APFDC to focus more on medicinal plants

The Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation Limited (APFDC) plans to focus on planting economically valuable native medicinal plants over an area of 3,000 hectares.

This is under the central government scheme Vanasapati Van, which is for the promotion of the Indian system of medicine and homeopathy. The centre has sanctioned Rs 5.12 crore of the total project cost of Rs 6.17 crore, while the remaining amount is being ploughed in by the state.

Though the project commenced in 2002, it has gained momentum only in recent months with more farmers taking up medicinal plants cultivation.

APFDC divisional manager (marketing) K Mallikarjuna Rao told Business Standard that the plants were being raised in the degraded forest lands in the traditionally rich areas of Andhra Pradesh -- Eastern Ghats and Nallamalai Hill ranges.

He said an area of 2,450 hectares in the Maredumilli zone of East Godavari district, ie, Eastern Ghats, and 550 hectares in Kurnool district covering parts of Nallamalai zone had been selected under the scheme.

Initially, APFDC will take up cultivation outside the forest area (ex-situ) in 500 hectares and in-situ (in the demarcated forest area) conservation in 2,500 hectares in the Eastern Ghats, and in the Nallamalai zone falling under Rajahmundry and Kurnool divisions.

At present, APFDC is raising the species of Safed Musli, Aswa Gandha, Sarpa Gandha, Satavari, Alovera, lemon grass etc which are of commercial value.

Of these, greater focus is on Safed Musli which has caught the fancy of farmers as well private nurseries in the state , said Mallikarjuna Rao. APFDC has decided to offer the saplings at Rs 250 per kg to the farmers.

The cultivation cost for an acre, which requires 500 kg planting material, is likely to be Rs 2.25 lakh. An acre will yield about 1,500-2,000 kgs in a period of nine months. Typically, five kilogrammes of raw materials are required to process one kilogramme of Safed Musli.

Dried material of Safed Musli of 'A' grade costs around Rs 1,400 per kg. Thus, a farmer is expected to earn around Rs 4 lakh per acre on Safed Musli cultivation.

Admitting the marketing woes of farmers, who have been fleeced by fly-by-night operators, Mallikarjuna Rao said that the corporation was also planning to develop a buy-back mechanism by involving drug industries and institutions.

He said the corporation was also undertaking a major awareness campaign to woo the farmers in the areas of Eastern Ghats and Nallamalai zones into profitable medicinal plant cultivation.

The corporation has standardised procedures for harvesting, field processing, storage and transport methods of the medicinal plants or their parts with emphasis on value addition.

It is also designing a plantation model of polyculture for raising the plants including trees, herbs, climbers and tuber species so as to ensure economic returns accrue from the harvesting, the official added.

AP Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) plans to focus more planting economically valuable native medicinal plants over an area of 3,000 hectares. This is under the central government scheme Vanasapati Van, which is for the promotion of the Indian system of medicine and homeopathy.

The centre has sanctioned Rs 5.12 crore of the total project cost of Rs 6.17 crore and the remaining is being ploughed in by the state. Though the project commenced in 2002, the momentum has gained only in the recent months with more farmers taking up medicinal plants cultivation.

APFDC divisional manager (marketing) K Mallikarjuna Rao told Business Standard that the plants were being raised in the degraded forest lands in the traditionally rich areas of Andhra Pradesh "� Eastern Ghats and Nallamalai Hill ranges.

Mallikarjuna Rao said an area of 2,450 hectares in the Maredumilli zone of East Godavari district, ie, Eastern Ghats, and 550 hectares in Kurnool district covering parts of Nallamalai zone had been selected under the scheme. A medicinal plant propagation unit had been set up at Dulapalli near the state capital for the purpose.

Initially, APFDC will be taking up cultivation outside the forest area (ex-situ) in 500 hectares and in-situ (in the demarcated forest area) conservation in 2,500 hectares in the Eastern Ghats, and in the Nallamalai zone falling under Rajahmundry and Kurnool divisions.

At present, the corporation is raising the species of Safed Musli, Aswa Gandha, Sarpa Gandha, Satavari, Alovera, lemon grass etc which are of commercial value. Of these, greater focus is on Safed Musli which has caught the fancy of farmers as well private nurseries in the state.

APFDC has decided to offer the saplings at Rs 250 per kg to the farmers. The cultivation cost for an acre is likely to be Rs 2.25 lakh. An acre will yield about 1,500-2,000 kgs in a period of nine months.

In the dried form, five kgs of raw material makes up one kilogram. Dried material of Safed Musli of 'A' grade, at present, costs Rs 1,400 per kg. Thus, a farmer is expected to earn around Rs 4 lakh per acre on Safed Musli cultivation.