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| Urgent need to harness aromatic and herbal resources | | |
THAKUR RANDHIR SINGH
Exploring The Himalayan Herbs & Aromatic Treasurer Trove :-
“ Earth is here so kind that just a tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest”
India has a rich heritage of usage of Aromatic –Medicinal plants in Ayurvedic and Unani systems besides may plants from ethnic medicine. India is one of 12 leading biodiversity centres with the presence of over 45000 different plant species. India’s diversity is unmatched due to presence of 16 different agro climatic zones, 10 vegetative zones, 15 biotic provinces. India’s rich flora has thousands of Aromatic-Medicinal plants and there are bout 15000 to 20000 that have good medicinal value. Thus by utilizing its rich heritage, wide diversity in soil and climatic conditions and rich flora and fauna, India is set to become a Rs 50000 crores Aromatic –Herbal market and global supplier of Aromatic Herbal comparing to International standards. China is exporting worth Rs. 50000 crores herbs and Thailand worth Rs24000 crores, India’s share at present is Rs. 345 crores. Besides 62 Essential oil plants species present in India the important one having the export potentials are Palmorosa, Citronella, Lavender, Japanese mint, Peppermint Lemon Grass, Eucyplytus, Geranium, Rose, Davana, Vetiver, Jasmine, Patchouli, Sandal wood etc.
The entire Himalayan region stretched from Jammu , Kashmir and Ladakh, Himachal, Uttranchal upto Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunanchal is a virtual herbaritarium, full of unidentified and unexploited wealth of Aromatic, Medicinal and Herbal plants. There is no systemic policy for the protection, production and scientific commercialization of these products without directly tampering with the bio-resources and bio-diversity of such a vast wealth. As of now, there are several players in the country to add confusion to this sector i.e the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India, Horticulture division of Ministry of Agriculture, Medicinal Plant Board of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and in the States, departments of Forests, Ayurveda and Horticulture Universities etc. Since it is everbody’s business, therefore it is nobody’s business.
The Department of Forests have declared such products as “ Minor Forests Products (MFP) ” being a minor forest produce , the Department of Forests is not at all concerned about its preservation and propagation and this area is totally neglected because the emphasis of Forests department at all is for the green cover by planting trees and therefore, the foresters are not sensitive about the under growth cover which grows in the shape of Flowers, bushes, leaves, stems, tubers, herbs and spices etc. In fact, there are certain trees also like wild apricot and wild peach and several other trees which also have the herbal, medicinal and aromatic potentialities.
With the recommendations of the Forest Department in certain States, the exploitation of this forest produce has been given to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and Village Panchayats for exploitation. The village Panchayats auction of these rare natural resources through petty contractors. Therefore, every year during the peak autumn and summer months, hoards of labourers of these petty contractors invade the pristine Himalayan wealth and uproot such valuable plant spices as a result of which there is an immediate threat about the existence of some of these rare varieties and large number of varieties are at the threshold of extinction . Their entry into Red Data Book as threatened species dies not make any difference. Therefore, there is a need to stop this practice forthwith to save the rare bio-diversity of such plant wealth in the entire Himalayan region.
Under the Forest Protection act, no forest produce can be sold for commercial purpose. Obviously, there is an inherent contradiction.
There are large stretches of cold mountain deserts in the Himalayan region like Ladakh, Lahaul spiti where there is hardly any growth of trees and other forest cover , but in the records of the forest department such areas have been covered as Forest areas. This is another inherent contradiction in the definition of Forest itself which needs to be redefined.
In view of the above, the following points need consideration
There should be mass propagation of such species at various altitudes by the Forest Department for raising nurseries, either through seedlings, re-plantation or through biotechnology etc.
At the second stage, after hardening of these plants the same can be sold out to the villagers in the neighbouring areas to encourage them for further multiplication in the nurseries and thereafter the same can be further distributed to the farmers for growing it either underneath the orchards or in the peripheries of their fields or in the private waste lands.
