demands of industry for continuous and uniform material supplies, and to take some of the pressure off medicinalplants originatingfrom natural ecosystems. The selectionof plants for cultivationmust be market- driven: as has been shown, the species currently under study are largely for export, and there is a need to focus on others neededdomestically by Indian industries.

At present, commercialvarieties have been developed for about 16 species, most of which are cultivated for export. Much more needs to be done to select superiorgenotypes of many more species.

To achieve this initiative, it will be necessary to make extensive use of the network of nurseriesand gardens in the country, in order to establish high quality plant supply systems. Greater disseminationof informationto farmers, regardingthese holdingsis also necessary, and should involvethe agriculturalexten- sion organizationssince these serve as a primaryinterface with farmers in the country. B. Promoting Responsible, Sustainable Wild-Harvesting

Wild-harvesting practices are presently highly unsustainable and are likely to remain so. The lack of sufficientinformation and of relevant scientificprocedures are importantcontributing factors tothis situation, as is the absence of any land rights regulations,which provide local communitieswith access to and some degreeof control over their resources.There is thus a needto provide solutionsto these constraints,as well as guidelinesand incentives for sustainablewild-harvesting. Unfortunatelylittle work has been done in this area. Additionally,an examination of the networksof traders and volume of illegal trade suggeststhat the provisionof socio-economicand market informationmay be the primary need.

73 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

C. In-situ conservation

It will be necessary, based on an understandingof where medicinal plants are currently distributed, to develop novel programsfor their in-sftuconservation and to designatespecific genetic reserves. This intervention also applies to timber species as well as wild relatives of crops, and current government activities relating to protected areas may need to be modified in order to accommodatethese species. The implementation of Joint Forest Managementschemes in these areas would be the logical approach to use, given the viability of medicinal plants for generating income as well as rehabilitating degraded lands. Due to their position as the major stewards of the resource base, women and tribal groups, especially, should be given some control over these lands.

The approach adopted should encompassexisting initiatives introduced by organization such as the Bangalore-basedNGO, FRLHT, and its MedicinalPlant ConservationAreas Network. In addition, these in- situconservation areas should be made to serve several functions, such as the provision of education and awareness-building, as well as training for sustainable harvestingmethods.

Information Gaps A. Distribution of Resources

It will be critical to understand the actual distribution of the resources and to research their genetic diversityfor policy and strategiesformulation. This is along-term process and a research framework needsto be developedto this end.

B. Market Status of Certain Crops

The other major informationgap continuesto relateto the lack of socio-economicinformation. It will be vital for cultivationefforts to identify, in collaborationwith local industry,which medicinalplants are in greatest demandand are suitable for cultivation. This first step is essential and researchwill be needed to gauge the demandand profit-makingpotential of plants. In addition, prior to the introductionof the plants into cultivation, research will be necessary to clarify how market linkages can be most effectively, established in order to assess the gains to the producers. This is a significant gap which has to be addressed. C. Agro-Technical Packages for ntercropping and Farm Forestry

Forthe identifiedplants of major market significance,agro-technical packages need to be developedfor cultivation and propagation. In general, most medicinal plants when cultivated have been sole crops in restrictedecological regions. Farmforestry and intercroppingsystems will have to bedevised, as has already been done for the major species cultivatedfor export, and there will have to be shift to a more farm-centered approach which recognizes,that in most cases, medicinalplants will only constitute one of many crop types adopted byfarmers.

74 ftffftt: Towards A Sustainable and Equitable Medicinal Plants Sector

Policy Considerations A. Domestic policy

There are two areas in which policy should to be reconsidered:firstly, in terms of delegatingcontrol of resources to local people, through JFM and related initiatives, and secondly, in terms of its implementation and enforceability.

As regards this second area, policies frequently lack evaluation and follow up. Thus, for example, the Forest Policy of 1988, proclaimingtribal rights to forests, is yet to receive official sanctioning through the passing of Acts, while the fact that many ofthe supposedly regulated plant species have not been identified in manuals, meansthat their collection cannot be determinedand thereforestopped. Also, forest policy which requiresthat forest lands should not be used for agricultural activitiesof anykind may be usefully amendedin some cases to allow for medicinal plants cultivation,within farm and agroforestrysystems. B. Accordance with Conventions

India is a signatoryto a number of Conventionsrelated tothe medical plants resource base. CITES and CBD are obvious examples. The latter has many policy implicationsconcerning the medicinalplants sector. These should be resolved in such away that India dops not become monopolisticand recognizesits interde- pendencewith other countries. This evidentlygives the strong representation of introducedmaterials amongst the raw plant materials exported, and India will continue to benefit from advances made in medicinal plant research in other countries. Area 2: Measures for Achieving A Thriving Folk Medical Tradition Immediate Actions

A. Establishment of Village Level Germplasm Collections

Apart from the commercially important plants and those important in the classical traditions, there is also a need to conserve important plants used in folk and tribal medical practices for the benefit of those people. To this end, the developmentof village germplasmcollections is a useful interventionwhich shouldbe undertaken. Longer-Term Action

Overall,the major orientationof aprogram in this area should be focusedfirst and foremost onthe health care needs of the communitieswhich practisefolk and tribal medicine. There are two activities which can be undertakento achieve these results.

A. Village "Self-Health" Program

Followingthe recommendations of the South Asia Conferenceon Tribal and Folk Plant-BasedMedicines, a networkof pilot projectsshould be developed,focusing on thegeneration of sustainableand self-sustaining

— 75 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

tribal medicine. These projectswould involve communities joining hands with development specialists to assess the current status of their plant-based remedies, as well as of the resource base of the plants themselves.Based uponthese findings,more comprehensiveprojects could be planned and implementedto ensure that their health care becomessustainable (in terms of the natural resourcebase) and self-sustaining (through fair marketingand cultivationwhere suitable). The developmentof a networkof such pilot projects could thus serve as a foundation for further actions and ongoing work, as well as solve the problem of the current isolation experiencedby projectsof this nature. B. Development of a Tribal Materia Medica

This could build upon the existing databases, with the additionof detailed informationregarding methods of use and preparation. It should recordthe innovationsof local communities,thereby ensuring that these are recognized,and should be linkedto awarenessbuilding and the promotionof tribal and folk medicine. Filling Information Gaps A. Social and Economic Studies

Little informationexists regardingthe social and economic context of folk medicinalpractices. There is thereforea need to undertakestudies which documentthe full range of situationsat the village level, in order to understand howinterventions can be targeted toassist in developing sustainable and self-sustaining medicinal plants practices. This research can be undertaken by the communitiesin collaborationwith researchers.

