Chhattisgarh, often called India’s “Herbal State”, is defined by its rich forests and natural resilience. With nearly half of its land under green cover, the state stands as a vast natural repository of medicinal plants, where biodiversity continues to shape both traditional knowledge and modern healthcare potential.
With growing global interest in traditional and herbal medicine, Chhattisgarh Tribal Local Health Traditions & Medicinal Plants Board (CGTLHT & MPB) is emerging as the key driver of sustainable healthcare and economic development. From conserving medicinal plants to supporting farmers and researchers, their mandate is expanding. THIP Media spoke to Shri Vikas Markam, Chairman of the Board, about policy direction, grassroots impact, and how the state is positioning itself in the evolving medicinal ecosystem. Excerpts…
What is the mission of the Board, and what inspired you to focus on medicinal plants?
The board aims to promote the development of medicinal plants both in forests and in natural ecosystems. Medicinal plants that are in high demand and have significant economic value should also be cultivated through organised farming. By working closely with the Women’s Welfare Organisation, we aim to expand medicinal plant development on a larger scale, ensuring long-term livelihood improvement and economic empowerment for the women involved. This initiative reflects our commitment to sustainable growth and community strengthening..
Chhattisgarh is generally perceived as a region with social and educational challenges. What initiatives or efforts have you undertaken to address these perceptions and promote awareness, inclusion, and educational development in the state?
In several states, government policies have not always translated into meaningful grassroots participation, especially when it comes to women. However, Chhattisgarh presents a different and encouraging picture. Despite a relatively lower overall literacy rate, we have witnessed significant progress in women’s participation and empowerment.
Chhattisgarh has a socially diverse population, including a substantial proportion from tribal and scheduled communities. While it is true that educational levels still need improvement, the state has shown strong advancement in agriculture and allied activities. Recognizing this potential, the Board focused its efforts on empowering women through structured training and capacity building.
Traditionally, women were engaged in cultivating crops such as rice, maize, and other staples. Through the Board, we introduced them to the cultivation of medicinal plants, explaining the long-term economic benefits and market demand. We provided end-to-end support, including training, soil testing, and assurance through biobank guarantees.
These consistent efforts helped build mutual trust between the Board and the members of the Women’s Welfare Organization. With proper guidance and institutional support, they adopted new practices with confidence. Today, their success stands as a strong example of how targeted intervention and trust-based collaboration can lead to sustainable empowerment.
Farmers often ask that while they are willing to cultivate crops, how will they be supported in accessing markets and selling their produce effectively?
Our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of processing at the farm level, encouraging farmers to move beyond cultivation and add value to their produce. Our focus aligns closely with this vision. While farmers are confident about growing crops, the key challenge lies in assured procurement and value addition.
We have connected the Women’s Welfare Organization with the Board through a BuyBack guarantee, ensuring trust and long-term support. In Gaurela–Pendra–Marwahi (GPM) district, particularly in the Gaurela area, there was around 150 acres of barren land. Farmers from three to four villages, along with members of the Women’s Welfare Organization, came together and collectively started cultivation.
Today, this land is being productively used for lemongrass farming. To support this initiative, we have established a lemongrass processing unit in the same region and installed the required machinery. This ensures local employment, better quality control, and higher returns for farmers.
Going forward, wherever we identify large clusters of farming activity, we plan to set up similar processing units. This approach not only ensures value for money for farmers but also improves product quality and attracts more traders, creating a sustainable and profitable ecosystem.
Is there a process or framework being developed by the medical Board regarding the selling price of medicinal crops?
Absolutely. Under the leadership of our PM, Shri Narendra Modi, significant reforms have been introduced in this sector. Earlier, during previous governments, MSP coverage was limited to around 16 minor forest produce items. Today, this has expanded substantially, with nearly 96 minor forest produce items being brought under MSP. This includes several medicinal and economically important forest products such as harra, bahera, amla, and others.
While some items have been temporarily excluded from MSP, our long-term approach is clear. As farmers and women self-help groups reach a stable business and production scale, we aim to progressively connect them to MSP-based procurement mechanisms to ensure price security and fair returns.