There should be some agency in the Government level to coordinate these efforts for encouraging mass propagation of the planting material in various schemes of Govt. of India i.e National Horticulture Board, Horticulture Technology Mission, Medicinal Plant Board, TIFAC, NCDC and any other organization of the Govt. of India. The existing schemes of the NHB should be strengthened to encourage the growers engaged in this field, so that there can be better allurement to give boost to this sector. I would suggest 50% subsidy to the growers of Aromatic and Medicinal plants. The next step should be to organize these growers in the clusters and the produce be bought to the nearby locations for the first stage of conversion either in the shape of oils, powder or granules etc. which can be covered under the post Harvest Management and Primary Processing schemes of national Horticulture Board, Ministry of food Processing, NCDC etc. and other organization. All exemptions from sale tax and Central and State Taxes and also ban on the import of essential oils, like other agriculture commodity. The farmers should be represented in policy making agencies, administration, law enforcement agencies, Agriculture Universities, and various Commodity Boards in relation to their share in the population. We must ensure that we can take a page out of the books of Developed countries where agriculture is heavily subsidized sector simultaneously agriculture credit should be stream lined through agencies like NABARD, Cooperative banks and also PSU banks so that the farmers not have to depend on the moneylender, which is one of the reason for the spate of suicide in our agriculture heartlands.
Agriculture subject to be included in the curriculum of school education with a view to attract the youth towards agriculture profession. The subject must be included in the process of selection of IAS officers.
Government of India should set up Division for the development of Mountain areas of Himalayas to preserve its bio-diversity, ecology, environment, forest, wild life, herbs, Medicinal and Aromatics , Fisheries , Horticulture and water conservation etc. All the existing schemes of various Ministries concerning these departments can be transferred so that there is a special thrust given to the mountain of Himalayan areas. I would suggest the formation of “ The Himalayan Development Authority ”.
The development parameters for the Himalayan region should be at the cost of development in the Himalayan regions is extremely high and there can not be parity with the existing schemes of various Ministries of Government of India.
The banks should be asked to provide concessional finance in the hills as the holdings are too small and the farmers who constitute about 90% of the population are hesitant to mortgage their small holdings to the banks and for project upto Rs. 10 Lacs , banks may be directed not to hypothecate the assets instead of collateral security.Interest in the hilly areas upto Rs. 10 Lac per product should be given at the concessional rate of 4%. Already elite sectors like housing and Automobile sector is getting a concessional finance . so why not to give concessional finance to the poor people of the Himalayan region. Crop insurance premium should be 1% Assesment of damage on individual basis and all risks covered,Loan waiver on two successive crop failure and interest waiver on one crop failure.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Horticulture Division of Government of India should encourage supporting the schemes of commercial Horticulture for production. The schemes of NHB are to promote commercial horticulture, whereby providing 25% of back ended subsidy, 75% of private investment arranged from financial institutions and banks is all into the horticulture sector. Moreover, the existing scheme is full proof to verify the physical progress because there is total check on physical progress, so there is less element of any foul play.
The National Horticulture Board should earmark some area within its campus for the federation of Indian Horticulture. The Confederation should establish its own office with all supporting staff so that it does not have rely upon the mercy of the officials of the NHB. This is very important to introduce dynamism into the horticulture sector through the participation of the various commodity Boards and also to encourage their involvement with State Level commodity Boards so that entire horticulture sector gets emerged. This is green industry which should be encouraged which has got tremendous potential for growth in the country.
Cost of Aromatic projects in Hilly areas is different from plain areas. tribals in hilly areas do not have land possession certificates and therefore banks should not insist on this, instead village council and Banks can have physical verification.
Ginger is earning massive Foreign exchange, In North East it is the best quality, matching that of China. India, too, can do this if subsidy and incentives are given like tax benefits. Ginger was an Aromatic , spice and have Medicinal values.Viable projects should be made in Ginger-related areas.
The Budget of the National Horticulture Board should reflect the requirements and aspirations of the various commodities Associations recently formed under organized sector. Adequate budgeting powers to be bestowed to plan their financial allocations for training and visits abroad. |
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