New Delhi, March 20: Jammu & Kashmir has received ₹679.40 lakh in funding and 14 new projects over the past five years under the Centre’s scheme for conservation and sustainable management of medicinal plants, the Union government informed Parliament on Thursday.
The initiatives are being implemented by the National Medicinal Plants Board under the Ministry of AYUSH to promote conservation, strengthen supply chains and create livelihood opportunities for local communities involved in medicinal plant cultivation and trade.
According to the government, the scheme titled “Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants” is being implemented across the country, including in Jammu and Kashmir, to protect rare species while linking farmers and forest communities with markets.
Under the programme, project-based support is provided for several activities including in-situ conservation through Medicinal Plants Conservation and Development Areas (MPCDAs), resource augmentation in forests, establishment of herbal gardens, and livelihood linkages with local institutions such as Joint Forest Management Committees, Panchayats and Self-Help Groups.
The scheme also supports training programmes, research and development, awareness campaigns and strengthening of marketing infrastructure for medicinal plant products.
Nationally, a total of 498 projects have been sanctioned in the last five years with ₹16,505.5 lakh released to states and Union Territories, according to official data.
Apart from conservation, the government is also focusing on improving the supply chain and market access for medicinal plant growers. Since 2023-24, the NMPB has approved 15 projects under a new integrated component aimed at forward and backward linkages in the medicinal plants supply chain. These projects are expected to cover around 2,000 hectares of cultivation area by providing quality planting material and establishing post-harvest management infrastructure.
To improve price transparency and connect farmers directly with buyers, the government has launched the “e-CHARAK” digital platform, which facilitates trade and information exchange among stakeholders in the medicinal plant sector. The application provides fortnightly price updates for around 100 medicinal plants across 25 herbal markets in India.
According to official figures, the platform currently has over 11,000 registered users, more than 30 million visitors, and over seven million buyer–seller interactions.
The government said the scheme also encourages local clusters for value addition, drying, warehousing and marketing, particularly benefiting communities living near forests.
The information was provided by Prataprao Jadhav in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
