Production of Medicinal Plants in Asia

Keith Chapman FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Bangkok Thailand Narong Chomchalow Office of the President Assumption University Bangkok Thailand

Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, cultivation, threatened species, wildcrafting Abstract Medicinal plants have played a significant role in many ancient traditional systems of medication in Asia such as the Ayurvedic and Unanic systems of India, the Chinese traditional medicine, as well as their derivatives in most Asian countries. At present, medicinal plants still play an important role in both developed and developing countries in Asia. In addition, they also generate income to the people of many Asian countries who earn a living from selling collected materials from the wild or through their own cultivation. Asia is unique among geographical regions of the world since it possesses (I) high biological diversity, (ii) high cultural diversity, (iii) diverse ancient civilizations, and (iv) abundant raw material for modern drug manufacturing. Collecting naturally-occurring medicinal plants has taken place in Asia since prehistoric time. At present, such activity, although limited in amount in most countries, is still carried on with the objectives of using them in traditional medicine or for processing into pharmaceutical products. Such activity generates income to the native people, provides raw material at a low cost, and access to material not available through cultivation. However, collection also creates problems in genetic erosion, especially with uncontrolled collection, and thus unsustainability. Cultivation of medicinal plants in Asia is characterized by the following criteria: (i) subsistence cropping systems, (ii) scattered farming areas, (iii) poor quality, and (iv) lack of integration. The advantages of commercial cultivation of medicinal plants include: (i) helping to conserve endangered species in their natural habitat, (ii) permitting production of uniform materials, (iii) providing good income to the farmers, (iv) providing opportunities for value-addition through processing, (v) providing a better environment through utilizing waste and unproductive lands, and (vi) providing continuity of supply. As compared to other economic crops, medicinal plants have received much less attention in genetic and cultural improvements. Only a few countries in the Region are now cultivating improved cultivars, while the rest still depend on wild material collected for cultivation. Their cultivation techniques are quite primitive, resulting in poor yield and quality of the materials. Several constraints are envisaged, e.g. biotic (unimproved cultivars, long life cycle, susceptability to pests and diseases), abiotic (low soil fertility, flood and drought, improper light intensity and duration, extremes of temperatures, and physical injuries or damage), technological (lack of good agronomic practices, lack of technology and technology transfer, and lack of facilities) and socio-economic (competition with other economic crops and modern drugs; lack of market channels, a domestic pharmaceutical industry, and organized cultivation; and no price support/incentive provided). In spite of the above constraints, medicinal plants continue to play a significant role in the welfare of people in Asia. Due to higher demand of raw material for industrial processing, coupled with the loss of natural habitats of most medicinal plants, large-scale cultivation of promising species has recently been attempted in several countries.

Proc. WOCMAP III, Vol. 5: Quality, Efficacy, Safety, Processing & Trade in MAPs Eds. E. Brovelli, S. Chansakaow, D. Farias, T. Hongratanaworakit, M. Botero Omary, S. Vejabhikul, L.E. Craker and Z.E. Gardner Acta Hort. 679, ISHS 2005

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INTRODUCTION Medicinal plants are those that possess certain chemicals that are active in treating and preventing specific ailments and diseases. Such chemicals can be extracted for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products. Medicinal plants have played a significant role in various ancient traditional systems of medication such as the Ayurvedic and Unanic systems of India, the Chinese traditional medicine, and their derivatives in many Asian countries. At present, medicinal plants still play an important role in developing countries in Asia, both in preventive and curative treatments, despite advances in modern western medicine. They also generate income to the people of many Asian countries who earn a living from selling collected materials from the forest, or who cultivate them on their lands. The development of modern medicine since the turn of the century, supplemented with the introduction of modern drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies, have dealt a strong blow to traditional medicine which was accused as being inefficient, laborious in preparation and, most important of all, unavailable due to scarcity of raw material. This is exacerbated by the lack of traditional doctors who cannot earn a living without basic materials (i.e. medicinal plants) and demand (i.e. customers). The high cost of modern drugs (most of which have to be imported from the West), their unavailability in remote areas, and, most important of all, the serious side effects of certain drugs, have all made the pendulum of medical treatment swing back to the side of traditional medicine in recent years. The importance and value of traditional and indigenous herbal medicine were the subject of WHOs campaign during the 70s which led to an appeal to all member countries to do their utmost to preserve their national heritage in the form of ethno-medicine and ethno-pharmacology and to reinclude the use of known and tested medicinal plants and derivatives into their primary health care in rural areas, as well as an alternative when modern medicine was not available. Moreover, since a large portion of drugs produced by pharmaceutical industry are derived from medicinal plants, the demand for these raw materials is steadily rising. Such demand is met by obtaining naturally-occurring plants through indiscriminate collecting, or by cultivating them. ASIA: THE LAND OF MEDICINAL PLANTS Asia is unique among geographical regions of the world since it possesses the following tropical ranging from tundra to deserts and rainforests characters: High Biological Diversity Due to its widely diversified ecological conditions, particularly in the tropical rain forests, it has a biological diversity that is the greatest of all regions of the world. This high diversity of the Region is reflected by the number of species of plants and animals, including medicinal plants. High Cultural Diversity Not only is Asia rich in biological diversity, it is also quite rich in cultural diversity. Since the dawn of human history, biodiversity and humanity have become inextricably linked. Areas of high biological diversity are among the most culturally disparate, with large numbers of distinct communities inhabiting adjacent areas, each with their own language, culture, and system of traditional medicine. The last category depends on the availability of medicinal plants easily found within the community. A wealth of traditional knowledge about medicinal plants to cure illness has been accumulated over a long period and has been handed down from generation to generation until the present time. Ancient Civilizations Parallel with cultural diversity that took place in isolated areas in the jungles of tropical Asia was the existence of ancient civilizations in East and South Asia. Unlike the