B. Toxicology Studies and Standard Preparations

It is importantto ensure that the plants used as medicinesby the ruralpeople are not also toxic in other ways. This is therefore one area in which modern technologycan be of great service. In addition, standard preparations need to be developedto improve the quality, efficacy and effectivenessof the traditional drugs. Policy Considerations

Current policies have neglectedthe folk traditional sector, which should be included in legislationand policy developmentespecially in relation to primary health care centres and folk practitioners.

Policiesregulating safety and efficacy need to be evolved basedon a recognition of the uniquenessof tribal and folk medicine,and these should be linkedto intellectualproperty rightswhich ensure that communities benefitfrom the use made of their technologies.

76 Towards A Sustainable and Equitable Medicinal Plants Sector

Area 3: Measures for Achieving an Equitable Marketing System and a Thriving Medicinal Plants Industry Immediate Actions A. Setting Up a National Level Authority

Followingthe lead of the private sector, the governmentor a related body could set up a nationalboard specifically for the purpose of sustainablydeveloping the sector, and addressing all the concerns entailed. Such a body would comprise of representativesfrom the various stakeholders,as well as resource persons with significantexpertise in economics and soclo-ecoriomics. B. Making Cooperatives More Responsive and Representative

A second need relates to cooperatives. The fundamentalthinking behind cooperatives has in most cases been flawed, and experiencehas shown that such organizationscannot replace the middleman,who processes valuable informationas well as the scope to provide credit and advances. Although the scope of cooperativeshas usually been limited to simply being a group of producersworking together to create their own market linkages, it would be useful to build these up into more comprehensive organizations,with skills in collecting,cultivation and semi-processingwhere appropriate. Longer-Term Action A. Formalizing and Organizing the Market

A key task is to bring a greater degree of formality and organizationto a market which has been shown to be inefficient,imperfect, informal, and opportunistic. Ifa greater degreeof formality cannot be achievedin the market, it is unlikely that other efforts will be of significant use in preserving traditional medicineand its resourcebase.

The call for formality is not, however, a call for state intervention per Se; nor is it a call for a Marketing Board, as some have suggested. Rather, the transformationof the marketshould be accomplishedthrough a number of coordinatedsmall steps taken by different actors,who together agree upon an agenda specifying their roles through the coalition body proposed above. This will require a type of social contract' between government, the private sector, research institutions,and NGOs representingthe local people. Ratherthan enactingnew laws or legislation, this groupwould ratherformulate novel projectsand programswhich could be undertakentogether, and for which each member would provide funding as well as implementationand oversightfunctions. A number of suggestedprojects which would be of use include: B. Dissemination of Market Information and Adding Value at the Local Level.

Both of these need longer-termplanning and action since the major Indian markets currently require virtually no processing before the plants reach wholesalers. Goals would include devolution of resource managementauthority and the establishmentof reliable marketswith regularreturns for inputs.

77 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Filling Information Gaps A. Making Sense of the Domestic Market

Most essential to the process of developing the industry and the sector will be the gathering and disseminationof information. Currently little is known about the market, especially of the informal sector. This informationwill be essential tothe coordinatedplanning required for the sector in order to deal effectivelywith all stakeholders. Donor agencies and the government will need to work with the private and public sector researchcommunities to financesuch studies which will follow plants through the market,documenting margins, numbersof people involved,and the like. Such studies will also serve to highlightthe major players,the degree of concentrationin the market,and the opportunitiesfor new interventions. B. Finding Opportunities in the International Market

However,a priority Intervention must be to enable companies in India to compete effectively in the global market and to exploit the comparativeadvantage of India in terms of its medico-culturalexpertise and biologicaldiversity. Research is neededwhich will identify opportunitiesin the global market in which Indian ventureswould be uniquely suited to participateand perform strongly. Policy Considerations A. Support for the Traditional Industry

Given that the highly-subsidizedallopathic industry could become outmodedas a result of global com- petition,the government needsto consider whether or not some ofthe supportextended to allopathiccompa- nies might be transferred to its own traditional industryas asupplier of finished drugs. B. Regulations on Domestic and International Trade

Trade regulations are currently unenforcedfor the most part, at every level of the marketing chain. In some cases, in fact, it is necessary for the government to reconsider whether the systems of permits and licences required for forest use can be simplified, and made more friendly to the users of the resource. Currentpolicies are cumbersomeand not well integrated,and also uniformlyeliminate certain possibilitiesand opportunities.

For internationaltrade purposes, the major requirementis for better enforcement of existing policies, such as theCITES Conventionand related export regulations. Currently,the lack ofidentification methods for some plants, and of training for customs officials, result in a very large amount of trade being impossibleto accurately monitorand control. India could take a lead in this area.

