Chhattisgarh, designated as the herbal heartland of the country by the Union government will be coming out with a comprehensive Plant Development Policy for the state soon. The policy is expected to be announced by this July. Efforts are also on to set up an export promotion zone for medicinal plants, to take up intensive cultivation of medicinal plants in Mission Mode and establish an Ayurveda University.

The state government is also in the process of announcing the legislation on the Chhattisgarh Sustainable Harvesting and Marketing Rules for herbal plants which are being used by drug manufacturers across India. Currently, the state's herbal sector is grossly disorganized and a project namely the National Wild Flora Preservation (NWFP) is in progress along with creation of 23 herbal garden in six districts of the state.

The primary factors leading to an aggressive promotion of herbal plants cultivation is in the context of state's rich biodiversity, Krishna Chandra Yadav, CEO, Chhattisgarh Sate Vanoushadi Board told Pharmabiz. The state which covers a geographical area of 5,900 sq. kilometre has 44 percent of forest cover.

There are several initiatives like in-situ conservation, ex-situ cultivation, propagation, capacity building of local communities, development of processing technologies and emphasis o value addition on herbal produce. In order to capitalize the advantages of the herbal plant cover, the government formed the Chhattisgarh State Vanoushadhi Board to facilitate research and development of the medicinal plant sector.

The Board has prepared a database of 1525 herbal plants approved by the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), Bangalore.

The Medicinal Plant Development Policy will facilitate conservation, development and non destructive harvesting of medicinal plants. It will also allow progress of the cottage and small scale industries, drug manufacturing and marketing apart from exports of the medicinal plants and herbal products.

Currently, Bangalore based Natural Remedies and Dabur are sourcing its herbal raw materials from the state for its range of products.

Further, the state is also in the process of setting up the largest Herbal-Medicinal Industrial Park in the country spanning 250 acres developed under the Chhattisgarh Infrastructure Development Corporation. The Park, a private-public partnership initiative, is coming up at Kurud (Dhamtari).

Another project underway is the largest medicinal plant cultivation project promoted by the DS Group of New Delhi is in progress. Project area is 15,000 acres at a cost of Rs 8.63 crore and the project duration will span over a period of 15 years. A dedicated R&D cell is coming up at a cost of Rs 35 crore. A Super Critical Extraction Unit is under construction. The Park will focus on plants like bael, amla and sandalwood, besides intercropping of medicinal plants like aonla, aloe, sarpganda among others. In fact this will be the largest and first ever sandalwood cultivation centre in the country, stated Chhattisgarh Sate Vanoushadi Board chief.

There are also several public private partnerships underway. The state is also an integrated human resource development programme dedicated to the herbal sector in collaboration with the Forest department tat Chattisgarh Minor Forest Produce Federation and Universities.

In 2006-07, the state generated Rs 1,000 crore out of which 98 per cent came in from the unorganised herbal sector through sale of plants and products.