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ruins of many empires of other regions, the Chinese and the Indian were quite successful, prosperous, and, above all, healthy. A simple argument for their being healthy is the number of people presently living in the two most populous countries of the world. Indonesia, which is the fourth most populous country, can also claim to have healthy people as well as ancient civilization. All these ancient peoples had made extensive use of medicinal plants to cure their ailments based on the systems of traditional medicine. From China and India, systems of traditional medicine spread to all other Asian countries. They were later modified to become systems of their own in most Asian countries. Abundant Raw Materials for Modern Drugs Asia has been well known in the modern world as the storehouse of raw materials for western pharmaceutical manufacturers. Up to the recent past, the majority of these raw materials were easily obtainable from collecting naturally occurring plants. Along with cheap raw materials, accumulated traditional knowledge of native peoples of the use of medicinal plants was also exported freely for further development and exploitation by western pharmaceutical companies. MEDICINAL PLANTS PRODUCED IN ASIA Having a long history of being utilized by Asian people, the number of species of medicinal plants known to the people of Asia is enormous. This makes listing of all medicinal plants found in Asia difficult and impracticable. Thus, in order to provide a meaningful list of medicinal plants in Asia, it is best to provide the list of promising species and group them into two categories, namely those which are collected from the wild and those which are cultivated. Medicinal Plants that are Collected from the Wild It has been estimated that four out of five medicinal plants utilized by man are collected from the wild (Srivastana et al., 1995). The list of medicinal plants that are collected from the wild is presented in Table 1 while the details are given in Chapter 4. Medicinal Plants that are Cultivated Due to higher demand of raw materials for the manufacture of drugs as well as to meet other requirements such as standard quality, reliable supply, reasonable price, etc., many medicinal plants are now being cultivated. The list of medicinal plants that are cultivated is shown in Table 2 while the details are given in Chapter 5. Countries of Production of Major Medicinal Plants in Asia Although most countries in Asia are capable of acquiring medicinal plants for their traditional uses, very few are capable of producing them in commercial quantity. These are China, India, Indonesia, and Nepal. There are also a few countries that are able to produce medicinal plants on a commercial scale, but the quantity produced is still quite low, and mainly utilized domestically. The list of countries of production of major medicinal plants in Asia is shown in Table 3. COLLECTING NATURALLY-OCCURRING MEDICINAL PLANTS The Present Status Collecting naturally occurring medicinal plants has taken place since pre-historic times. As the result of population explosion and the resulting forest clearing for food production, most Asian countries, which until recently collected medicinal plants from the wild, have almost completely halted such practices as they are quite scarce or nonexistent. A few countries that are able to maintain high degrees of natural forest cover are the ones that keep on collecting medicinal plants from the wild. These countries include Nepal, Bhutan, Lao PDR, and to a certain extent, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan (Table 1).

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Objectives of Collecting 1. For Use in Traditional Medicine. For native people who live in remote areas, as well as the poor people who cannot afford to buy expensive western drugs, traditional systems of medication such as the Ayurvedic, Unanic, Jamu, etc., are the only means to cure illness. Such systems depend almost exclusively on medicinal plants. Of the amount utilized in the preparation of traditional medicine, about 90% are collected from the forests. 2. For Processing into Pharmaceutical Products. Due to the scarcity of medicinal plants occurring naturally in the wild, the cost involved in transportation, the variability of collected material, and the non-constant supply, very few countries are able to keep on such a practice. The country in which this practice is made on a large scale is Nepal, due to her favorable conditions. Previously, raw materials were collected for export (through her southern neighbor India) for processing into pharmaceutical products, often by western countries. However, with the establishment of a state enterprise, Herbs Production and Processing Co. Ltd. (HPPCL), together with the installation of processing units in remote mountainous areas, much collected raw material is now being processed domestically. Advantages of Collecting Naturally Occurring Medicinal Plants 1. Generating Income of Native People. In the hilly and mountainous region of Nepal, collecting naturally occurring medicinal plants has supplemented the meager incomes derived from subsistence farming (Rawal, 1996). This is further fostered by the establishment of distillation units by the local people in these areas. These small enterprises have uplifted the income of the local people through collecting material from the wild, gaining value addition from local processing, and saving on high cost of transport bulky material on rugged terrain to be sold in the city. 2. Providing Raw Material at Low Cost. In countries where naturally-occurring medicinal plants are available in large quantity, collecting provides raw material for pharmaceutical factories at low costs, particularly where cheap labor is also available. 3. Access of Material Not Available through Cultivation. Traditional medicine requires a large number of medicinal plants, many of which are available only from the wild. Collecting this type of medicinal plants is important to traditional doctors who depend on the supply of such material. Disadvantages of Collecting Naturally Occurring Medicinal Plants 1. Genetic Erosion. With the increasing popularization of alternative medicine (to modern allopathic medicine), large quantities of medicinal plants are being collected. The amount collected varies from country to country, and from one species to another. If the collected materials are used in traditional medicine, the amount is small and collected by the expert who knows what he wants. A traditional doctor depends on sustainable supply of the materials; thus he only collects what he needs and leaves the remainder to resume their growth for his future harvesting. On the other hand, if materials are collected by commercial collectors for export to pharmaceutical companies, they are collected vigorously and in large quantities, damaging not only the ones collected, but also their neighboring plants. It often happens that these materials are greedily collected down to the last specimens of the species. Many species of medicinal plants in the Himalayan forests are now in danger of extinction. Mahesh Uniyal of Indian Press Service in Dehra Dun, India, described a case of Taxus baccata, which grows at 1600 m above sea level. This species has disappeared from large parts of India and Nepal. This is because the thin spiked leaves of the plants yield toxol, an anti-cancer drug, thus inducing hill people to collect the plant to sell through the middlemen (at US$3.50 per kg) to city-based exporting firms (Uniyal, 1993). Where materials are collected for a domestic industry, as demonstrated in the case of HPPCL of Nepal, the situation is not that serious. In fact, the villagers who collect materials for sale to the middlemen realize the fact that these materials are their own