78 Acronyms Acronyms

Acronyms

AICRPE All India CoordinatedResearch Projecton Ethnobotany

AICRPMAP All India CoordinatedResearch Projecton Medicinaland Aromatic Plants

ANMAP Asian Networkfor Medicinaland Aromatic Plants

APEDA Agricultural and ProcessedFood Export DevelopmentAuthority

APINMAP Asia-Pacific InformationNetwork for Medicinaland Aromatic Plants

BCN BiodiversityConservation Network

BGC BotanicGardens Conservation International

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity

CCRAS Central Council for Research in Ayurvedaand Siddha

CCRH Central Councilfor Researchin Homeopathy

CCRUM Central Councilfor Researchin Unani Medicine

CDRI Central Drug ResearchInstitute

CIMAP Central Institutefor Medicinaland Aromatic Plants

COMFORPTS Centre for Minor Forest Products

CROMAP Current Research on Medicinaland Aromatic Plants

CSIR Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research

CITES Conventionon InternationalTrade in EndangeredSpecies

DBT Departmentof Biotechnology

DGCIS DirectorateGeneral of CommercialIntelligence and Statistics

DST Departmentof Science and Technology

FAQ Food and AgricultureOrganization

FRLHT Foundationfor the Revitalizationof Local Health Traditions

GATT General Agreementon Tradeand Tariffs

81 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

GSCS Girijan Service CooperativeSociety

G-1 5 GEBMAP Group of 15 Genebanksfor Medicinaland Aromatic Plants

GIFTS of Health Global Initiativefor TraditionalSystems of Health

GOI Governmentof India

ICAR IndianCouncil for AgriculturalResearch

ICFRE IndianCouncil for Forestry Researchand Education

ICMR IndianCouncil for Medical Research

ICRISAT InternationalCentre for Research in the Semi-Arid Tropics

IDAC InternationalDevelopment Research Centre

INMEDP LAN Indian MedicinalPlants Database

IMPN IDRC MedicinalPlants Network

INMEDGREN Indian MedicinalGenetic ResourcesNetwork

ISM Indian Systems of Medicine

ITC-HS InternationalTrade Classification-Harmonized System

IUCN TheWorld ConservationUnion

LAMPS Large Area Multi-PurposeCooperative Societies

MAPA Medicinaland Aromatic Plants Abstracts

MAPPA Medicinaland Aromatic Plants Program in Asia

MFP Minor Forest Produce

MPCA MedicinalPlants ConservationAreas

MPSG MedicinalPlants Specialist Group

NABARD National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development

NBPGR NationalBureau for Plant Genetic Resources

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NTFP Non-limber ForestProduct(s)

82 Acronyms

NWFP Non-WoodForest Product(s)

OECD Organizationfor EconomicCooperation and Development

PA ProtectedArea

PID Public Information Directorate

SAARC South Asian Associationfor RegionalCooperation

SC/ST ScheduledCaste/Scheduled Tribe

SITC Standard InternationalTrade Classification

TFRI Tropical Forest Research Institute

TRIFED Tribal Federation

TRIPS Trade-RelatedIntellectual Property

UNCED United Nations Conferenceon Environmentand Development

WCMC WorldConservation Monitoring Centre

WHO World Health Organization

WWF World Wide Fund for Nature

UN United Nations

83 Bibliography Bibliography

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91 Appendices Appendix I

A Red Data List of South Indian Medicinal Plants*

Species Name Status

Acorus ca/amus VU/R Adenia honda/a VU/R Adhatodabeddome! CR Aeg/e marme/os VU/R Aerva wiqhtll EX Amorphophalluspaeonifollus VU/R Ampelocissus araneosa VU Ampe/oc/ssus md/ca EN/R Andrographisparilcu/ata LR Aristolochia bracteo/ata LR Ar/sto/ochiatagala VU/R Artem/s/ani/ag/rica LR Asparagus rattler! EX Balan/tes aegyptica LR Buchanan/a/anzan LR Qayratiapedata var. glabra CR Cleome burmann/ D D Commiphora mukul VU/R Cosc/n/um fenestratum CR Cycas c/rc/na/is CR!R Cyclea f/ssicalyx EN Drosera ind/ca LR Droserapeltata VU/R Elaeagnus conferta LR

95 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

Embe//aribes LR Garcii/aindica VU Gamin/a inorella VU/A Gardeniagummifera LR Glor/osa superba LR Glycosmis macrocarpa LR Hedych/um coronar/um LR He//otrop/um kera/ense EN Ho/ostemmaannu/are VU/R Hydnocarpus macrocarpa VU Janak/a araya/patra CR Kaempfer/agalanga C RIR King/odendronp/nnatum EN Lamprac/iaen/um in/crocepha/um EN Madhuca diplostemon EN Madhuca insiinis EX Michelila champaca VU Moringa concanens/s VU Myr/st/ca ma/abarica EN Nervi/laaragoana EN Nllg/r/ant/iuscillatus EN Ochceinauc/ea miss/on/s VU Opercu/ina turpethum LR Oroxyluin /nd/cum VU/A Paph/apedi//umdrury/ CR Phoenixpus/Ha LR Pierbarber/ CR Pioer/ongum LR P,ermullesua VU/R Piperniqrum VU

96 Appendix 1

Plectranthus vettivero/des EW

Pterocarpussantal/nus EN Pseudarthr/a V/scida LR Puereriatube rosa LR Rauwo/u/aserpent/na EN/R Saraca asoca ENIR Schrebera swe/tenodes VU/R

Symp/ocos coch/nch/ns/ssubsp/aur/na VU Symplocos racemosa LR

Syzyg/um tra vancor/cum CR T/nospora s/nens/s VU/R Trag/a b/color VU Trichopus zey/an/cus subsp. travencor/cus VU Ut/er/a sal/c/to//a CR Vateria indica LR Vater/a macrocarpa CR Vernon/a anthe/mintica LR Woodford/a frut/cosa LR

CR = CriticallyEndangered; EN = Endangered;EX = Extinct;VU = Vulnerable;LR Low Risk; DD = Data Deficient; EW = Extinct in Wild; IA = Regional Assessment * Based on FRLHTThreat Assessmentusing IUCN guidelines, 1994-95.

97 Appendix 2

Some of the Major Commercial Cultivation Areas of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

No. Crop Area (ha) States where grown

1. Psyllium(Plantago) 50,000 North Gujarat and NorthwestRajasthan 2. Senna (Cass/a) 10,000 Coastal districts of Tamil Nadu 3. Opiumpoppy 18,000 MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh 4. Asgand, Aswagandah 4,000 Central Parts of MadhyaPradesh (Withaniasomnifera) 5. Cinchona 6,000-8,000 Darjeelingdistrict (WestBengal) Ooticamund district (Tamil Nadu) 6. Ipecac 100 NorthernWest Bengal 7. Khasi kateri 3,000 Maharashtra (So/anumv/arum) 8. Japanese Mint 10,000 Uttar Pradeshand Punjab 9. Basil 500 Uttar Pradesh 10. Aniseed 3,000-5,000 Punjaband Western Uttar Pradesh 11. Lemon grass 20,000 Kerala 12. Palmarosagrass 2,000 Uttar Pradesh,Karnataka 13. Citronellagrass 2,000 Assam, Meghalaya,Andhra Pradesh 14. Vetiver Scattered Kerala, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu 15. Jasmine 2,000 TamilNadu, Karnataka 16. Rosegeranium 1,000 Tamil Nadu, Karnataka 17. Damask 3,000 Uttar Pradesh

Notes 1. For most of these species intercropping is practised.

2. To this list should be added Rauwo/f/a serpent/na, indigenous;Artem/sia annua, introduced;and Catharanthusroseus, introduced (Authors). Of the species listed in the table, 5 of the 17 are indigenousto India, 2/17 are Mediterranean,1/17 European, 1/17 S.W. Asian, 1/17 S.E. Asian, 1/17 N. American, 1/17 S. American, 1/17 E. African, 1/17 E. Asian, 1/17 S. African and 2/17 Sri Lankan-IndoChinese in origin.

