Rawal Medherbs Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

Rawal Medherbs Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

Message from Editor

It is a moment of enormous delight for me to place the 9th

edition of Medherb Green Pages (MGP) before my peers - the community of herbal stakeholders. Starting with its 2003 edition, MGP has evolved and established itself as the single largest trade and commerce information source related to herbs & their allied products in India. With this issue Medherb Green Pages- India, Bangladesh and Nepal 2011 has proved its mettle once again. Apart from the useful trade information on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants species (MAPs), that MGP is recognized for, this issue puts a special focus on another SAARC member Bangladesh.

Since ancient times south Asian countries possess a competitive advantage in the field of traditional health care systems like Ayurveda, Unani and Chinese medicine systems. These have developed and refined treatments based purely on preparations made from best available natural resources. Bangladesh is also an important country from the perspective of MAPs trade with India. This had prompted us to work out in this issue of MGP.

My personal visit to herbal trade centers of Bangladesh helped a lot to gather and compile information about the production and trade scenario of MAPs there. I also had some interesting unofficial meetings with various MAPs stakeholders in Dhaka. I hope the insights generated during the endeavor are adequately reflected in the volume in hand and will be considered helpful by our patrons.

Based on earlier documents, about 5000 species of flowering plants occurred in Bangladesh. Ayurveda, Unani and folk systems of medicine are the prevalent systems of medicine being practiced in Bangladesh. The number of medicinal plants included in the 'Materia Medica' of traditional medicine in the Indian subcontinent at present stands at about 2,000. More than 500 of such medicinal plants have so far been enlisted as growing in Bangladesh. Dhaka, Rajshahi, Shylet and Chittagong divisions are rich in medicinal plants. There is almost no report of large scale cultivation of medicinal plants in this country. Under a project 'Medicinal Plants and Herbs in Eastern Himalayas: Developing Sustainable Supply Chain and Enhancing Rural Livelihoods in Eastern Himalayas', by ICIMOD has identified Shatawari (Asparagus racemosus), Amla (Phyllanthus emblica), Sarpagandha (Rauvolfia serpentine) and Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) are plants having good perspective for commercial development in Bangladesh.

The country is border by the Bay of Bengal and Myanmar in south, while on the three directions it is bordered by India. Major herbal crude drug markets are Moulvi Bazar in Dhaka and Khatungong in Chittagong. There are 40-50 traders of medicinal plants and spices in Dhaka and about 10 traders deal exclusively in medicinal plants in Chitagong. Moulvi Bazar may be compared with Khari Baoli market in Delhi. The Khatungong market is basically known for imports and spices. 80% of the total imports of crude drugs in Bangladesh come from India only and the rest from China, Dubai, Indonesia, Iran, Myanmar and Pakistan. Petrapole is the Indian side of (Petrapole –Beanpole) border checkpoint between India and Bangladesh. It is also referred to as Haridaspur border check post. Kolkata acts as the major export centre for Bangladesh in India and Delhi is the second.

Major traded medicinal plants in Bangladesh have identified as:

1. Vasa (Adhatoda vasica), 2. Akola (Alangium salvifolium), 3. Shatawari (Asparagas racemosus), 4. Semul (Bombax ceiba), 5. Amaltas (Cassia fistula), 6. Mulathi (Glycyrrhiza glabra), 7. Anantmool (Hemidesmus indicus), 8. American Mint (Hyptis suaveolens), 9. Konch (Mucuna pruriens), 10. Sona (Oroxylum indicum), 11. Amla (Phyllanthus embelica), 12. Isabgol (Plantago psyllium), 13. Ashoka (Saraca indica), 14. Harda (Terminalia chebula), 15. Behda (Terminalia belerica) and 16. Meetha Inderjau (Wrightia tinctoria).

Ghrit-Kumari (Aloe-vera) and Neem (Azadirachta indica) are the major crops of medicinal plants in Bangladesh. Aloe vera juice is a major product of commerce in Dhaka, it is being sold abundantly in shops and juice corners generally attached to road side tea stalls. The spiced juice is enjoyed by many morning walkers. Since Aloe-vera is available in plenty, there is an opportunity for the Indian manufacturers to set up production units of the same and import the good quality juice in India. Some crude drugs are also exported to India especially of Kachur (Curcuma zedoaria), Narkachur (Curcuma caesia), Kapur Kachri (Kaempferia galanga) and Kamalgatta (Nymphaea lotus).

The weekly off for markets are Friday and first half of Saturday in Dhaka and the government offices are closed on complete day on Friday and Saturday.

Nepal being elongated from north to north east on the Indian boarder is a underdeveloped country but at the same time one of the richest countries in terms of natural resources like hydropower, forestry & herbal, culture, mountain, water resource in the world. The economy is largely supported by agriculture and buttressed by many niche products such as medicinal herbs and high-quality tea. More than 100 species of MAPs are being harvested from different parts of the country. These are mostly traded to Indian markets and some are sold overseas also. In recent years, their importance has witnessed opportunities on many fronts - food, medicine, dietary supplements, cosmetics and health tourism. Recently a couple of large business houses in Nepal have entered into the trade of herbal drugs. These export houses supply raw material directly to Indian dealers as well as to industries. A new trade Association in Nepal has also come up recently. It seems these two recent changes may transform the Nepalese medicinal plants' trade scenario extensively in coming years.

This user friendly edition is divided into separate sections i.e. India, Crude medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Nepal and Bangladesh. Exports statistics of the herbal drugs, for the years have been provided in the form of tables and graphs for easy understanding. The stakeholders have been enlisted under Cultivators; Dealers, Exporters & Importers; Exporters, Extractors & Manufacturers and Organizations.

Lastly, I assure the readers to provide sufficient information to optimize low risk and flexible professional decision making; as we understand improving capability to maximize business potential requires a balanced approach among people, process and information.

As you aware we have already given updates on MAPs trade on The Netherlands and Germany in the year 2007 and 2008 respectively. I am pleased to inform, the next edition of MGP will cover one more European country i.e. France, with updates from India. Indian origin herbal products, crude herbs, fragrances and essential oils have got great demand and ready acceptance among the trade and business community there. Eventually, growing Indian exports to France amounting billions, has facilitated wide-spread acclamation and acceptance throughout the European Union.

Hope, we continue to relish your faith, encouragement and patronage in the years to come and many thanks.

Janak Raj Rawal

Corporate Address

Rawal Medherbs Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
C-3/22, 2nd Floor, Phase-2, Ashok Vihar, Delhi-110 052 (INDIA)
Tel: +91-11-2712 6272
Fax: +91-11-2712 6273
Email: rawal@bol.net.in, info@medherb.in

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