When they catch a cold or run a slight fever, most people in the world pop a leaf, berry or fruit — not a pill. Nearly 80 % of the global population relies on medicinal plants and their products for their primary healthcare needs, say researchers.

Given the traditional knowledge accumulated over thousands of years in India, it is no surprise that the country is among the top three exporters of medicinal plants. Manoj Kumar Sarcar, a former forest service officer, who did research on medicinal plants said the size of the international market for all herbal products is estimated to be around $62 billion with 85% of the total imports by a dozen developed countries.

With more than 6.71 lakh registered traditional practitioners, India occupies a unique position in the use of medicinal plants, says Sarcar. Despite this, there is no policy framework to protect and conserve this natural resource, and many of them are under threat due to a various reasons. Even as the Centre is keen to promote Indian medicine systems like Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, it has ignored the protection of their key source material...........Read more

Source web page: The Times of India