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resources, thus awareness of their conservation is quite obvious. 2. Uncontrollable Quality and Quantity. As would be expected, both quality and quantity of materials collected from the wild cannot be controlled. Often the materials are mixtures of various kinds of medicinal plants that may look alike but, in fact, they are not. The quantity collected depends on luck and seasonal conditions. 3. Unsustainability. As forests in most Asian countries are disappearing at a fast rate, the supply of medicinal plants that grow in the forests is obviously unsustainable. Measures to Conserve Naturally Occurring Medicinal Plants Realizing the fact that naturally occurring medicinal plants are threatened, several measures have been undertaken by various approaches or agencies. These are: 1. Systematic and Reasonable Collecting. Sustainable collecting can be achieved if it is done properly. This is demonstrated in Nepal where a mutual benefit to the collector and local processor results in proper harvesting techniques as well as appropriate methods of post-harvest treatment (Rawal, 1996). Such practices provide an incentive to the collectors for conservation of species for future collection. 2. Reduction of Pressure on Collecting. Cultivation, whether on small-scale, backyard garden, subsistence farming, or large-scale, can reduce the pressure on collecting naturally occurring medicinal plants in the wild. 3. National Legislation. A few countries in Asia have formulated legislation to conserve medicinal plants. For example: ! Administrative regulation for Protection of Wild Medicinal Plant Resources was put into effect in China since 1987 (Chen, 1996). ! The Ministry of Environmental Affairs of Sri Lanka formulated an Action Plan for Conservation of Biodiversity, and conservation of medicinal plants has been included as a project to be taken along with it (Arambewela, 1996). ! In 1993, the Government of India banned export of all wild medicinal plants (Uniyal, 1993). 4. International Regulations. It is a common practice of international conferences to develop a Declaration or Resolution, within which measures to conserve medicinal plants are included, e.g. ! Resolution of the so-called, Washington Convention 1973 includes a statement, The trade and use of some of the medicinal plants collected from wild sources are restricted (Hussain, 1996). ! In 1988, an international congress organized by WHO, IUCN and WWF issued the Chiang Mai Declaration having a motto Saving Lives by Saving Plants - which exhorted government and the public to pay attention to the potential inherent in medicinal plants (Henle, 1996). CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN ASIA Characteristics of Medicinal Plant Cultivation As medicinal plants are relatively new crops for cultivation, very few farmers in the Region are presently engaged in their cultivation. However, it may be that such cultivation will receive greater attention from farmers in the near future. At present, cultivation of medicinal plants is characterized by the following traits: 1. Subsistence Cropping Systems. Medicinal plants are presently grown by smallholders in subsistence cropping systems. This includes the use of primitive cultivars grown in mixed cropping, i.e. together with other economic crops. The yield as well as the quantity is quite low. 2. Scattered Farming Areas. With few exceptions, most areas growing to medicinal plants are widely scattered in producing countries. This results in difficulty in collecting harvested raw materials by the middlemen. 3. Poor Quality. This is due to various factors including the use of unimproved varieties, poor cultural techniques, and poor post-harvest handling.