Looking ahead, the Board is focused on building a sustainable roadmap for empowering women associated with self-help groups. At present, medicinal plant nurseries are limited in number. To address this, we are working towards establishing model nurseries in five districts of Chhattisgarh. Through these nurseries, quality planting material will be provided free of cost to women farmers and forest-based communities.
We are also encouraging doctors and traditional practitioners to develop herbal gardens of their own. This reduces dependence on forest extraction and supports a more sustainable, non-destructive approach to sourcing medicinal plants. The ideal nurseries we envision at the district level will play a crucial role in supporting this ecosystem. Overall, our objective is to move step by step towards fair pricing, sustainable cultivation, women-led participation, and long-term self-reliance—ensuring that farmers and women’s groups are not just supported today, but empowered for the future.
What steps or roadmap has been planned to engage and motivate the younger generation, particularly through initiatives like school herbal gardens?
We are promoting school herbal gardens so that children gain early awareness and practical knowledge of medicinal plants. This will help preserve traditional knowledge while nurturing environmental responsibility from a young age.
We are implementing school herbal gardens in middle schools, high schools, and higher secondary schools. In these gardens, we cultivate a variety of medicinal plants and ensure their proper care and maintenance. Along with this, students, especially from botany, science, and related streams are educated about the identification, uses, and importance of these plants.
For example, students learn how certain medicinal plants are traditionally used for kidney-related ailments, how date palm helps in soil binding, how black pepper is used during fever, and how stevia can be used as a natural alternative to sugar for people with diabetes. The objective is to ensure that children can recognize, understand, and protect medicinal plants when they encounter them in forests or farms. This is the core idea behind school herbal gardens.
For farmers who are not yet associated with the Board or prefer to work independently, is there any plan to support them through subsidies or government partnerships?
Farmers who work individually are already being supported by the Board in specific ways. The Board provides planting material, resources, and seeds, but the actual cultivation and farm operations are carried out independently by the farmers. This ensures fairness and avoids any direct operational involvement that could create imbalance.
Even today, farmers cultivating medicinal plants remain in regular contact with the Board and take guidance as needed, while managing their work independently.
Does the Board have any plans for the manufacturing and processing of herbal medicines and medicinal plants?
Yes, the Board is actively working in this direction. At present, we operate as a digitally enabled medicinal plant board, where cultivation and supply are supported through IT-based systems. Because of this structured approach, traders are already connected with us and regularly procure produce from farmers.
Along with this, our Laghu Van Upaj Samitis play a key role in collecting forest produce and medicinal herbs and converting them into value-added products. Through these systems, several products such as Chyawanprash, Jamun juice, bael murabba, and bael juice are being processed, branded, and marketed.
Looking ahead, the Board is open to inviting private players, MSMEs, and start-ups for manufacturing and processing of herbal medicines and medicinal plants. If any private partner is interested in setting up processing units or investing in this sector, the government will extend full support and facilitation.
Our goal is to create a strong ecosystem where farmers, women’s groups, cooperatives, and private partners work together, ensuring better value addition, market access, and sustainable growth in the medicinal plant sector.
Are there any export-oriented policies or initiatives to promote state-grown medicinal plants and herbal medicines in international markets?
Absolutely. In the field of Ayurveda, an export-oriented policy framework already exists. Medicinal plants and herbal formulations used in Ayurvedic medicines have strong potential in international markets.
Going forward, we plan to further strengthen this by coordinating with the Ministry of AYUSH to develop structured export policies. Our objective is to standardize quality, certification, and compliance so that medicinal plants and herbal medicines produced in the state can be exported not only nationwide but also globally.
In the coming days, we aim to position India and our state in particular as a reliable exporter of high-quality Ayurvedic medicines and medicinal plant products.
What message would you like to convey to the global community about India’s farmers and agricultural strength?
From this platform, I would like to call upon all the residents of Chhattisgarh to come forward and work together in a spirit of cooperation. I invite every village and every citizen to join hands and support one another in this collective effort.
Agriculture has always been the backbone of Chhattisgarh. Today, alongside traditional farming, the cultivation of medicinal plants offers even greater opportunities for sustainable income and long-term benefits. I urge all residents of Chhattisgarh to embrace this opportunity and step forward in the coming year. Let us move ahead together, help one another, and build a stronger, self-reliant future through unity, shared effort, and innovation in agriculture.
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