| Suja Nair Shirodkar, Mumbai Monday, May 07, 2012, 08:00 Hrs [IST] |
The Department of Ayush has directed all the stakeholders from the Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani (ASU) fraternity to share their comments and suggestions on ways to establish an electronic herbal mandi project for the medicinal plants. Through this project, the government wants to bridge the existing gap between medicinal plant growers and the ASU drug manufacturers, so as to help in better facilitation of sale and purchase of medicinal plants based on the prevalent market conditions.
This ambitious project aims at providing a level playing ground for the medicinal plant growers to get right market price for their products without any undue influences. The idea to launch this project was announced by the Dr Balaprasad, CEO of NMPM and the joint secretary of Department of Ayush while discussing the potential ways of exploring newer methods to develop cultivation of medicinal plants. He informed that the Department has ensured to make provisions for the same in the 12th five year plan. At present, though this project is at a very nascent stage, the industry has expressed their support for this initiative and feels that it is high time for the Government to finally to take a pro-active stance on their long standing demand for electronic mandi. According to Dr Nagesh, member of technical committee, Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers Association (ADMA), "Having an electronic mandi for the purchase and sale of medicinal plants will provide an ideal platform for both the manufacturers and the producers of these plants to do business directly. This will not only help the farmers to get just and deserved price value for their products but will also provide as an impetus for them to continue producing this plants based on the demands of the manufacturers. Most importantly it will ensure timely delivery of quality products to the drug manufacturers." Over the years, ADMA had been insisting to the Government, through repeated representations, to implement this scheme for the benefit of the industry. The Association feels that such initiative is essential to ensure that there is prolonged cultivation of these medicinal plants for meeting the demands of the industry. The Association informed that they will soon be taking initiative to get all the stakeholders to give their suggestions and views on this topic. The final suggestion will be sent to the Department after substantial deliberations and meetings with the industry members and farmers to get their detailed perspective on the affordability and feasibility of the technology that can be adopted for the electronic mandi. At present there are 52 listed of medicinal plants that are generally grown in the state of Maharashtra which are used for manufacturing of ASU drugs. The industry feels that through the implementation of this project there will be a substantial increase in the production of medical plants in the country. |
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