Question : Identification of Medicinal Plants and Rare Species of Herbs

(a) whether the Government has conducted any survey to identify medicinal plants and rare species of herbs in the country and if so, the details thereof along with the list of plants identified, State/UT-wise including Bihar;
(b) whether the Government has assessed the various uses of these plants and if so, the details thereof with special reference to those in Bihar;
(c) whether the Government has any scheme to promote the cultivation and utilisation of medicinal plants in the country and if so, the details thereof along with amount sanctioned, released and utilised thereunder, State/UT-wise; and
(d) the other steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF AYUSH
(SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

Ans. (a) & (b): Yes Sir. Botanical Survey of India (BSI), an organization under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has conducted several field surveys and explorations in various phytogeographical regions of the country for floristic studies. Along with this, scientists of BSI have also identified Medicinal and Aromatic Plant species. About 2034 ethnobotanical information were documented on traditional/medicinal knowledge in the tribal regions of Odisha, Gujarat, Bihar, Tharu and Bhoksa tribe of Uttarakhand, Lodh tribes of West Bengal. During the surveys and explorations, apart from documenting floristic accounts, BSI documented ethnobotanical information on traditional/medicinal knowledge in the tribal regions of Odisha, Gujarat, Bihar, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) under Ministry of Ayush conducting Medico-Ethno-Botanical Survey Programme across different forest areas/geographical regions in the country through its various peripheral institutes. List of institutes and State/UT-wise list of the medicinal plants including Bihar, surveyed are at Annexure-I. During this Programme, various folklore claims of the surveyed plants are being collected and documented.
In addition, other Research Councils viz. Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) and Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS) under Ministry of Ayush are engaged in survey, identification and documnetation activities on medicinal plants species. Details are at Annexure-II.

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH, under its Central Sector Scheme on ‘Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants’ has also supported R&D projects on survey and identification of medicinal plants. Details of projects supported during last five years are at Annexure-III.
Besides, ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research (DMAPR), Anand, Gujarat and ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ICAR-AICRPs on MAP) conducts various research activities on collection, conservation, evaluation and documentation of germplasm of medicinal and aromatic plants through different AICRP centres including Bihar. The AICRP Centres operating in Bihar are as follows:
1. Bihar Agricultural University (BAU), Islampur, Bihar
2. Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University (DRPCAU), Pusa, Bihar

Ans. (c) Ministry of Ayush, Government of India had implemented the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the National AYUSH Mission (NAM) during the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21 to promote the cultivation of Medicinal Plants throughout the country. Under the Medicinal Plants component of the National AYUSH Mission (NAM) scheme, subsidy @30%, 50% and 75% of cultivation cost was provided for cultivation of 140 prioritized medicinal plants species to the farmers through State Implementing Agencies. As per the scheme guidelines, the support was provided for:

(i) Cultivation of prioritized medicinal plants on farmer’s land.
(ii) Establishment of nurseries with backward linkages for raising and supply of quality planting material.
(iii) Post-harvest management with forward linkages.
(iv) Primary processing, marketing infrastructure etc.

State-wise details of funds supported under medicinal plants component of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) scheme and from the F.Y. 2015-16 to 2020-21 given at Annexure-IV.

In addition, Research Councils under Ministry of Ayush are also involved in cultivation of Medicinal Plants. State-wise details of funds supported are given at Annexure-V.

Besides, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has been implementing a programme on Translational Research for Developing Products and Processes from Medicinal and Aromatic Plants by funding R&D projects on various aspects such techniques of biotechnology for identification of elite material and their multiplication, chemical and molecular characterization, production of secondary metabolites, developing standardized, efficacious and safe herbal products, isolation and characterization of novel bioactive with therapeutic potential, generating genomic resources and studying biosynthetic pathways in important medicinal and aromatic plants. The state/UT wise detail of fund allocation is given at Annexure-VI. Department of Science and Technology (DST) supports the cultivation and utilization of medicinal plants through research and development for evaluation of its biological potential, value addition and its field demonstration in case of standardized technologies. The list of projects supported in the last five years is at Annexure-VII.

Ans. (d) National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India is implementing a Central Sector Scheme on “Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants” under which project based support is provided for survey, inventorization, in-situ conservation through development of Medicinal Plants Conservation and Development Areas (MPCDAs), ex-situ conservation through establishment of Herbal Gardens, IEC activities (Training /Workshops/ Seminars etc.), Research and Development etc.
Besides, Ministry of Ayush had implemented the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the National AYUSH Mission (NAM) during the financial year 2015-16 to 2020-21 to promote the cultivation of Medicinal Plants throughout the country. Activities supported under medicinal plants component of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) scheme from the F.Y. 2015-16 to 2020-21 given at Annexure-VIII.