The State Medicinal Plant Board (SMPB) in Kerala and the Ayurveda Medicine Manufacturers of India (AMMOI) have together carved out a business strategy to resolve the burning issues prevailing in the medicinal plant sector in Kerala.

Entering into a contract agreement with the farmers of medicinal plants and the manufacturers of ayurvedic medicines, SMPB has assigned Care Keralam, the Ayush cluster located at Koratti in Thrissur district, to work out the strategy to redress the grievances  concerning prices and availability of the raw materials. As a result, MoUs were signed between the farmers and the Ayush cluster.

As per the contract, Care Keralam will buy the raw drugs cultivated by farmers by giving remunerative prices for their produce and ensure availability of the materials with the manufacturing companies. These two factors, remunerative prices and availability, were the burning issues stood unresolved in the medicinal plant industry till date,  said K G Sreekumar, chief executive officer of SMPB.

After holding a comprehensive discussion on various issues faced by the growers of herbs and other medicinal plants at the Ayush trade expo site in Thrissur in last week, SMPB  created a platform for the buyers and sellers to interact one another and worked out a buy-back agreement between the farmers and the Care Keralam on the purchase of the produce.  Following the agreement, 12 cultivators  of medicinal plants  signed Memorandum  of Understanding (MoU) with Care Keralam in the presence of  SMPB officials and Ayurveda medicine manufacturers.

According to Sreekumar, out of the 12 signatories, ten were from Kerala and five from Maharashtra. Officials representing Maharashtra state medicinal plant board also attended the signing ceremony.  In future, the farmers will supply their raw materials to Care Keralam which  will distribute  it to the medicine manufacturing companies. He said more farmers will sign MoUs with the Cluster in the coming days and new farmers are coming forward to do medicinal farming for which SMPB will provide maximum support.

Meanwhile, the Chennai based Centre for Traditional Medicines and Research (CTMR), an NGO engaged in giving training to growers of herbs and natural plants, has expressed interest to assist Kerala State Medicinal Plant Board and the medicinal plants industry with their technical and scientific expertise. According to the organisation, lack of proper communication and understanding between the industry and the farmers is the cause of all the problems.

Dr T Thirunarayanan, the secretary of CTMR, while interacting with Pharmabiz on the Kerala issue, said the SMPB should first of all hold a proper demand and supply assessment on yearly basis with the support of some agency. The manufacturers of ayurvedic medicines should provide information on the current and upcoming needs of their industry,  and if possible they should foresee the requirement for a period of  two years because some species take months to yield while some others take years.

“  Not all plants will grow in all regions. Therefore it is not possible for the farmer with a small holding to grow multiple crops.   Either the manufacturers association or the SMPB should have a proper list of potential growers, a report of land holdings of the farmers and a  land suitability pattern. The land should be allotted to different farmers in different clusters with a range of medicinal plants to be grown according to the needs of the industry.

 “The issue of market price can be resolved by mutual understanding between farmers group and industry association. If any violation of the agreement is found on either side, it can be dealt with by arbitration by SMPB”, he added.

He said CTMR is ready to carry out the demand and supply study of medicinal plants for the Ayurveda industry in Kerala.