98 Appendix 3

Development of Standardized Agrotechnology Underway at Indian Research Centres No. Centre Plants Under Investigation 1. NationalBureau of Plant Genetic Papa versomniferum, Catharanthusroseus, Resources,New Delhi Hyoscyamusnigei Ocimumbasi//cum, Vet/veria zizan/odes 2. Indian Instituteof HorticulturalResearch, Catharanthusroseus,Solanumsp., Bangalore Pogostemonpatchou//, Vet/vet/a zizan/odes,Jasn7/num sp. 3. Dr Y. S. Parmar University Dig/ta/islantana, So/anum/ac/n/atum, of Horticulture& Forestry, Solan, H. P. Swert/achirata, Va/er/ana wa/lichil

4. J. N. Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Papaversomniferum,Withania somnifera, AgricultureCollege, I ndore,and G/ycyrrhlzag/abra,Hyoscyamusniger ResearchStation, Mandsaur,M. P. Vet/vet/a zizaniodes 5. RajasthanCollege of Agriculture, Papavet somniferum, Chiorophyl/um Udaipur tuberosum 6. A. N. D. University of Agriculture Papa vetsomn/ferum, Hyoscyamusniger and Technology, Faizabad, U. P. 7. Gujarat Agriculture University, Plantagoovata, G/ycyrrhizag/abra,Cassia Anand Campus,Anand, angust/fo//a, Comm4'horamuku/, Gujarat Chiorophyllumtuberosum 8. Kerala Agriculture University,Trichur Pogostemonpatchou// 9. Harayana Agriculture University, P/antagoovata, Glycyrrh/za glabra, Hissar, Harayana Menthaspp. 10. PunjabAgriculture University,Ludhiana Menthaspp. 11. NationalBotanical Research Institute, Papaversomniferum Lucknow

12. Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Jasm/nuni sp. Coimbatore

13. University of Agriculture Sciences, Glor/osasuperba, Artem/s/asp.

14. Central Institute of Medicinal Dubo/seamyoporo/des, Dioscorea spp. and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow

15. Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeet, Rauwo/f/aserpent/na, So/anum sp., Oc/muni Akola, Maharashra kiI/mandschar/ciim,Catharanthus roseus * Datafrom Amruth (1994)

99 Appendix 4

Species Under Study by CIMAP for Tissue Culture Propagation

Name of plant

Acon/tumheterophylluni Chrysanthamumc/nerar/aefolium (Pyrethrum) Gymbopogonflexuosus (Lemongrass) cymbopogon mail/n/i "PaImorosa,) * Dactylorhizahatag/era (Orchid) Dioscoreadeltoidea (Yam) Dubo/s/amyoporoides' (Corkwood) Mentha arvensis (Mint) Nardostachysjatamans/ (Jatamansi) Panax quinquefo//a (Amer/canginseng,) P/crorrhizakurrooa Pogostemoncab//n Patchou/i,) Rauwo/f/aserpent/na ('Rauwo/fia,) Rauwo/flavom/tor/a Rheumemod/ (Rhubarb) Va/er/ana wa//ich// (Va/er/an) Vetiveriazizanioldes (Vetiver)

* Introductions ** Originally from SE Asia Annotations by the Authors Mid to high Himalayas Source : Amruth (1994),

100 Appendix 5

Herbal Gardens In India

No. Address Size of No. of Objectives Problem Gardens Species Areas

1 Regional ResearchLaboratory 100 47 Research Shortage Jorhat,Assam785 006 of funds

2 Gujarat AgricultureUniversity 0.65 150 Research Shortageof Anand Campus,Anand funds, lack Gujarat388 110 of technical expertise

3 Directorateof Indian Medicine 37 200 Education Dhanavantari Vana, GCIMCampus Near BangaloreUniversity Bangalore,Karnataka 560 009

4 ForestResearch Centre 25 300 Training, Shortage Terakanahalli, Sirai Taluka Education of funds Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka

5 Indian Instituteof Horticultural 1 65 Research Shortage Research,Hessarghatta Lake of funds, Bangalore, Karnataka560 080 water shortage

6 Taralabalu Rural Development 1 16 Training, Water Foundation, Sirigere, Education shortage ChitradurgaTaluka,Karnataka 577 541

7 Universityof AgriculturalSciences 5 38 Research, Shortage Divisionof Horticulture Education of funds G K V K Campus, Bangalore Karnataka560 065

101 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

8 Arya Vidya Sala 8 600 Education Water Kottakal, MalappuramDistrict shortage Kerala 676 503 Contact Person Mrs Indira Balacharidran

9 AVREFAHerbalGarden 15 300 Education Shortage AVP FactoryComplex, Kanjikode of funds District Paighat Kerala678 621

10 ChittayilMemorial Trust 2 300 Education, Olivayappu,Allapuzha District Research, Kerala 688 560 Training

11 Kerala Forest Research Institute 2 250 Education, Shortage Peechi, District Trichur Research, of funds, Kerala Training inadequate land area

12 TropicalBotanical Garden 300 750 Education, Shortage & Research Institute Research, of funds Palode P 0, Karimancode Training DistrictTrivandrum, Kerala 695 562

13 Regional Research CentreAyurveda 45 250 Education, Gwaliar Road, Jhansi Research MadhyaPradesh 284 003

14 State Forest Research 15 45 Education, Polipather, Jabalpur Research Madhya Pradesh 284 006

15 Academy of DevelopmentScience 22 450 Shortage Kashele, Karjat, District Raigarh of funds, Maharashtra 410201 water

16 JaneevaMandal 0.5 120 Shortage Kotri Road, Nandurbar of funds Maharashtra425412

17 JawaharlalNehru Ayurvedic 19.5 145 Education, Medicinal Plants Garden Research and Herbarium Kothrud, Pune, Maharashtra411 029

102 Appendix 5

18 PunjabraoKrishi Vidyapeeth - 100 Research, Nagarjun MedicinalPlants Garden Education, Krishi Nagar P 0 , Akola Training Maharashtra444 104

19 NBPGRBaseCentre 0.02 15 Research CRRICampus, Cuttak, Orissa 753 006

20 Regional ResearchCentre 142 45 Education, (Ayurveda)Guddal Herbal Farm, Research P 0 Mangliawas Ajmer District, Rajasthan

