2.

Study Methodology
2.1. Introduction
The herbal sector in the country can be broadly differentiated into three discernably distinct but inter-related arenas of operation linked to (i) the resource, (ii) the trade, and (iii) the consumption respectively. These broad operational arenas further reflect the following complexities: a. Resource (whether from wild, cultivated or imported source), b. Trade (botanical identity, supply chain, quantities in trade and rates, etc.), c. Consumption (whether by manufacturing sector in the country, for exports or local users at household level and how much?). In view of the complexities of herbal sector mentioned above and the involvement of large number of plants, people and locations, data collection was taken up for each of three aforementioned arenas independently. For ease of collation and analysis, information was sought/ recorded on a set of specially designed simple formats. The direct approach method was employed to gather information related to (a) trade in the selected raw drug markets, (b) consumption of botanical drugs by the sampled manufacturing units of Indian herbal industry, and (c) household level consumption of plant materials for health care use by sampled rural households. As far as manufacturing units are concerned, questionnaires/ formats were circulated by post and email to gather information. However, as the response was found to be meagre in the given time schedule, direct approach method was employed in this case also and visits were made to the manufacturing units to gather necessary information. Published records were used to collate information pertaining to exports and availability of resource from the wild. The data so collected was collated, analysed and assimilated in the form of present report. Details of the methodology are as follows:

2.2. Identity of the Botanicals

The first challenge to work out the dynamics of demand and supply in respect of botanicals is to understand the nomenclature related complexities and to establish identity of the plant-based raw material in trade. Whereas the plant based raw drugs usually enter the trade at the source level under their local vernacular names, these come to be recognised by their regional trade names specific to the raw drug market where these are brought for trade. The industry, especially the one dealing with making classical formulations, refers to and uses these botanicals by their classical names, adding another level of complexity to the identity of plants. Many a times botanicals derived from different plant species are known in the trade and classical use by the same name, making it difficult to assess the demand for each specific plant species.
Daruharidra Is it Berberis or Coscinium? Roots and wood of Berberis spp. (Berberis aristata, B. lycium, B. asiatica, B. chitria, etc.) from western Himalayan States enter the trade as kashmal and become daruharidra or daruhaldi in the larger markets like Delhi. Similarly, wood of Coscinium fenestratum from western ghats enters trade as maramanjal and also becomes daruharidra in the larger markets in southern India. Daruharidra forms an important raw material in a number of classical formulations and is used in significant quantities. Information from the industry would at best provide information about the quantities of daruharida used by it. However, whether this material pertains to one or more species of the genus Berberis from Himalayas or Coscinium fenestratum from western ghats remains unclear.

Many a times different names are used for the same plant material in different markets, making it difficult to consolidate its demand at national level.
Lichens (Parmelia perlata) Our data collection exercise has revealed that this lichen species is being traded in different markets under entirely different names e.g. Mehndi (Himachal Pradesh), Jhula (Uttarakhand), Chhadila (Amritsar & Delhi), Dagarphool (Mumbai) and Kalpaasi (Chennai) making correlation of these different trade names to the same botanical identity a challenging job.

In some cases an incorrect botanical name gets recorded in the production and supply records on account of the fact that the plant material shares a trade name popularly correlated to an altogather different plant entity. To cite an example, Chiraita is the accepted trade name for Swertia chirayita, a plant species restricted to the

temperate regions. However, since Andrographis paniculata or Kalmegh, a tropical plant, is also sometimes referred to as chiraita, many raw drug markets and even the official records relating to the production and supply of this species from the forests of central India wrongly refer to it as Swertia chirayita. A special emphasis was laid under this study to resolve this critical issue. At the first level, the vernacular names of botanicals recorded in the surveyed mandis and industries were matched with their botanical identities with the help of local/ regional floras, forest working plans and other available literature. In case of raw drugs in trade with controversial/ multiple identities, their samples were collected from the market, carefully examined and compared with the reference samples maintained at FRLHTs raw drug repository and linked to the botanical names of the plant resources. FRLHTs medicinal plants database developed as a result of more than fourteen years of research and data compilation was consulted extensively to resolve the complex nomenclature issues. Several herbal industries, especially of the large (A) and medium (B) category, provided their annual consumption data with the scientific names of plant materials and such data has been included in the analysis without any examination of material being used by them. A number of other sampled units provided data on incorporating the classical/Sanskrit names of plant raw materials and the botanical identities of these have been interpreted with the help of relevant publications as well as FRLHTs nomenclature correlation database. Many a times more than one species of a genus are traded under one popular trade name, with the associated records referring to only one of these species. Efforts have been made to enlist such equivalent species. For example, in case of gokshura traditionally linked to Tribulus terrestris, the other species of Tribulus, i.e. T. alatus, T. lanuginosus, T. subramanyamii & T. rajasthanensis, etc. have also been treated as under trade. However, as far as the botanical identity of adulterants of some of the well-known botanicals like asoka chhal is concerned, it has been inferred with the help of available reports and publications.