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4. Lack of Integration. In certain areas, medicinal plants are grown as commercial crops. Yet in such cases, they are normally grown as intercrops, especially among food crops that are considered primary crops as they bring income and basic foods to the farmers. There is no systematic integration between primary crops and medicinal plants, except for China. Even in China, where total production of medicinal plants is quite high the proportion (mostly operated by industrial enterprises) in which medicinal plants are grown monoculturally is very small. This contrasts with many other economic crops that are mostly grown as monocrops. Advantages of Commercial Cultivation of Medicinal Plants As the supply of medicinal plants collected from the wild is decreasing due to prevailing forest destruction and their demand is rising due to global population increases, commercial cultivation of medicinal plants may become increasingly popular among farmers of developing countries in Asia. The advantages of such cultivation are as follows: 1. Help Conserving Endangered Species in Their Natural Habitat. Many species of medicinal plants are listed as endangered species due to indiscriminate collecting for sale to pharmaceutical industry. Cultivation of these species would help conserve them by relieving some of the collecting pressure on them. 2. Permit Production of Uniform Material. Commercial cultivation of selected clones or improved varieties of medicinal plants should result in production of uniform material. Such material, in turn, will lead to consistent standard products of high quality, a prerequisite for successful pharmaceutical industrial use. 3. Provide Good Income to the Farmers. Medicinal plants are high-value crops; thus they should bring higher income to the growers, particularly if improved, high-yielding clones or varieties are used as planting material. 4. Provide Opportunities for Value-Addition through Processing. Technology of processing medicinal plants is now available in many developing countries in Asia. Commercial cultivation would provide raw material for further processing, many steps of which could be done in the locality where cultivation takes place. 5. Provide a Better Environment through Utilizing Waste and Unproductive Lands. As medicinal plants yield high income to the growers, costly inputs can be used for their cultivation. This allows the utilization of waste and unproductive lands that would otherwise remain idle, if low value food crops are grown. 6. Provide Continuity of Supply. Cultivation engenders much less risk to the supply of raw material. Thus, manufacturers can set production targets well in advance, with a high probability of securing the needed raw material from cultivated plants. Genetic Improvement As compared to other economic crops such as food crops, vegetables, oilseed crops, etc., medicinal plants have received much less attention in terms of genetic improvement. This is evident in the number of named cultivars used in commercial cultivation, which is surprisingly low. Lack of improved cultivars is due to the lack of germplasm conservation, facilities, breeders and a lack of demand for large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants. There are several approaches to obtaining improved cultivars of medicinal plants: 1. Introduction from Other Countries. This is a common approach attempted by several institutes in various countries, since it is the easiest and least time-and-effort consuming. Moreover, introduced varieties normally yield marketable standard products. 2. Selection from already Existing Variants. Selection of the desired genotypes can be made from existing variants contained in the germplasm collection. A variety of psyllium, Gujarat Isabgol-1, now grown commercially in India is a good example of how a variety was developed from a single-plant selection for high tiller and spike numbers, together with high seed yield/plant and synchronized seed maturity (Gupta, 1993). The variety is reported to produce a grain yield of 1 t/ha in sandy soil of average fertility in western

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India. Similarly, a selection, RS-1 of Rauvolfia serpentina, obtained from a germplasm collection, produces high root yield and contains a stable amount of reserpine, serpentine and ajmalicine (Gupta, 1993). 3. Conventional Breeding. Necessary steps for conventional breeding include: (a) acquisition of genetic variability to be used as parental material. This may be obtained from germplasm collection or through induced mutation, (b) evaluation of material for desirable characters, (c) recombination through hybridization that may have to run through several generations of selfing or backcrossing, and (d) selection of desired genotypes . Unlike food crops or other crops whose major objective in their breeding programs is high yield of the biomass, the main objective of medicinal plant breeding is for high quality of the major important constituents. Of course, yields of each component and total biomass are also of considerable importance. Other characters that are aimed at are the ease in extraction of active compounds, uniformity of the compounds and their products, early maturity (especially of rhizome-bearing crops), resistance to pests, diseases and environmental stresses. Due to the lack of breeders and other facilities, not much breeding work on medicinal plants has been conducted in most Asian countries except for India. Table 4 shows the results of breeding work on medicinal plants in India. A few cases of successful breeding of medicinal plants are cited below: The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research in Bangalore, India, has contributed to upgrading the yield of crude drugs and enhancing the contents of the active principle in Solanum viarum by breeding two varieties, Arka Sanjeevini and Arka Mahima. The latter, an autotetraploid, free of spines, nitrogen-responsive and with higher solasodine content, has been developed (IIHR, 1993). 4. Biotechnological Approaches. Recent advances in biotechnological research have been applied to genetically improve medicinal plants for commercial exploitation. These are used as a means of: Increasing Genetic Variability. Methods used are anther or haploid culture, and cell suspension culture. Culturing and Selecting Desirable Genotypes. These involve cell suspension culture and rapid multiplication of variant cell lines of desirable genotypes. Rescuing Embryos of Selected Genotypes. This is to overcome incompatibility resulting from interspecific crosses. Rapid Multiplication of Clones of Selected Genotypes. Through in vitro micropropagation, selected genotypes can be multiplied rapidly as uniform clones. Transferring Genes from Distant Parents. Through protoplast fusion/somatic hybridization, transfer of genes from distant parents which cannot be transferred through sexual means as the result of incompatibility is possible. Specific Gene Transfer. This technique is used to introduce new characters encoded by such genes directly into existing crops, thus retaining all the beneficial properties, and to avoid reassortment of genes that occurs in traditional breeding. Although many of the techniques have not yet been successfully applied to improve medicinal plants, some have already been made quite successfully. For example, Krumbiegel and Schieder (1981) were able to obtain 13 somatic hybrids selected from interspecific hybridization of Atropa belladona x A. innoxia. Cultural Improvement Next to genetic improvement, cultural improvement contributes significantly to the success of commercial cultivation of any economic crops including medicinal plants. Several methods have been made to improve the cultivation of medicinal plants. These are: 1. Good Agro-technological Practices (GAP). It has been demonstrated in a number of species of medicinal plants that improved cultivars alone cannot produce high yield and desirable quality of the products. It has to be accompanied by GAP such as proper soil