21 Centrefor Rural Health 2 60 Education, Shortageof & Social Education Training funds, Lack A-li, Ashok Nagar, Tiruputtur of technical N A A District, Tamil Nadu 635 601 expertise

22 Forest Research Institute 12.5 45 Research, MPF Division, P 0 New Forest Education DehraDun, Uttar Pradesh 248 006 FRI Dehra Dun Garden

23 National Botanical Research Institute 6 220 Research, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow Education Uttar Pradesh226 001

24 N D University of Agriculture 0.65 27 Research, Shortageof & Technology, Education funds, infertile Narendra Nagar(Kumargunj) soil, inadequate Faizabad,Uttar Pradesh224 229 land area

103 Appendix 6

Important Species in the Herbal Garden, Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur

S.No. Botanical Names Local Names

1. Abe/moschus moschatus Mushkadana 2. Abromaaugusta Ulatkambal 3. Abrusprecatorius Ghungchi(White seeded) 4. Acorusca/amus Bach

5. Aerva/anata Gorukhganja 6. A/Humporrum Van lasun 7. Ar/sto/ochiabra cteoata Kiramar 8. Argyre/aspeciosa Kapurbashi 9. Artemisiaspec/osa sp.Vidhara 10. Bar/er/apr/onftis Brahmi 11. Bornbaxceiba Katsareya 12. Buteamonosperrna Semal 13. Caesa/p/n/acrista Palas(White flowered) 14. Caesa/p/niacrista Palas (Yellowflowered) 15. Celastruspan/c ulatus Gataran 16. Cente/laas/at/ca Malkangani 17. Ch/orophytum tuberosum Bramhi 18. Cissusquadrangu/aris Safed mush 19. C/erodendrurn siohonathus Hadjod 20. CI/tor/aternatea Bharangi 21. Coch/ospermumreIii/osum Aparajita(White flowered) 22. Convolvulusplur/caulis Gongal 23. Curcumaamada Shankhapushpi 24. Curcumacaesia Amahaldi 25. Dioscoreadaemona Kalihaldi 26. Eryngiumfoet/dum Baichandi 27. Eu/ophianuda JangahiDhania 28. G/oriosasuperba Bilaikand

104 Appendix 6

29. Kaempferiaga/anga Kalihari 30. Luffa acutangu/a 31. Ma/axis rheed/ Kadutorai 32. Nerv/I/apra/n/ana 33. Oroxy/umind/cum Shyonak 34. Peucedanumsp. Balraj 35. Plumbagorosea Laichitrak 36. Pzey/anica Chitrak 37. Pogori,'car/nata (NervllI carinata,) 38. Premnaherbacea Bajragantt 39. P serratifo/la Arni 40. Rauwo/f/aserpent/na Sarpagandha 41. Stereospermumsuaveo/ens Patola 42. Tha//ctrumfo//o/osuni Piyaranga

43. Tinospora cord/fo//a Giloy 44. Thbu/us terrestris Gokhru, chhota 45. Ty/ophora/nd/ca Antamool 46. Urg/neaind/ca Jangalipyaj

105 Appendix 7

Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas in South India

Tamil Nadu MCPAs District

Petchiparia Nagarcoil Mundanthurai Thirunelveli Kutallam Thirunelveli Alagarkovil Ramanathapuram Kodaikanal Madurai Kodikarai Nagapattinam Anamalai Coimbatore Kollihills Salem Marakanam Kanchipuram Thenmalai Thiruvannamalai Karnataka MCPAs District

BAT Hills Mysore Talacauvery Madikeri Savandurga Bangalore SubramariyaTemple Mangalore Charmadi Mangalore Devarayanadurga Tumkur Kudremukha Chikkamagalur Kemmangundi Chikkamagalur Agumbe Shimoga Devimane Karwar Sandur Bellary Karpakkapalli Bidar K era I a MCPAs District

Agastiarmalai Thiruvananthapuram Triveni Pathanamthitta Eravikulam ldukki Peechi Thrissur Athirapally Thrissur Silent Valley Palakkad Wyanadu Wyanadu

Source FRLHT (1995)

106 Appendix 8

Some of the Most Important Medicinal Plants Used by Local Tribes

No. Species Local Name Habit Uses

1. Abrusprecatorius Rati Gunubi Perennial Rootused for abortion, leaves climber used for liquorice,Cough 2. Abut/Ion/nd/cum Kanghi Shrub Root used in fever, Leaves demulcent,seed aphrodisiac and demulcent 3. Acacicatec/iu Khair Tree Used as astringent 4. Acanthaspermumhicpidum Bichiya Herb Fruit is used in scorpion bite 5. Achyranthesaspera Latjira Herb Dropsy, skin eruptions& Apamarg leprosy.Stems used as toothbrush. 6. Adhatoda vasica Adusa Shrub Leaves & roots, in asthma, bronchitisand fever 7. Ad/aritum cap/ilus veneris Father Herb Leaves used in piles, root in dysentery 8. Aeglemarmelos Bel Tree Used in chronic dysentery, stomach pain and fever 9. Ageratumconyzoides Gangauon Herb Leaf juice styptic 10. A/angiumsalv/foI/um Akola Tree Tonic in refricent 11. Ailanthus exe/sa Maharuk Tree Bark used to stop bleedingand for skin disease

12. Aloevera Ghigwar Herb Juice of plant is used in piles, malaria, stomach ache 13. A/ys/carpushamosus Lipti Herb Rootdecoction is used in cough 14. Androqraph/span/culata Chirata Herb Decoctionof plant is used in dysentery,malaria 15. An/some/es/nd/ca Bhandari Herb Leaf decoction used in cough 16. Arisaema tortuosum Birbanka Herb Rootjuice used in diptheria

17. Argyreiaspeciosa Kapat Climber Root used in rheumatism, nervousdisorders, leaves used in skin disease

______107 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

No. Species Local Name Habit Uses

18. Asparagusracernosus Satawar Herb Root is used as diuretcand as tonic 19. Aty/osiascarabaeoides Balar pati Herb Plant iuice used for diarrhea in cattle 20. Azadirachtaindica Neem Tree Leaves appliedto boils in eczemaand ulcer 21. Barleriastriqosa Badimohel Shrub Rootpower used in whooping cough 22. Bau/iin/a vah/ii Mahul Tree Seed used as tonic, root decoction used in fever

