A high-level stakeholder consultation was recently held at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, under the co-chairmanship of the Secretaries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) and the Ministry of AYUSH. The session brought together representatives from key ministries, the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), ICAR, State Horticulture Missions, State Medicinal Plant Boards, progressive farmers, and private industry players to chart a roadmap for strengthening the cultivation and use of medicinal plants in India.
Devesh Chaturvedi, Secretary, MoA&FW, underscored the potential to boost domestic production, inter-state trade, and export of medicinal plants. He called for greater convergence between agriculture and AYUSH departments and the scaling up of best practices under the MIDH scheme. He advocated for a mission-mode program to develop efficient cultivation techniques and strengthen the sector holistically.
Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, noted the sector’s rapid growth—eightfold in the past decade—highlighting its export potential and rising demand, especially post-pandemic.
The session focused on four key areas: developing region-specific clusters, enabling farmer-industry linkages for value chain integration, establishing dedicated mandis to ensure fair pricing, and promoting research and capacity-building initiatives.
Participants called for crop-specific cluster development, area expansion, assured procurement models, and marketing support to drive farmer income. Concluding the session, Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary (Horticulture), emphasized the need for targeted policy interventions and financial incentives to scale up medicinal plant cultivation nationwide.