2.3. Trade Value and Volume

It is important to arrive at an assessment of the diversity of botanical entities in trade, and their respective quantities being consumed in the

sector, for informed decision making relating to the management interventions of these natural resources. The data relating to the market rates, of the range of species in trade, also needs to be analysed to ensure that such decisions have a sound economic basis as well. Visits were made to the important raw drug markets across the country and information on the diversity of botanicals in trade along with quantities traded and prevailing market rates, as provided by respondents (traders), was recorded on specially designed formats. Information related to trade of botanicals was also collected from the retailers to add quality to the data. Available price lists in the markets were also collected to have a comparative idea about the prevailing rates. Samples of raw drugs, especially pertaining to the controversial raw drug groups, were collected for confirmation of identities and for further reference. In as far as trade pertaining to the exports of botanicals is concerned, sample survey of a few export houses was also carried out in addition to the data compilation relating to the exports, from DGCIS reports.

2.4. Consumption of Botanicals

The huge demand for botanical drugs is mainly on account of (a) consumption by the domestic herbal industries, (b) consumption by the rural households for their healthcare and (c) exports. Surprisingly, no records of consolidated consumption of these plant materials, either by the industries or the households, are maintained at the national or the state level. Thus, the data on the subject had to be collected from the primary sources through survey and sampling. 2.4.1. Manufacturing Units: Preliminary literature review and informal inquiries revealed that there is a complex of large number of manufacturing units using herbal material for various purposes. Whereas the largest number of such manufacturing units are registered as pharmaceuticals, there are others that are engaged in making plant based cosmetics and food supplements. Even within the pharmaceutical units, there are manufacturers of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathic formulations with a few even making western medicines. Another group of manufacturing units is engaged in making extracts and distilling oils for use by other industries and for exports. The raw material for all these diverse industries being largely derived from the same sources, it was felt necessary to include all these units in the survey to arrive at reasonable estimates of demand and supply figures. Based on the break-up of 7000 Ayurvedic herbal manufacturing units (Anon. 2002a), the following size-wise break-up of the 9493 licensed manufacturing units (as per enlistment by AYUSH Department) has been worked out for the purpose of this study: Unit Size* Category Annual Apprx. Turnover Number of (Rs. in Crores) units > 50 14 550 36 1-5 1443 <1 8000 Total: 9493 manufacturing units adapted from the ISM

Large Medium Small Very Small

A B C D

*Size-wise classification of classification

The sampling design to adequately cover the herbal manufacturing units was based on the following assumptions drawn on the basis of

earlier reports on the subject and on the basis of reconnaissance survey under this study: that the quantum of resource use is largely independent of the manufacturing stream (Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, etc.). that the small and very small manufacturing units as a group (i.e 9443 units falling in the category C & D) use larger diversity of medicinal plant species than the group consisting of larger manufacturing units. that even though the number of medicinal plant species in trade is large (of the order of 900 or so), only a limited number of species are traded in sizeable quantities (exceeding 100 MT/ year each). That even though some of the licensed small and very small manufacturing units were not operational, all such units were assumed to be operational to offset the impact on the total trade size on account of many cottage scale unlicensed units engaged in such manufacturing activities.

In view of the above assumptions and the category-wise classification of the herbal industry, the following sample size was planned for gathering data from manufacturing units: Unit Size Category Apprx. Number of units Planned Samp le Size/ (cove rage %) 50% 25% 2% 1% No. of Units to be Samp led

Large Medium Small Very Small

A B C D

14 36 1443 8000

07 09 30 80

Data was collected on specially designed formats. These formats were sent by post/ email to the targeted manufacturing units seeking information on the consumption of botanicals by the unit. This was followed up with visits of FRLHTs study teams to these units for collection of quantitative and qualitative data about consumption of plant-based raw material. The large and medium sized units i.e. category A & B were more intensively targeted for obtaining

information and the small and the very small units were randomly picked up for the purpose. Personal contact was also established with the Drug Controllers of various states to seek information on the consumption statistics by herbal units of the state. 2.4.2. Rural Household Level Use: India has very strong ecosystem specific and plant based folk healthcare traditions. A lot many ethno-botanical studies have been carried out to document these traditions and to list the plant species used in such traditions. Many of these studies have also recorded the use of plants and the dosage size. However, studies providing quantification of the use per household are few and scattered. Lack of any estimates relating to the quantification of medicinal plants usage by this large segment, has left out such consumption in the demand estimation of medicinal plants. Under this study, an attempt has been made to assess the pattern of medicinal plants usage by millions of rural households of our country and thus to flag this very important issue of quantification of such consumption. Information at household level - folk healers have been treated as household consumers under the study - was gathered on specially designed semi-structured formats by involving various NGOs working in the field. Ten randomly selected households per selected village were taken up for the study. To facilitate the respondents in providing as accurate information as possible, the information was collected in the way the respondents use the plant material e.g. by numbers, by pinch, by fistfuls, by handfuls, bundles, etc. The respondents were also requested to show the samples of the plants to enable their correct identification. 2.4.3. Exports: Since the exports of plant-based material are regulated by the Indian Customs and the annual record of all such exports is compiled by DGCIS, the latest available data on exports of botanicals was sieved from the DGCIS records for the years 2003-04 and 2004-05. Limited contact was also attempted with exporting firms to understand the latest trends and channels of exports.