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preparation and fertilizer application, the use of good planting material, plant spacing, control of weeds, insects and diseases, proper time and technique of harvesting all the way to proper post-harvest treatment. In addition, knowledge of biosynthetic pathways that lead to the production of physiologically important constituents which make these crops economically valuable is of great importance. Likewise, knowledge of physiological response of genotype to the environment will help in the understanding of the crops behavior, especially with respect to enhanced fertilizer responsiveness, water and light requirement, etc. These will also help in the reduction of crop duration in the field, increase the amount of desirable secondary metabolite, and even reduction of any undesirable constituents (Franz, 1993). 2. Cropping Systems. In order to obtain maximum benefits of existing space, season, soil moisture and nutrients, several cropping systems involving medicinal plants have been employed. These include: Intercropping. Several cash crops, e.g. vegetable, legumes, cereals, root crops, etc. can be grown together with medicinal plants, with several advantages, e.g. reduction of weed, extra income, from the same area. This practice is particularly recommended for medicinal plants with lengthy periods of growth, e.g. rauwolfia, periwinkle, dioscorea, turmeric, ginger, etc. Crop Rotation. This practice not only reduces incidence of weed growth but also of seedborn diseases. Normally, leguminous crops which provide nitrogen through their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen are often used in crop rotation programs with medicinal crops. Indian farmers who grow psyllium, opium poppy and other medicinal crops are using cluster beans or cowpea as a rotation crop. 3. Selection of Suitable Sites. The ideal sites for cultivating medicinal plants are those with suitable soil and climatic conditions, which vary from crop to crop. As a rule of thumb, fertile soil with high organic matter is preferable. CONSTRAINTS IN PRODUCTION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS In large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants, the following constraints are normally encountered. Biotic Constraints These are constraints associated with living things, particularly medicinal plants themselves and their pests or other living things closely associated with medicinal plants. 1. Genetic Makeup. Most commercially cultivated medicinal plants are either primitive cultivars or those taken from the wild for cultivation. Thus, the yield and quality are often quite low. The lack of breeding institute, coupling with genetic erosion and genetic wipeout of germplasm, makes the task of plant breeders very difficult if not impossible. There is also the lack of exploration of medicinal plant germplasm, which results in very small germplasm collections in the (seed) genebanks or field genebanks. Although numerous medicinal-plant gardens have been established, for example, in Thailand (Swangpol, 1995), they are mainly for exhibition purposes, and not for the specific purpose of germplasm enhancement, since, in most cases, there is no genetic diversity in the collection. 2. Long Life Cycle. Many of our medicinal plants possess a long life cycle which often makes commercial cultivation costly and impractical. This is particularly true in the case of plants whose useful parts are underground organs like roots, tubers and rhizomes such as rauwolfia, ginseng, periwinkle, dioscorea, etc. Dioscorea which is grown for its tubers rich in diosgenin, a steroid used as contraceptive drug, will attain a maximum content of diosgenin only after 5 to 6 years of growth. Certain medicinal plants are trees with a very long life cycle, e.g. Cinchona. Others possess active compounds in the bark or stem which need to be stripped off, or cutting down the trees, resulting in the loss of plants, or taking a long time for the next harvest time to arrive. 3. Susceptibility to Pests and Diseases. When grown commercially as a monocrop or

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estate crop, many species of medicinal plants are quite susceptible to pests and diseases, particularly those plants having a narrow genetic base as the result of vegetative propagation through rapid multiplication by way of in vitro culture. Abiotic Constraints These are constraints associated with non-living factors including soil factors and mineral nutrition, water, light, temperature, other physical injuries or damage. Details of these constraints are given below: 1. Low Soil Fertility. Being secondary crop, medicinal plants are often grown in soils of low fertility. This results in poor yield and, sometimes, poor quality. Fertilizer application can help improve the situation, but the cost involved may be prohibitive, with certain species. 2. Flood and Drought. Too much or too little water available for the growth of medicinal plants may result in stunted growth or even death. 3. Improper Light Intensity and Duration. Many medicinal plants are shade-lovers as they are grow naturally underneath big trees in the forest. When grown in plantation monoculturally without shade of big trees, their growth is severely affected. The opposite occurs when a light-lover plant is grown as an intercrop underneath the canopy of big trees. The photoperiod can severely affect the quality of medicinal plants. A short-day plant cannot do well long-day conditions, and vice versa. This applies to plants in which the flowers are harvested for the medicine. Under an unsuitable light regime, no flower will develop, resulting in no yield of desired product. 4. Extremes of Temperatures. Plants survive well in an optimum range of temperatures. Too low or too high temperatures are detrimental to the growth of medicinal plants. This is why plants introduced from the temperate zone often cannot do well in tropical Asia, unless grown at high altitudes. 5. Physical Injuries or Damage. Strong winds or storms, earthquakes, other man-made injuries or damage may cause severe loss of yield., from medicinal plants. Technological Constraints These are constraints associated with technological aspects of production, including: 1. Lack of GAP. Many farmers who grow medicinal plants suffer from the lack of knowhow in production technology, starting from sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, caring for a plant throughout its life cycle, harvesting, all the way to proper post-harvest treatment. This last operation often causes much deterioration in quality of the produce. Lack of Technology. Due to the lack of research and development, no technology for medicinal plant cultivation has been developed. Lack of Technology Transfer. Due to the lack of efficient extension services, essential technology are not being transferred (even when these are available). Lack of Facilities. In most developing countries in Asia, facilities for R&D, and services for medicinal plants are not available. This includes, inter alia, facilities to access the quality of produce, processing facilities (especially in remote areas), and the masses to mass-produce planting material rapidly. Socio-economic Constraints 1. Competition with Other Economic Crops. Many farmers would consider medicinal plants as secondary crops. Unless they compete with other economic crops in terms of income to the farmers, they will not even consider growing them, since most species of medicinal plants give low yield, are more laborious in various steps of cultivation and harvesting, and produce low income. Moreover, as the farmers do not have previous experience in growing medicinal plants, they prefer growing other traditional crops. 2. Lack of Marketing Channels. Unlike other economic crops, there is often a lack of marketing channels for medicinal plants in most countries. Also, there is no guarantee of

