MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC CROPS (2+1)

The importance of plants

Plants have been used by the mankind since prehistoric times for getting relief from sufferings and ailments. Primitive people, when injured in battle or when they had a fall or cut, instinctively resorted to materials available at the reach of hand for stopping the flow of blood or for relieving from pain and, by trial and error, they learnt that certain plants were more effective than others. Man has also gained such knowledge from his observation of birds and animals which use plants for curing their ailments. Even today, we find that the domestic dog and cat, when they suffer from indigestion or other ailments, run to the field, chew some grasses or herbs and vomit to get cured. The folk medicines of almost all the countries of the world abound in medicinal plants wealth, rely chiefly on herbal medicine, even today.

Today, chemical and pharmaceutical investigations have added a great deal of status to the use of medicinal plants by revealing the presence of the active principles and their actions on human and animal systems. Investigations in the field of pharmacognosy and pharmacology have provided valuable information on medicinal plants with regard to their availability, botanical properties, method of cultivation, collection, storage, commerce and therapeutic uses. All these have contributed towards their acceptance in modern medicine and their inclusion in the pharmacopeias of civilized nations.

The practices of indigenous systems of medicine in India are based mainly on the use of plants. Charaka Samhita (1000 BC-100 AD) records the use of 2000 plants for remedies. Ancient medicine was not solely based on empiricism and this is evident from the fact that some medicinal plants which were used in ancient times still have their place in modern therapy. Thus for example, ‘Ephedra’ a plant used in China 4000 years ago is still mentioned in modern pharmacopoeias as the source of an important drug, ephedrine. The plant Sarpagandha (Rauvolfia serpentina) which was well known in India as a remedy for insanity is in existence today for curing mental ailments. Quinine, another important anti-malarial drug of modern medicine, was obtained from the cinchona tree.

The knowledge about the use of medicinal plants has been accrued through centuries and such plants are still valued even today, although synthetics, antibiotics, etc. have attained greater prominence in modern medicine. It is, however, a fact that these synthetics and antibiotics although they often show miraculous and often instantaneous results, prove harmful in the long run and that is why many synthetics and antibiotics have now gone out of use or have been specified to be prescribed strictly under medical supervision. In the case of most medicinal plants, however, no such cumulative derogatory effect has been recorded and that is why many of the medicines obtained from plants are still widely used today.

It is also true that lately, inspite of the rapid progress and spread of modern medicine, the popularity of herbal medicines is gaining momentum.

Besides the above, the following are some of the reasons that make the large scale cultivation of medicinal plants inevitable.

1. In nature, there remains a wide variation among the plants with regard to their active principles. As only the best among them are used for cultivation, it enables us to obtain raw material of homogenous quality with high potency.
2. It is easy to grow and fulfill the commitment of large scale demand through cultivated sources rather than from natural sources, which mainly depend on nature for their regeneration and availability.
3. The increasing pressure of population and the development of roads into remote areas have resulted in deforestation and the eventual loss of natural plant resources.
4. In many cases, the important plant parts used are roots or the entire plant, results in destructive collection/ extractive methods, which results in the extinction of many species and ecotypes.
5. Despite the fact that our forests are the major resource base for medicinal plants as many of them appear in wild, the importance of conservation has not been clearly spelt out. Any long-term strategy includes the conservation of biodiversity and support to the communities which are solely dependent on forests for their livelihood.
6. The unauthorized collection of minor forest produce by persons who are led by the burgeoning demand for raw medicinal plant parts has led to the deprivation of the rights and opportunities of the forest-dwelling communities.
7. Since government of India provides policy support for promoting Indian system of medicine, the pharma industries look for organized supply of quality raw materials in larger quantities.