23. Bauhinia var/egata Kachnar Tree Bark powder is a tonic 24. Bidenspilosa Dhus Herb Used in urinary tract disease 25. Begoniapicta Khatti, patti Herb Root used in cholera, juice of leaves anthelmintic 26. Blumenopsisflava Kakranda Shrub Root used in cholera, juice of leaves anthelmintic 27. Boerhavia diffusa SanthPunarnava Herb Leaves for snake bite and root for skin inflamation

28, Borreriaauric u//form/s Meelnaghant Herb Vapour is inhaled to kill tooth worms

29. Borreriastricta Singwala Herb Juice of plant is used in scorpion bite 30. Buchanan/a/anzan Achar Tree Leaves, roots, fruits used in skin disease 31. Buteasuperba Palas Bel Tree Bark, flowers, leaves, seeds and gum used in pain, swelling and heat eruptionof children 32. Careyaarborea Kumbhi Tree Seeds used in pain, swelling and rheumatism 33. Cassia fistula Amaltas Tree Bark, leaves, flowers and fruits used for fractures and disloca- tion of bones

34. Cassia occidental/s Kasondi Shrub Leaves and seeds used for skin disease, root used for snake bite 35. Cassia tora Chekoda Shrubs Leaves,seeds used for skin disease and in leprosy 36. Ce/astruspanicu/ata Malkanghi Climbing Seed used in leprosy and shrub paralysis Appendix 8

No. Species Local Name Habit Uses

37. Centellaas/at/ca Brahmi Herb Whole plant used in Manduk skin disease, leprosyand blood parmi purification 38. Chlorophytumtube rosum Sated mush Herb Root used as tonic 39. Ch/oroxyIonsw/eteni Bhiriva Tree Leaf paste is appliedon wounds 40. C/ssampe/os pare/ca Kudupad Climbing Root used in snake bite shrub

41. Cissusquadrangula Horijori Climber Whole plant used for bone fracture and asthma 42. Clematictrdoba Climber Whole plant used in leprosyand blood disease 43. Clerodendrum/nd/cum Bhormal Shrub Rootdecoction used in malaria

44. Coch/ospermumreIiiosum Galgal Tree Gum-usedin cough, bark used as antipyretic 45. Co/ebrookeaoppos/t/fol/a Bihinda Shrub Root is useful in epilepsy, leaves are applied to wounds 46. Canscorad/ffusa Shankarphuhi Herb Juice of shoot is used for nervous disease 47. Costusspec/osus Keokand,Keu Herb Rhizome used as tonic 48. Crota/ar/aa/b/da Ban methi Herb Root is used as purgative 49. Curcu/igoorch/o/des Kahi musle Herb Used for asthma, jaundice,cuts, wounds

50. Curcumaangust/fol/a Janghi tikhur Herb Rhizome used as digestive 51. Curcumaaromat/ca Jangahi haldi Herb Rhizomesused for digestion, skin disease

52. Cuscutach/nens/s Amrbel Climber Plant boiled in water is taken for pain in chest 53. Cyathaoc!inepurpurea Komdu Herb The plant containsan essential oil 54. Cymbopogonf!exuous Gheeghas Herb Plant juice used as a tonic 55. Datura mete! Dhatura Shrub Various parts used for head ache, malaria and asthma

56. Dendroca!amus str/ctus Bans Woody Seeds used as astringent,as grass tonicand in asthma - 57. Dendrophthoefa!cata Banda Parasitic Bark used for wounds and shrub menstrual trouble 58. Desmodiumganget/cum Sarivan Herb Root used as tonicand in asthma 59. Desmod/umtr/florum Anti Herb Leaf juice is used in diarrhea

109 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

No. Species Local Name Habit Uses

60. Di//eniapentagyna Kallu,Aggai Tree Fruit used as tonic and for abdominal pain 61. Dioscoreabu/bifera Kand, Ratalu Climber Tuber is used for piles, dysentery, syphilis and appliedto ulcers 62. Dioscoreapentaphylla Baraki,Kanta-alu Climber Tuber is used for dispersing swelling and as tonic 63. Diospyrosme/anoxy/on Tendu Tree Leaves used for eye, skin and blood diseases

64. Elephantopusscaber Gophi, Gojiva Herb Rootpowder is used for pneu monia, wounds, and paralysis 65. Eleusineindica Matnkuri Herb Plant is used as a tonic 66. Emblica off/c/na//s Amla, Aonla Tree Fruits used for dysentery,bitter tonicand triphala medicine 67. Emilia robusta Badidong Tree Bark of root used in toothache 68. Emiliasonchifolia Hirankhun Herb Plant juice used in fever 69. Eranthemurnpurpureum Guisham Herb Whole plant promotes growthof fetus in cattle 70. Euphorbiahirta Dudhi Herb Juice used for dysentery 71. Evolvu/usa/s/no/des Shankhuli Herb Whole plant used for vomiting, dysentery 72. Exacumpet/olare Barocharayrla Herb Plant used as tonic 73. F/cusbenghaleris/s Bargad,Bar Tree Bark used in diabetes 74. Fleming/abracteata Mukhanada Shrub Root powder is used as tonic 75. Glor/osa superba Kalihari Herb Root-Anticlysenm, refiring, aphrodisiac 76. Grew/atil/aefolia Chikti, Damon Tree Bark used in diabetes 77. Gymnemasy/vestre Gudmar Woody Leavesused in diabetes Climber 78. Hardw/ckiab/nata Anjan Tree Bark and leaves used in gonorrhoea disease 79. Hellcteres/sora Marophali, Shrub Fruit used for pain, Marodphali dysentery,diarrhea, diabetes 80. Hem/desmusindicus Anat mul Twiner Rootused for gonorrhoea disease and as tonic and diuretic 81. Heteropogonconton'us Shurval Herb Root is stimulant 82. Hibiscus sabdariffa Laimbari Shrub Leaves used in diarrhea 83. Hyptis suaveolens Dona, Shrub Seed oil is applied to Wilayati tulsi chest for colds

110 Appendix 8

No. Species Local Name Habit Uses

84. /chnocarpusfrutescens Karibed Climber Decoctionof leaves and stem is used in fever