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a market demand for greater supply. 3. Competition with Modern (Allopathic) Drugs. Most people still depend on modern drugs since they are efficient, selective in action (despite side effects), accessible almost everywhere, convenient in taking. All these lower the priority for medicinal plant utilization. 4. Lack of Domestic Pharmaceutical Industry. With few exceptions, most developing countries in Asia do not have access to a pharmaceutical industry. Thus, there is no guarantee of sustained demand for medicinal plants. 5. Lack of Organized Cultivation. To be successful, medicinal plant cultivation requires well organized contractual systems of production similar to those practiced in Europe. 6. No Price Support/Incentive Provided. Unlike a few other economic crops, in most countries medicinal plants do not benefit from support/incentive from the government or the private sector. CONCLUSIONS Medicinal plants are mans best friend in time of need. Man has made use of them from time immemorial. As technology and development become more advanced, the need for them is much greater and the chance to collect them from the forest is receding. Rural property and constant demand for cultivated land are threatening the forests which are the homes of incalculable numbers of species of invaluable medicinal plants. The only possible solution to save this precious inheritance of mankind is to cultivate them systematically. This approach will also provide socio-economic benefits to the rural people as well as satisfy the need of urban people who want to go back-to-nature and use medicinal plants. Medicinal plants continue to play a significant role in the welfare of people in Asia as they have for the past several millennia. Due to higher demand of raw material for industrial processing, coupled with the loss of natural habitats of most medicinal plants which were once naturally occurring plentifully in the wild, large-scale cultivation of promising species has been attempted in several countries while collecting for industrial processing still continues in certain countries. The latter approach is likely to come to an end sooner or later due to over-exploitation, unless the campaign to conserve biodiversity puts a stop to it. Medicinal plants have been mostly brought into cultivation only recently. They have not been subjected to intensive breeding programs. Thus, the yield and quality are quite low. In order to start any breeding program, germplasm collection and conservation are most essential. As most natural habitats of medicinal plants are on the verge of being destroyed, there is an urgent need to collect and conserve valuable germplasm of medicinal plants before they are extinct. At the same time, many more breeding programs should be initiated. These programmes should be supplemented with R&D on agro-technology in order to obtain maximal yield and quality of the source of raw materials for pharmaceutical products. Most Asian countries have claimed the existence of an enormous number of medicinal plants grown in their territories. Such figures are quite impressive but are irrelevant in terms of research and development. It is impossible to invest a large sum of money to work on all species listed. Priorities need to be established and the number should be reduced to a manageable one as far as longer term R&D is concerned. However, screening of many wild species for medicinal compounds should continue before many of them become extinct via forest destruction, overcropping, overgrazing and desertification. Literature Cited Ali, Abdul Manaf, Kadir, Azizol Abdul and Lajis, Nordin H. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Malaysia. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Arambewela, Lakshmi S.R. 1996. Production of Medicinal Plants in Sri Lanka. Paper

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presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Chan, Nguyen Gia. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal Plants in Vietnam. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Chi, H.Y. and Park, S.K. 1996. Production of Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Chomchalow, N. and Henle, H.V. (eds.). 1993. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Asia. RAPA Publ: 1993/19, FAO/RAPA, Bangkok. Chowdhury, S.A. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Bangladesh. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. De Padua, L.S. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in the Philippines. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Farnsworth, N.R and Soejarto, D.P. 1991. Global Importance of Medicinal Plants. In: O. Akerele, V. Heywood and H. Synge (eds.), Conservation of Medicinal Plants, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. Gupta, R. 1993. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in India. p.117-130. In: N. Chomchalow and H.V. Henle (eds.), Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Asia, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Haq, N. 1993. Breeding and Improvement of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. In: N. Chomchalow and H.V. Henle (eds.), Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Asia, RAPA Publ: 1993/19, FAO/RAPA, Bangkok. Henle, H.V. 1996. Socio-Economic Aspects of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Production in Asia. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Hussain, S.F. 1996. Production and Processing of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Pakistan. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. IIHR, 1993. Annual Report. Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore. Lama, B. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Bhutan. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Paroda, R.S. 1993. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Based Cropping System in South Asia. In: N. Chomchalow and H.V. Henle (eds.), Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Asia, RAPA Publ. 1993/19, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Rawal, R.B. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Nepal. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Sharma, J.R. 1996. Production of Medicinal Plants in India. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Sinchaisri, Prateungsri. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Thailand. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Sitepu, D. and Sudiarto. 1995. Research and Development on Culitivation of Medicinal Crops. Proc. Expert Group Meeting on Industrial Exploitation of Indigenous Medicinal Plants, Univ. of Indonesia, Jakarta. Southavong, B. 1996. Production, Processing and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Lao PDR. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Srivastava, J., Lambert, J. and Vietmeyer, N. 1995. Medicinal Plants: Growing Role in Development Agriculture and Natural Resources Department, World Bank, USA. Uniyal, M. 1993. Medicinal Plants need a Cure. Bangkok Post (newspaper), 14 Oct. 93, Bangkok. Wahid, Pasril and Sitepu, Djiman. 1996. Production of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Indonesia. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. WHO/IUCN/WWF. 1993. Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Wijesekera, R.O.B. 1993. Production and Processing of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Asia. In: N. Chomchalow and H.V. Henle (eds.), Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Asia, RAPA Publ. 1993/19, FAO/RAPA, Bangkok. Xiao, P.G. and Yong, P. 1996. Production and Processing of Medicinal and Aromatic

