Parliament Question: Financial Assistance for Cultivation Plants

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †4611 ANSWERED ON 20/03/2026 “Financial Assistance for Cultivation Plants” †4611. Shri Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa: Shri Bharat Singh Kushwah: Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state: (a) the steps being taken by the Government for the promotion and growth of medicinal plants in the country; (b) whether the farmers engaged in cultivation of medicinal plants are being provided financial assistance or assistance for sale of produce; (c) if so, the details of farmers across the country including Madhya Pradesh who have benefited from it; (d) whether the Government proposes to assist the Government of Punjab to promote medicinal plants, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; (e) the details of the funds released to the Government of Punjab during the last three years and the outcome thereof; (f) whether the Government has conducted any survey to discover rare species of medicinal plants and herbs and if so, the details thereof; (g) whether the Government has got any research conducted on the medicinal properties and effects of these plants during the last five years, if so, the details thereof; and (h) the details of the steps taken by the Government to improve market access and price transparency for producers of medicinal plants? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYUSH (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV) (a) The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of Ayush is implementing “Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants” throughout the country. Under the scheme, the project-based support is provided for following activities: 1i. In-situ conservation through development of Medicinal Plants Conservation and Development Areas (MPCDAs). ii. In-situ/Ex-situ resource augmentation. iii. Ex-situ conservation through establishment of herbal gardens. iv. Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) / Panchayats / Van Panchayats / Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) / Self Help Groups (SHGs). v. IEC activities like Training / workshops / Seminars/ Conferences etc. vi. Research & Development. vii. Promotion of marketing and trade of medicinal plants produce. viii. Forward and backward linkage in supply chain of medicinal plants. Till date, NMPB has supported 138 projects to organise the training program/seminars/workshops for promotion of medicinal plants throughout the country from the Financial Year 2020-21 to 2024-25. Besides this, NMPB, Ministry of Ayush, through its RCFCs conducted awareness & training programs for the promotion and growth of medicinal plants in the country. (b) & (c) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) - Centrally Sponsored Scheme for holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic and medicinal plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo throughout the country. Under MIDH scheme, provision has been made for providing assistance for area expansion of short duration medicinal plants i.e. non-perennial in nature and non-tree species. Details of cost norms alongwith the pattern of assistance is given at Annexure – I. Besides this, NMPB, Ministry of Ayush has supported projects under Forward and Backward Linkage in Supply Chain of Medicinal Plants (Integrated Component) of existing Central Sector Scheme from the F.Y. 2023-24, wherein project based support is provided for Infrastructure for Quality Planting Material to raise the planting material of medicinal plants for cultivation, Information Education Communication (IEC) activities to aware the farmers, Infrastructure for Post-Harvest Management and Marketing to increase the marketability of the medicinal plants, adding value to the produce, increasing profitability and reducing losses, Quality Testing and Certification of raw material. NMPB has approved total 15 project proposals to the different states including Madhya Pradesh under Forward and Backward Linkages in supply chain of Medicinal Plants (Integrated Component) of Central Sector Scheme of NMPB from the Financial Year 2023 -24 to till date to cover approximately 2000 hectare area under cultivation of medicinal plants by providing the QPM to the farmers. Detail is given at Annexure-II. (d) & (e) As per the information received from Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the detail of fund allocated and released to Punjab State under MIDH scheme for implementation of various interventions during last three years is given below: 2Year Allocation (Rs. in Crore) Release (Rs. in Crore) 2022-23 51.83 15.55 2023-24 49.77 22.39 2024-25 66.67 25.00 Beside this, NMPB has also supported projects for an amount of Rs. 32.255 lakh to the Punjab state under Research & Development and Information, Education and Communication activities of Central Sector Scheme (CSS) on ‘C-onservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants’ for promotion of medicinal plants during the last three year. (f) Yes, the Government of India has conducted extensive surveys and studies to identify rare, endangered, and threatened species of medicinal plants and herbs across the country. These activities are primarily carried out by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It is reported that: • An estimated more than 8,000 species of medicinal plants are found in India. • Surveys by different government agencies have identified over 5,250 plant species and documented over 9,567 folk claims for various ailments. (g) NMPB has supported projects under Research and Development activity of Central Sector Scheme for conservation, development and sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants on different aspects of medicinal plants. The detail is given at Annexure-III. (h) To improve market access and price transparency, NMPB has launched “e-CHARAK” mobile application as well as web portal for the promotion and marketing of medicinal plants/herbs for trade of Medicinal Plants & easy market access, The “e-CHARAK” is a platform to enable information exchange between various stakeholders mainly farmers involved in the medicinal plants sector across the country. The “e-CHARAK” application supports different local languages and it also provides fortnightly market price of 100 MPs from 25 herbal markets across India. Currently, e-Charak mobile has Registered users-11,119; Total visitors-30565540; Posted items-7,588; Buyer Sellers Interactions-7114690. ********** 3Annexure –I Cost norms for cultivation activities as per MIDH scheme Name of the Component Cost Norms Pattern of Assistance Medicinal Plants Rs. 1.5 Lakh/ha Assistance @ 40% in general areas for an area (Mulethi, Shatavari, upto 2 ha. on pro rata basis for meeting the Kalihari, Shwet Musali, expenditure on planting material and cost of Gugggal, Manjishtha, material for Integrated Nutrient Management Kutki, Atees, Jatamansi, / Integrated Pest Management etc. in 2 Ashwagandha, Brahmi, instalments of 60:40 Tulsi, Vidarikand, Pippali, Chirata, In the case of North East & Himalayan States, Pushkarmool) Scheduled areas including TSP (Tribal Sub Plan) areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands, assistance will be @ 50% for an area upto 2 ha. on pro rata basis. 4Annexure-II Details of projects supported under Integrated Component of Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants during the last three year, State/UT-wise S. F.Y. State No. of projects Total approved No. amount (In lakh) 1 2023-24 Andhra Pradesh 01 120.00 2 2023-24 Jammu & Kashmir 01 82.50 3 2023-24 Mizoram 01 120.00 4 2023-24 Uttarakhand 01 120.00 5 2024-25 Karnataka 01 120.00 6 2024-25 Tamil Nadu 01 95.00 7 2024-25 Kerala 01 120.00 8. 2024-25 Madhya Pradesh 01 119.95 9. 2024-25 Delhi 01 120.00 10. 2025-26 Rajasthan 02 240.00 11. 2025-26 Uttar Pradesh 02 220.00 12. 2025-26 Gujarat 01 120.00 13. 2025-26 Haryana 01 120.00 Total 15 1717.45 5Annexure-III Details of project supported under Research & Development Activity of Central Sector Scheme on different aspects of medicinal plants S.No. Research activity No of projects 1 Bioactivity guided fractionation studies and pre-clinical 11 studies 2 Development of agro techniques, standardization of nursery 6 techniques 3 Documentation and development of geo tag digital library 3 4 Finding out substitute and authentication of raw drugs 9 5 Genotype Identification, genetic improvement, genome study 6 and germplasm collection & conservation 6 Intercropping and sustainable production technology 2 7 In-vitro propagation studies, micro-propagation chemical & 15 molecular profiling and phyto-chemicals evaluation 8 Post-harvest Management, assessment of heavy metals and 4 integrated pest management 9 Survey, identification, characterization and conservation of 5 medicinal plants 10 Varietal development and prospect of marketing 0 Total 61 6