Potency of Herbal Marketing

Indian herbal market is registering an extremely significant growth and is likely to reach Rs.14,500 crore (Rs 145,000 million) by 2012 and exports to Rs.9,000 crore (Rs 90,000 million) with a CAGR of 20% and 25% respectively, according to findings of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

In a Chamber Study on `Herbal Industry Biz Potential' has revealed that currently, the Indian herbal market size is estimated at Rs.7000 crore (Rs 70000 mn) and over Rs.3600 crore (Rs 36000 mn ) of herbal raw materials and medicines are exported by India.

Assocham has organized an International Herbal Expo in Delhi on Friday in which 50 international buyers are participating

The reasons cited for the herbal industry experimental growth comprises setting up of Herbal farm clusters by the government for improving quality of drugs and promotion of exports, doubling the cultivation of medicinal plants by converting existing farmland, continuous focus for R&D on product and process development and effective marketing of herbal products, the study said.

The study also revealed that out of 700 plant species commonly used in India, only 20% were earlier being cultivated on commercial scale and 90% of medicinal plant used by the industries are collected from the wild.

On the whole, India is stated to have 45,000 plant species (nearly 20% of the global species) occurs in the Indian sub-continent. Out of these, about 4,500 species of both higher and lower plant groups are of medicinal value.

The study, however, said that the major hurdle for cultivating medicinal and aromatic plants as a sustainable agricultural profession were the lack of organized and regulated markets in India. The regulated production on scientific lines, effective enforcement of licensing system and setting up of Export Promotion Zones (EPZ) in select states will push up exports of herbal material and medicines.

Apart from that, the Indian herbal drug exporters face the stringent quality norms imposed by the EU through the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD), Food Supplement Directive (FSD) and these directives also encouraged the high quality products and subsequently the unorganized sectors sub-standard products are rejected by them.

India followed by China is the largest producer of medicinal plants, having more than 40% of global diversity. The states which are major producer of herbal plants having the highest medicinal value include Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra and the Himalayan Range.

According to Assocham estimates, over 70% of the plant collections involve destructive harvesting because of the use of parts like roots, bark, wood, stem and the whole plant in case of herbs. This poses a definite threat to the genetic stocks and to the diversity of medicinal plants if biodiversity is not sustainably used.

Around 70% of India's medicinal plants are found in tropical areas mostly in the various forest types spread across the Western and Eastern ghats, the Vindhyas, Chotta Nagpur plateau, Aravalis and Himalayas. Although less than 30% of the medicinal plants are found in the temperate and alpine areas and higher altitudes they include species of high medicinal value. Macro studies show that a larger percentage of the known medicinal plant occur in the dry and moist deciduous vegetation as compared to the evergreen or temperate habitats.

"This will be particularly so because in the identified countries, urge for swadeshi (indigenous) herbal medicines has been rising due to their quality ingredients, availability factor and price competitiveness with virtually little side effects. Secondly, swadeshi (indigenous) herbs and medicines meet all the WHO prescribed standards and norms and thus encounter no restrictions in overseas markets to have instant acceptability from its takers", the study said.

The medicines that have established export demand in economies of scale and produced with international quality norms include psyllium husk, sema leaves & pods, sandalwood chips and dust, Jojoba seeds, psyllium seeds, pyrethrum, basil, hyasop, rosemary safe, svory, galangal rhizonmes and roots. The application of these medicines is multifaceted and cure even serious aliments with little precautions and that's why are in great demand. India's share in medicinal plant export in global trade is just about 2.5% against 13% of China.

The paper highlights that India has 15 Agroclimatic zones, 4700 different plant species and 15000 medicinal plants The Indian Systems of Medicine have identified 1500 medicinal plants, of which 500 species are mostly used in the preparation of drugs.