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Plants in China. Paper presented at ASIUMAP-1, 4-7 Nov. 96, FAO/RAP, Bangkok. Tables Table 1. List of medicinal plants collected from the wild in Asia.
Species
Aesculus indica Alocasia macrorrhiza Alstonia scholaris Amomum Amorphophallus rivieri Artemisia maritima Artocarpus lakoocha Blumea balsamifera Catharanthus roseus Cassia alata Cinchona ledgeriana Coscinium usitatum Costus speciosus Dioscorea deltoidea Drymaria fortunei Embelia ribes Ephedra gerardiana Glycyrrhiza glabra Kaempferia galanga Lagerstroemia speciosa Leonurus heterophyllus Moringa oleifera Rauvolfia serpentina Schefflera elliptica Smilax glabra Stephania rotunda Sterculia lygnophora Styrax tonkinensis Swietenia macrophylla Vitex negundo Xanthium strumarium

Common name
Indian horse chestnut Shott giant taro Dita bark Cardamom Konjac Wormseed Monkey jack -Periwinkle Ringworm bush Cinchona --Steroidal yam ---Licorice Galangal "Banaba" -Drumstick tree Rauwolfia -----

Family

Part used
seed rhizome cortex fruit tuber aerial parts lignin leave root & leaf leave bark creeper rhizome tuber rhizome fruit berry root & rhizome rhizome leaf & bark herb seed root bark rhizome tuber fruit resin seed leaf fruit

Country of collection
PAK LAO, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE PAK, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE PHI, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE PAK, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE PAK PAK, CPR LAO, VIE PHI, VIE LAO, VIE PHI, VIE
IND, NEP, LAO, THA, VIE

Sapindaceae Araceae Apocynaceae Zingiberaceae Araceae Compositae Moraceae Compositae Apocynaceae Leguminosae Rubiaceae Menispermaceae Zingiberaceae Dioscoraceae Caryophyllaceae Euphorbiaceae Gnetaceae Leguminosae Zingiberaceae Lythraceae Labiatae Moringaceae Apocynaceae Araliaceae Liliaceae Minispermaceae Steculiaceae Styracaceae Mexican mahogany tree Meliaceae Five-leafed chaste tree Verbenaceae Cocklebur Compositae

LAO, VIE LAO, VIE LAO, VIE LAO LAO, VIE PHI PHI, VIE LAO, VIE

Table 2. List of medicinal plants which are cultivated on commercial scale in Asia.
Species
Aconitum napellus Adhatoda vasica Alisma orientale Allium domesticum Aloe barbadense Ammi majus Andrographis paniculata Angelica gigas Areca catechu Angelica acutiloba Artemisia annua Astragalus membranaceus Atractylodes macrocephala Atropa belladonna Baleriana lupilina Cassia angustifolia Catharanthus roseus

Common name
Aconitum "Vasaka" "Tsettsieh" Garlic Aloe Vera "Fa Thali Chon" Korean angelica Arecanut "Duong Qui" Qing Hao "Huang Chi" Atractylodes Belladonna "Salet Phangphon" Senna Periwinkle

Family
Ranunculaceae Acanthaceae Alismataceae Liliaceae Liliaceae Umbelliferae Acanthaeae Umbelliferae Palmae Umbelliferae Compositae Leguminosae Compositae Acanthaceae Acanthaceae Leguminosae Apocynaceae

Part used
root leaf rhizome bulb flower fruit aerial parts root fruit

Country of collection

NEP NEP, VIE CPR THA THA NEP, VIE THA, INS, VIE ROK THA, VIE VIE aerial parts CPR, THA, VIE root CPR, VIE rhizome CPR, ROK,VIE berry,leaf, root IND, NEP, VIE aerial parts THA, VIE pd, leaf IND, THA, VIE root IND, VIE, PHI

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Table 2. (Continued).
Species Common name Family
Rubiaceae Compositae Compositae Rubiaceae Lauraceae -Acanthaceae Ranunculaceae Cornaceae Papaveraceae Zingiberaceae Euphorbiaceae Zingiberaceae Gramineae Asteraceae Dioscoreaceae Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea -Malvaceae Cruciferaceae Zingiberaceae Caprifoliaceae Solanaceae Magnoliaceae Compositae Labiatae Rubiaceae Liliaceae Ranunculaceae Araliaceae Araliaceae Araliaceae Araliaceae Araliaceae Paperveraceae Rutaceae Piperaceae Piperaceae Peperaceae Plantaginaceae Campanulaceae Apocynaceae Solanaceae Solanaceae Solanaceae Solanaceae Gentianaceae Myrtaceae Menispermaceae Cucurbitacea Valerianaceae Valerianaceae Verbenaceae Solanaceae Zingiberaceae Zingiberaceae

Part used
root, rhizome flower flower bark berry sclerotium aerial parts rhizome fruit rhizome rhizome -rhizome aerial parts flower fruiting body fruiting body fruiting body fruiting body fruiting body aerial parts leaf, root rhizome

