Future prospects and constraints

Future prospects and constraints

    A comparative analysis of the prospects and constraints of the medicinal plant-based drug industry in our country reveals the following.
    Prospects
    1. The World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasized the need for better utilization of the indigenous system of medicine, based on the locally available medicinal plants in the developing countries. In the USA and UK, plant-based drugs are being used in recent years on a considerable scale. The former USSR countries, East European countries and China have adopted an integrated system of allopathic, traditional and folk systems of medicine. During the last two decades, there has been a tremendous transformation of medical systems in the world. Owing to the realization of the toxicity associated with the use of antibiotics and synthetic drugs, Western countries are increasingly aware of the fact that drugs from natural sources are far more safer. Therefore, there is an upsurge in the use of plant derived products.
    2. Medicinal plants and their derivatives will continue to play a major role in medical therapy in spite of advances in chemical technology and the appearance of cheap, synthesized, complex molecules from simple ones through highly specific reaction mechanisms. The reaction involved is either difficult or expensive to duplicate by classical chemical method. For example in Vitamin A, disogenin and solasodine of plants, where stearic forms are possible, chemical synthesis yields a mixture of the isomers which may be difficult to separate. The product obtained by synthesis may therefore be toxic or have a different therapeutic effect than what is obtained in nature.
    3. Drug development out of medicinal plants is less costlier than synthetic drug development. Reserpine is a good example of this. The synthesis of reserpine costs approximately Rs.1.25/g, whereas, commercial extraction from the plant costs only Rs.0.75 /g.
    4. The vast range of agro climatic conditions in India, varying from alpine/mild temperate to tropical regions with abundant rains and sunshine make it an ideal place for the luxuriant growth of flora. India is endowed with incredible natural plant resources of pharmaceutical value. Despite comprising only 2% of the land mass, India is blessed with 25% of the biodiversity of the world. Over 7000 species of plants found in different ecosystems are said to be used for medicine in our country. The Indian pharmacopoeia records about 100 medicinal plants available in India and their preparations.. Out of these, quite a few are also recorded in the pharmacopoeias of other countries of the world and there is a growing demand for them in the international market.
    5. There has been a tremendous upsurge in the demand for phytopharmaceutical raw medicinal herbs and vegetable drugs of Indian origin from the Western nations. There is also an increase in domestic demand for raw material used for perfumeries, pharmacies and biopesticidal units. The demand for traditional herbal drugs is also increasing rapidly mainly because of the harmful effects of synthetic chemical drugs and also because of an expansion of pharmacies manufacturing natural drug formulations.
    6. Our country is the proud possessor of an impressive medical heritage which encompasses various systems of medicine, viz., Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, folklore and grandma medicine. India has an invaluable treasure trove of various scriptures on diverse medical systems.
    7. India is the source of cheap labor and skilled manpower which readily absorbs technological change and also adopts the same.
    8. Being strategically located in the world map, India could become a potential supplier of phytopharmaceuticals, alkaloids and raw medicinal herbs for the emerging world market. At present, India is not self-sufficient in pharmaceutical products, and drugs worth millions of rupees have to be imported every year by the pharmaceutical industries in order to meet the national demand for drugs. Hence it is necessary to bestow utmost attention to check the import by producing the raw material and fine chemicals within the country.
    9. In addition, these crops have many virtues like drought hardiness, capability to grow on marginal lands. They are relatively free from cattle damage and hence, can be profitably grown in areas where stray cattle or wild animals or pilferage is a major problem. As it is, medicinal plants are better earners than many of the field crops. Since they are new crops, there is an immense scope for further improvement in their productivity and adaptability, in order to obtain further increase in returns. They are suitable for incorporating into various systems of culture like intercropping, mixed cropping and multi tier cropping.
    Constraints
    1. Although India is a leading exporter of medicinal plants in the world, the rate of growth of these crops in relation to their economic prospects is not at all satisfactory. The reasons for this apparent backwardness are many and varied.
    2. So far, there has been no organized research set-up to continually recharge scientific inputs in order to make their cultivation not only economically viable but also more profitable, so that they can claim their due share in the cropping systems of the country.
    3. In spite of the thrust given by the government of India through the institutions like the Centre for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP): the Regional Research Laboratories (RRL), at Jammu, Bhubaneshwar and Jorhat; Directorate of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (DMAPR), National Botanical Gardens, Forest Research Institutes, state Cinchona Directorates in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the replenishment of renewable inputs like quality planting material of improved varieties, developing extension literature, organizing training and quality testing, are very limited because of the number of medicinal plants as well as their divergent uses.
    4. The other major constraint is marketing of the cultivated raw material because of the quality considerations. Lack of testing facilities at the procurement and trading centres together with unscrupulous market handling, results in wide fluctuations in prices, often going down to uneconomic and unrealistic levels. Thus, speculative trade has been one of the most serious deterrent to the development of this enterprise.
    5. The systematic cultivation of a few medicinal plants has been found to be a discouraging enterprise, mainly because of the uneconomical price they command. For example the sale price of Phyllanthus amarus is as low as Rs.10/kg, making it a commercially unviable proposal. There is a need for the user industry to come forward and ensure that the cultivated product is going to be homogeneous, in comparison to those collected from natural sources, where there is possibility for wide variation.
    6. Although most of them are industry oriented crops, the pattern of land-holdings does not lend itself for commercial cultivation on an extensive scale. In case of a few plants, viz., aonla, asoka, arjun, bael, nutmeg, neem, the cultivation involves a long gestation period due to which many farmers are reluctant to grow them.
    7. Unstable market conditions have also kept farmers away from taking up cultivation of these crops. The prices of certain crops like Holostemma annulare fluctuate greatly; the price of the crop/kg ranged from Rs. 70/kg in 1993 to Rs. 240/kg in 1990.
    8. In the phytopharmaceutical industry, presently, no quality standards have been fixed, either for the raw material or the final product and, as such, one finds wide variation in the quality specifications.
    9. Difficulty in proper identification of medicinal plants has led to the use of adulterants or mimics. Physical verification is also a difficult proposition, mainly because the plant part used in many cases like the barks, roots, etc, show close resemblance. The only way to check adulterants would be by chemical examination.
    10. The package of practices for number of medicinal plants has not been standardized to suit different agro ecological conditions.
    11. The supply of raw material for the phytopharmaceutical industry is virtually monopolized. It is found that supply and price patterns are often determined by the minor forest produce contractors/gatherers.
    12. In a number of cases the produce has to be used fresh for which instant transportation is a must, and in many cases it cannot be stored for long periods as this would entail fumigation which at times, results in chemical contamination of the raw material and eventually the final product, because of its residual effect. Generally, the maximum period for which plant material should be stored is around 5-6 months and no more.
    13. To overcome these constraints, it is necessary to organize the cultivation of medicinal crops on specific regional basis and organize their marketing on similar lines as that of other cash crops like coffee, tea cardamom, to maximise their production and returns. In fact, in some states like Tamil Nadu, there are some organized production systems like contractual farming, group farming which are exclusively engaged in the production, procurement and marketing of these crops.

Last modified: Tuesday, 29 November 2011, 5:06 AM