National Medicinal Plants Board launches consortia for medicinal plants

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) on Monday launched consortia for medicinal plants to deliberate on quality planting material, research and development, cultivation and trade of medicinal plants.

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) on Monday launched consortia for medicinal plants to deliberate on quality planting material, research and development, cultivation and trade of medicinal plants. According to the Ministry of AYUSH, the NMPB envisages the necessity of connectivity between stakeholders in the supply chain and value chain of medicinal plants.

"The NMPB consortia will address or deliberate (not limited to) on quality planting material, research and development, cultivation, trade of medicinal plants/market linkage etc," it said. To establish the linkage between the farmers and manufacturers, a 'seed to shelf' approach is being introduced, wherein, aspects related to quality planting materials (QPM), good agriculture practices (GAP's), good post harvest practices (GPHP's) would be addressed.

In the first phase, the NMPB consortia is proposed for medicinal plant species - Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Pippali (Piper longum), Aonla (Phyllanthus emblica), Guggulu (Commiphora wightii), Satavari (Asparagus racemosus). "Registration link for NMPB Consortia is available on the website of NMPB wherein, eligible organisations viz, Farmers/ FPOs/ FPCs/QPM centres/ Seed banks/ Nurseries/ SHGs/ NGOs/ Traders/manufactures/Exporters/Pharma/Research institutes / Agriculture Universities can register to be part of consortia," the Ministry said. (ANI)