Though medicinal plant cultivation and exports has gained immense opportunities in the global scenario, Tamil Nadu is yet to tap its potential, said experts participating in a seminar on 'Herbal cultivation and buyback', organized this week at Chennai by Naveena Velanmai Trust.

The seminar stressed on cultivation practices and buyback offers of medicinal plants like Aloe Vera, Stevia, Biodiesel Jatropha and Chenna. Experts said these plants, which have good export demand, could be widely cultivated in Tamil Nadu. Plants like Aloe Vera and Jatropha are more productive and profitable in the dry climate of northern part of Tamil Nadu.

Aloe Vera cultivated in Tamil Nadu is of very high quality and maintains the best quality, which is next to the same species cultivated in Mexico. It is commonly used in many herbal drugs and cosmetics in the form of gel, said Vijay A Mehta, president of Ayurvedic Siddha and Unani Drug Manufactures Association. The global consumption of Aloe Vera is of 110 billion dollars at present and it will be increased to five trillion in 2020 and to seven trillion in 2050. Contribution of India in this business is insignificant now.

The manufacturers also emphasized on product quality maintenance and need of standardization of quality especially for exporting. As it is used in 200 products including drugs, cosmetics and food products Aloe Vera has obtained acceptance globally rather than other herbal species, said the manufacturers in the seminar.

Demand for Aloe Vera and Stevia are very high and cultivation is not sufficient to meet demand at present. Demand for Stevia also increased as consumption of sugar has been proved as the cause of various diseases. But most of the farmers are not aware of the possibilities of Stevia cultivation, said Sai, one of the distributors of Stevia.

Manufacturers participating in the seminar assured the farmers to buy back their produce, as a motivation to cultivate medicinal plants. The seminar also discussed various subsidies from the governments to improve medicinal plant cultivation.

Dr Jagannathan, Aloe Vera consultant, VK Ramaswamy, proprietor of Aravana Agro Farm, Kanniga, member of Naveena Velanmai were among the experts who presented papers in the seminar.