2.5. Supply Sources of Botanicals

The three main sources of botanical raw drugs are wild (forests as well as other landuse elements), cultivations and imports. 2.5.1. Supplies Obtained from Wild: Major supply of plant raw drugs of wild origin is obtained from forests. Information about such supply and the quantum of wild harvest has been gathered from the Annual Administrative Reports and other relevant office records of the State Forest Departments by making visits to these offices. Qualitative inputs with regard to field observations on the resource status, and to understand the lines of harvest and trade, were made through informal interactions with the field forests staff and local gatherers/ traders. 2.5.2. Supplies from Cultivations: There does not seem to be any specific agency that maintains records of cultivation of medicinal plants either at the national level or the state level. Whatever information is available is inferred from the resource use side. In some cases where the species are of pure cultivation origin like Isabgol, the use figures (domestic and export) reflect a fairly good idea of the production. However, there are many species that are partly sourced from cultivation and partly from the wild. Whereas the major source of information about the source of material (wild/ cultivated) was the raw drug markets, special visits to major cultivation centres in Gujarat and Rajasthan were made to understand the extent of cultivation. Information about cultivation under buy-back arrangements, if any available, was obtained during visits to manufacturing units.

2.5.3. Imports: The available literature shows that raw drugs pertaining to some 50 medicinal plant species, in use in the country, is entirely based on imports. The major source of information about the import data was the official DGCIS records. Information about the import of botanicals was also gathered during market survey and visits to the manufacturing units.

2.6. Analysis and Synthesis of Data

The massive data gathered under the study has been systematically collated, analysed and synthesised for generating the key findings and recommendations, with focus on the following issues. 2.6.1. Check-list of Traded Species: The primary data on the diversity of species in trade as collected from the traders and manufacturing units was analysed and synthesised in the form of a Check-list of the medicinal plants in trade. This Master List, based on the list of traded medicinal plant species as published by the EXIM Bank (Anon. 2003), also includes the known substitutes and adulterants in trade as recorded during field surveys and also literature based information on species in trade in the country in historical as well as current trade as gleaned from the literature. Trade information on the basis of historical records has been incorporated to understand the shift in use pattern and consumption of substitutes for species in short supply. 2.6.2. List of Species in High Trade: The check-list of traded medicinal plants was further analysed on the following parameters to compile a list of prioritised species for more focussed resource management interventions: High Annual Trade Volume: All medicinal plant species with annual trade volume of 100 tonnes or more. Species in Competitive Use: Plant species traded for medicinal and other uses, if the collective use volume is more than 100 tonnes per year and even if the species is used for medicinal purposes in relatively small quantities (e.g. Henna, Lichens, etc.). However, the well known spices like ginger, turmeric, cardamom, pepper, clove, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, etc., which are almost entirely being obtained from cultivation and the national level assessment of

quantities is maintained by agencies like the National Spices Board, have been excluded from this list of highly traded species. 2.6.3. Consumption Data: The data in respect of consumption of the resource, as gathered from the varied consumer categories, was analysed and synthesised as under: [A] Manufacturing Units: The data collected from the manufacturing units was analysed and synthesised based on the following understanding arrived at after preliminary analysis of data:that categorisation of herbal manufacturing units based on the level of consumption of botanicals, along with its correlation with the annual turn over, is an appropriate criteria for stratification of data collected in the survey. It implies that the annual turnover of a herbal manufacturing unit is correlated to the quantum of annual consumption of botanicals and vice versa. that the estimate of gross annual procurement costs of all botanicals (excluding spices, cereals, fruits etc), by the herbal manufacturing units, can provide a reasonable estimate of the annual turnover of this sector.

Based on the categorisation of sampled manufacturing units, as defined above, the consolidated consumption data has been analysed and synthesised in the form of (i) species-wise consumption estimates and (ii) gross consumption of herbals by the industry and its correlation with the annual turnover of the sector. [B] Households: The quantitative estimates of consumption of upto ten botanicals, by each sampled rural household, has been converted into the equivalent dry weight for consolidating the estimates of total consumption by the rural household sector. [C] Exports: The latest available published records of the DGCIS, for the years 2003-04 and 2004-05, have been analysed and the commodity-wise details of botanicals along with quantities exported were compiled. The data for all the three above mentioned consumption sectors has been thereafter, synthesised into unified gross consumption estimate for the country.

2.6.4. Raw Material Supply Data: The data related to raw material supply from wild, imports and cultivation was collated and synthesised. This information was used to understand and work out the major supply chain, the prevailing market rates, the extent of supplies from the wild and the species in short supply.