Exotic Medicinal Plants-current Status and Future Priorities

Augmentation of new genetic resources either through indigenous collections or by importing from other countries is an important activity of any crop improvement programme. Indian history had witnessed the invasion of many world communities like British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabians, Muslims etc with whom a diverse genetic base of many crop plants were also introduced in the country's flora. Many of these species have been adapted well and naturalized in Indian climate and are being used in various facets of life. The pharmaceutical industry is also backed by many such plants. Of the forty major commercial medicinal plants utilized by the Indian pharmaceutical companies, about 27 per cent have originated in other countries. The percentage is still higher in case of commercial aromatic plants viz., 52 per cent of the total aromatic component. The gradual increase in the utilization of exotic plants by the pharma-aroma-companies is because many plants have been introduced into cultivation and are now a part of regular agriculture system. The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi under ICAR is instrumental in providing this genetic variability of medicinal plants at both fronts. The import of plant genetic resources into India is governed by Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import Into India) Order, 2003. Access to genetic resources of Indian origin by foreign nationals is governed by Biological Diversity Act, 2002 of Government of India based on the principle of 'Sovereign rights of Nations' as promulgated under the legally binding Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1992. The Convention provides for appropriate access to genetic resources and transfer of relevant technologies on mutually agreed terms, subject to prior informed consent.