85. Indigoferal/riifol/a Torki Herb Plant is used in febrile eruptions 86. /pomoeapes-tIgrid/s Michai Climber Seeds are purgative, juice of plant is used to dysentery 87. Ixoraparviflora Lukhandi Shrub Root and fruit given towomen when urine is lightly coloured 88. Just/cia simplex Herb Infusion of leaves given in facial paralysis 89. Kydia calyc/na Pula, Puli Tree Leaf paste is appliedin rheumatism 90. Lagerstroemia Lendia, Tree Bark used in rheumatism, parv/flora Dhaura and malaria 91. Leonoti:s nepetaefolia Hejurchi Shrub Flower ash appliedto ringworm root rubbedon the breastwhen milk does not pass from nipples 92. Lep/dagathistrfr7eivia Ridhatti Herb Plant powder is applied to cure itchy infections of skin, root- powdergiven in muscularpain 93. Leucasaspera Chotta Herb Flower used for colds and halkusa leaves for skin disease 94. Leucas cephalotes Bhodaki, Herb Flowers used as remedyfor Dronpushpi cough and cold 95. Litseapolyantha Meda Tree Bark used in malaria,stomach ache

96. Ma/lotusphi/i,bpens/s Karuala Tree Seeds used for tape worm 97. Millet/a aur/cu/ata Golhari Tree Root given to cattle to kill worms 98. Mitragynapaiv/flora Mundi, Kaim Tree Bark & root are used in fever and colds 99. Mucunaprur/ens Kewach Climbing Seed used as aphrodisiacand herb for scorpion sting, root used in fevers 100. Oc/murngrat/ssimum Ramtulsi Herb Shoot used in rheumatism, paralysis, Leaves used for seminalweakness 101. Olden/and/a corymbosa Dhadra Herb Plant juice given in jaundice & liver disease

102. Oxa/iscorn/cu/ata Chotakhatua, Herb Juice is used in acute diarrhea Amrulsak

111 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

No. Species Local Name Habit Uses

103. Phoeni)'sy/vestr/s Chindi Tree Juice of stem used as cooling beverage 104. Phy//anthusurinar!a Bhimli Herb Rootjuice used in jaundice 105. Physa/is rn/ri/ma Tulati Pati Herb Juice used in earache 106. Plectranthus Khatmer Herb Floweringtwig used for many ternifollus medicinalpurposes 107. Polygonumbarbatum Herb Seed used to relieve colic pain 108. Rung/apect/nata Pindi Herb Leavesused to relieve pain and swelling 109. Scopariadu/cis Muthipatti Herb Usedfor leprosy and diabetes 110. Semecarpusanacardlum Bhilwa Tree Gum used in veneral disease 111. Sidacord/folia Kungyi, Shrubs Root used in fever, Kharenti bark used in paralysis 112. Sm//axzey/anica Ramdaton Climber Rootused in rheumatismand dropsy 113. Smith/a conferta Herb Whole plant used as tonic to cure sterility 114. So/anumindicum Bhatkutai, Herb Root used for muscular pain, Makoi cholera,dry cough 115. Solanumniqrum Makoi Herb Leaves,fruits used in eye disease; Hair dye

116. Sterculia urens Kulu, Gulu Tree Tender leaves, gum used to facilitate delivery and for skin eruptions 117. Strobi/anthesaur/cu/ata Satputa Herb Roots used in coughs & colds 118. Swleteniarnahagon! ____ Tree Bark used as astringent 119. Syzyglum cumin! Jamun Tree Seed powder used for diabetes 120. Tamarlndus lad/ca Imli, Amli Tree Fruits used as digestive 121. Tephrosiapurp urea Sarphunka Herb Leaf decoction is used in coughs and colds

122. Terminal/a arjuna Kohua, Arjun Tree Juice is used in diarrhea 123. Terminal/a bellerica Bahera Tree Fruits used for intestinetrouble 124. Terminal/achebula Harra Tree Bark used as cardiac tonic, fruit used for gas 125. Trichodesma Indicum Chota kulpha Herb Root used to reduce swelling of joints and flowers used in birth control

112 Appendix 8

No. Species Local Name Habit Uses

126. Thdaxprocumbens Baramasi Herb Leaves used in bleedingpiles, peptic ulcer 127. Trfijmfetta Chikti Shrub Bark used in diarrhea and rfiombo/dea dysentery 128. 1./renalobata Bhinda,Unga Shrub Root paste used externallyfor rheumatism 129. Ventilago calycu/ata Raidhani, Herb Usedfor earache Kalibel

130. Vernoniaroxburghi/ Sahdovi Herb Root given used in dropsy, seed used as anthelmintic 131. Woodfordia frut/cosa Dawidhaura Shrub Flowers used for ulcers and Dhau rheumatism 132. Xanthiumstrumarium Gokuru Herb Flowers used for coughsand colds and for toothache 133. Zingiberzerumbet Jangliardak, Herb Rhizome used in rheumatism Narkachur

113 Appendix 9

Tirupati Declaration On Tribal and Folk Medicinal Plant Resources

On 4-6 September 1996, underthe auspicesof the IDRC MedicinalPlants Network, and hosted by the Herbal FolkloreResearch Centre, Tirupati,a group of experts on tribal and indigenousculture and medicine, economicbotany, ethnobotany, forestand agriculturalresource management, forest and agriculturaleconom- ics, pharmacology, public health, and socio-economic development, from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladeshcame together in the SouthAsia Conferenceon Tribal and Folk MedicinalPlant Resources.

These experts came together to discuss the current status of plant-basedtribal and folk medicine and to develop an action plan for the successful development of sustainable and self-sustaining tribal and folk medicine, in light of the recognitionthat:

Tribal communitiesin South Asia representthe poorestof the poor in thedeveloping world;

The vast majority of peoplein these communitiesare dependentupon tribal, folk, and mostly plant- based medicinesfor meetingtheir primaryhealth care needs;

These systems of medicineplay a significantrole in the lives and culture of these peoples; and

The production, processing, and utilization of plants for medicine offers a significant means of income generationfor the people, aswell as tremendouspotential for increasingthese socio-economic benefitsfor poverty alleviation.

On the basis of their discussions,the delegatesto the Conferenceidentified six major areas for future actions, and developeda set of priority actions for each area agreedto in the following Declaration:

1. Networking and Coordination

a. Noting that a number of projectsare underway throughoutthe region, and expertise in particular areasis quite high; and

b. Recognizingthat researchersremain largely isolatedfrom one another, with frequent duplicationof effort and lack of a strategic focus;

The Conferenceis resolved that there is a need for more coordinatedaction and for developmentof partnershiosbetween interested agencies.

