Haryana to set up Herbal Mandis

Chandigarh, May 16 (UNI) The Haryana government plans to set up 'Herbal Mandis' in the state to help farmers sell medicinal plants, State Forests Minister Kiran Choudhry said today.

Talking to reporters here, Ms Choudhry said the traders could be persuaded to purchase raw material from the farmers engaged in medicinal agriculture.

The Haryana Forests Department had also taken a lead in establishing Herbal Gardens in each district of the state, Ms Chaudhry said after reviewing the progress of State Medicinal Plants Board here.

These gardens would not only help in conservation of various species but would also serve as gene pool for the medicinal plant base.

Herbal Gardens, she said, would also serve as major tourist spots besides promoting Ayurvada system in the state.

She said as many as 90 projects for raising medicinal plants for contractual farming had been sanctioned in the state with an outlay of about Rs 3.5 crore during 2005-06.

A sum of Rs two crore had been released as subsidy to the farmers for growing medicinal plants, she added.

Stressing the importance of raising herbal plants, the Minister said this would go a long way in developing an alternative to traditional agriulture as these plants grew without fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides.

Some of the plants like Aloevera, Aswagandha and Guggal could even be grown in the dry areas of the state without much efforts.

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