Country of collection

Cephaelis ipecacuanha Ipecac Chrysanthemum cineraria Pyrethum C. morifolium "Kek Huai" Cinchona ledgeriana Cinchona Cinnamomum camphora Camphor Claviceps purpurea Rye ergot Clinacanthus nutans "Phaya Yo" Coptis chinensis "Huang Lien" Cornus officinalis "Shan Chu Yu" Corydalis yanhusua "Yen Hu Suo" Costus speciosus Crape ginger Croton sublyratus Plan Noi Curcuma domestica Turmeric Cymbopogon winteriamus Citronella Dendranthema morifolium "Chu Hua" Dioscorea deltoidea Medicinal yam Dioscorea opposita Medicinal yam Dioscorea vomitoria Medicinal yam Geranium nepalense Ganoderma luidum "Lingzhi" Hibiscus sabdariffa Roselle isatis indigotica "Ta ching Yeh" Kaempferia galanga "Kencur" Ligusticum wallichii Lonicera japonica Honeysuckle Lycium barbarum "Kou Chi Tzu" Magnolia officinalis "Hon Po" Matricaria chamomile Chamomile Mentha arvensis var. piperascens Japanese mint Morinda officinalis "Pa Chi Tien" Ophiopogon japonicum Mai Tung Paeonia lactiflora Chinese peony Panax ginseng Ginseng Panax notoginseng Ginseng Panax pseudoginseng Ginseng Panax quinquefolia American ginseng Panax vietnamensis Vietnamese ginseng Papaver somniferum Opium poppy Philodendron chinense "Huang Pai" Piper betel Betel pepper Piper nigrum Black pepper Piper retrofractum Java long pepper Plantago ovata Isaphgol Platycodon grandiflorum Balloon flower Rauvolfia serpentina Rauwolfia Solanum khasianum -Solanum laciniatum -Solanum trilobatum "Mawaeng" Solanum viarum Steroid solanum Sophora japonica Swertia chirata Chirat, Chiretta Syzygium aromaticum Clove Tinospora crispa Trichosanthas bracteata "Indreni" Valeriana jatamansi Indian valerian Valeriana officinalis Valerian Vitex negundo Five-leafed chaste tree Withania somnifera Asgand Zingiber purpureum "Phlai" Zingiber officinalis Ginger

IND IND, VIE CPR, THA, VIE IND, THA, VIE CPR, THA, VIE IND THA, VIE CPR, VIE CPR CPR NEP THA IND, INS, PAK, SRL, THA, VIE IND, INS, NEP, SRL, THA CPR IND CPR IND VIE CPR, THA THA, VIE CPR INS, VIE CPR flower CPR fruit CPR bark CPR -NEP aerial parts CPR, IND, NEP, PAK, THA, VIE root CPR, VIE root CPR, VIE root ROK, VIE root CPR, ROK root CPR root CPR, VIE root CPR root VIE latex IND bark CPR, VIE leaf SRL, THA, VIE bark IND, INS, MAL,SRL,THA,VIE fruit IND, INS, SRL,THA seed IND root ROK root IND, NEP, VIE fruit NEP fruit NEP fruit THA fruit IND VIE aerial parts NEP, PAK flower, bud IND, INS, MAL, SRL stem IND, PHI fruit, root NEP rhizome, root IND, NEP rhizome, root NEP, PAK PHI root, leaf IND rhizome THA rhizome CPR, IND, INS, ROK, SRL, THA

57

Table 3. Countries of production of major medicinal plants in Asia.

Species CPR IND INS NEP PAK PHI SRL THA VIE Others

Aconitum carmichaeli Aloe barbadensis Alisma orientale Allium sativum Amomum villosum Andrographis paniculata Angelica sinensis Areca catechu Artemisia annua Astragalus membranaceus Aulandia lappa Atractylodes macrocephala Atropa belladonna Cassia angustifolia Catharanthus roseus Chrysanthemum cinerariefolium Chrysanthemum morifolium Cinchona ledgeriana Clinanthus nutans Codonopsis pilosula Coptis chinensis Cornus officinalis Corydalis yanhusuo Croton sublyrata Curcuma domestica Dendranthema morifolium Dioscorea deltoidea Dioscorea floribunda Dioscorea opposita Dioscorea vomitoria Ecommia ulmoides Ganoderma lucidum Glycyrrhiza glabra Isatis indigotica Lycium barbarum Magnolia officinalis Morinda officinalis Ophiopogon japonicus Panax ginseng Panax notoginseng Panax quinquefolia Panax vietnamensis Papaver somniferum Peonia suffruticosa Piper betel Piper nigrum Plantago ovata Pogostemon cablin Rauvolfia serpentina Solanum viarum Swetia chirata Syzygium aromaticum Tinospora crispa Trichosanthes palmatum Valeriana wallichii Vitex negundo Zingiber officinalis

! ! ! " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! " " ! ! ! ! ! ! ! " ! ! ! !

" ! " " "

"

" ! " " ! "

ROK

"

" ! ! " "

" "

" "

" " "

! " ! "

"

"

" !

"

ROK!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! " " ! " " " ! ! " " " ! " ! ! "

"

ROK"

MAL! MAL"

"

MAL"

MAL", PHI" MAL", ROK

! = major producer, " = minor producer

58

Table 4. New varieties of medicinal plants developed in India*.

Species Cassia angustifolia Dioscorea floribunda Hyocyamus muticus Hyocyamus niger Mentha arvensis var. piperascens Ocimum gratissimum Ocimum sanctum Ocimum viride Papaver somniferum Plantago ovata Rauvolfia serpentina Solanum laciatum Solanum viarum *(adapted from Gupta, 1993) Name of Cultivar AlFT-2 FB(C)-1, Arka-Upkar Autotetraploid IC-66, Aela MAS-1, MAS-2, Hyb.-77, Siwalik, EC-41911 Clo-ocimum EC-1828893 Thymol type Jawahar Aphim-16 (JA-16) Gujarat Isabgol-1, Gujarat Isabgol-2 RS-1 EC-113465 Glaxo, IIHR 2n-11, Arka Sanjeevini, Arka Mahima

59