The Conferencerecommends that the following activitiesbe undertaken:

i. Developmentof a Tribal MedicineNetwork in the IMPN Secretariat; ii. Broad circulationof a newsletterfocused on tribal and folk medicinein the region;

114 Appendix 9

iii. Establishmentof an electronic networkof interested researchers; iv. Networkingof industry interest groups for financial support of initiatives; and v. Developmentof an integrated,comprehensive, and accessible database,bringingtogether already- existing databases and filling in identifieddata gaps where existent. 2. Broadening of Ethnobotanical Research

a. Notingthat while several studieshave beencarried out in the region,inventorying plants and their uses, little information regardingthe collection, processing,administration, signficance of use, and cultural/socio-economicstatus of the users, has been collected; and

b. Noting further that participationby the tribal communitiesthemselves remains relativelylow and partnershipsare lacking which enrol them actively in the collectionof informationand decisions regardingdevelopment, and that this is a signficant gap in terms of developing projectswhich can have immediateand lasting impacts on peoples' lives and on primary health care among tribal communities;

The Conferenceis resolved that: Thereis a c/ear need for more broad-basedand comprehensive docu- mentationin ethnobotanicalresearch.

The Conference recommendsthat the following activitiesbe undertaken:

i. Development of a comprehensive data collection methodology,beyond enumeration of plants and their uses, to provide a complete picture of the tribal medicinalsystems in the locations under study;

ii. Publication of directories of medicinemen and their expertise for consultation;and

iii. Utilization of the comprehensive methodologyto lay the groundwork needed for a Network of pilot projects/modelvillage trials on self-sustainingand sustainable tribal medicine.

3. Raising the Status of Tribal Medicine as an Effective Health Care Resource

Aware that the tremendous financial and moral support given in favor of allopathy, and even more recentlyto classical traditionalsystems of medicine, has placed tribal and folk medicinalpractices at a great disadvantagein terms of their profile and utility for local people;

The Conference is resolved that there is a need to drawgreater attention to these medicinalpractices and toprovide a scientific basis toincrease pub/ic confidenceand acceptance.

The Conference recommendsthat the following activitiesbe undertaken:

i. Comprehensiveresearch on actual use patternsat the local level to establishthe importanceand value of tribal and folk medicine in primaryhealth care;

ii. Comprehensivetoxicity and pharmacologicaltrials on those formulationsreported from a number of locations in the region; and

iii. Development of green health kits for rural and urban users; including a "green first aid kit" for emergencyuse.

115 A Review of the Medicinal Plants Sector in India

The Conference further recommends that in all research and development activities undertaken, the following best practices be adhered to:

iv. Clinical trials and case studies of effects of plant-basedmedicines be applied consistentlyand prior to promotionand marketingactivities; and

v. Standards and quality control methodsbe rigorouslyapplied at each level of developmentfor all drugsunder development.

4. Sustainable Management of the Resource Base

Noting that research findings from throughout the region suggeststhat many of the plants used by tribal communities(as well as in other systems of medicine)are vulnerable,threatened, and rare; The Conference is resolved that action is needed to ensure that the resource base of medicinal plants continues to be available for the use of local tribal communities first and foremost, as well as for the global community as a whole.

The Conferencerecommends that the following activities be undertaken:

i. Developmentof village-levelgardens and communitygermplasm banks;

ii. Researchon tribal conservationand productiontraditions and sustenance;

iii. Training of local groups in sustainableidentification, collecting, and harvestingpractices;

iv. Developmentof planting supply informationsystems;

v. Developmentof propagationand cultivation techniquesfor selectedplants; and

vi. Development,publication, and broad disseminationof a Tribal MateriaMedica--highlighting plants used by different ethnic groups for different ailments.

The Conferencefurther recommendsthat in all research and developmentactivities undertaken,the following best practicesbe adhered to:

vii. Depositionof materials from all studies with national gene banks of medicinaland aromatic plants with appropriateagreements and protection;and

viii. Use of standardizedthreat analysesto prioritize locally-neededplants in all areas under study. 5. Equitable Sharing of Benefits and Increased Livelihood Security for the Poor

a. Noting that current market structures place tribals at adistinct disadvantage interms of economic benefits;

b. Aware that this lack of support is resulting in the decline cf traditionalknowledge as tribals faced with the need for gainful employmentchoose to learn other profitableincome-producing skills; and

116 Appendix 9

c. Also aware that the lack of strong economic benefits deriving from forests likewise increases continuedoverexploitation of these natural resources;

The Conference is resolved that there is a need to bring about more equitable sharing of benefits resulting from the use of medicinal plants in healthcare.

The Conferencerecommends that the following activitiesbe undertaken:

i. Development,at thevillage level, of cheap and low-cost post-harvesttechnology for value addition and increasedincome;

ii. Study of the impacts of cultivation and domesticationon the distribution of benefits;

iii. Developmentof partnerships between tribes and users of the resources,village level gardens, and productionand marketingcooperatives.

The Conferencefurther recommendsthat in all research and developmentactivities undertaken,the following best practicesbe adhered to:

iv. Communicationand wide diseminationof marketand price information,as well as results of relatedresearch, to local-levelproducers and users;

6. Supportive Policy Environment for Development of Tribal Medicine

Recognizingthat tribal medicine,subject to policies and regulationsadministered by a host of agencies, includingthose of Agriculture,Forestry, Health and Family Welfare,Tribal Welfare, etc., hasfound itself caught between a number of existing poTicies and consequently has not benefitted from a coherent and holistic approach to its development;

The Conferenceis resolvedthat policiesregarding land tenure and rights of access, intellectualproperty rights,conservation of resources, medicalstandards and quality controls, require assessmentand direction from the perspectiveof ensuring sustainable and self-sustainingtribal medicinalpractice.

The Conferencerecommends that thefollowing activities be undertaken:

i. Productionof a State-of-the-ArtReview of ExistingPolicies affecting Tribal Medicinein the region;

ii. Developmentof Curriculafor educationon tribal and folk medicinewith formal recognition (diplomas, etc.);

iii. Inclusionwith appropriate cautions of tribal medicinesin health care dispensaries,and employment of tribal medical doctors for consultationsin primary health care centres; and

iv. Granting of enforceablerights to tribals for self-useof forests within the context of Forest User Groups, JointForest Management,and similar programsin effect in particularcountries of the region.

117