GS Prelims- Economy/Environment/ GS Mains – Paper II & III (Health, Agriculture, Government Schemes)
Context
- Ministry of Ayush, via the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), informed Rajya Sabha (written reply by Union Minister of State (I/C) for Ayush, Shri Prataprao Jadhav) on 21 July 2026 about progress under the Central Sector Scheme on Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants.
Key Highlights
- Scheme supports Information Education and Communication(IEC) activities like Training, Workshop, Seminars, Conference.
- In-situ conservation / Ex-situ conservation.
- 152 IEC projects (training/seminars/workshops) approved FY 2021-22 to 2025-26, worth Rs. 1,186.91 lakh.
- 15 new conservation/resource-augmentation projects supported in last 5 years; grant-in-aid of Rs. 3,363.24 lakh.
- 57 R&D projects supported in last 5 years via government/private universities and research institutions.
- 12 projects under Forward and Backward Linkage in Supply Chain (Integrated Component), FY 2023-24 to 2025-26.
- Regional-cum-Facilitation Centres (RCFCs) provide Quality Planting Material (QPM) to farmers and conduct training on Good Agriculture Practices (GAPs) and Good Field Collection Practices (GFCPs).
MIDH a Complementary Scheme
- Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, funds cultivation of short-duration (non-perennial, non-tree) medicinal plants as part of holistic horticulture growth.
About the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB)
- Nodal body under the Ministry of Ayush for coordinated development of medicinal plants, including conservation, cultivation, and trade promotion.
About the Central Sector Scheme
- Fully Centre-funded (Central Sector, not Centrally Sponsored); implemented directly by NMPB across states/UTs for conservation and sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants.
NMPB’s multi-pronged support under the Central Sector Scheme — spanning IEC outreach, conservation, R&D, and supply-chain integration — complements the Centrally Sponsored MIDH framework, together strengthening India’s medicinal-plants value chain from forest-based conservation to farm-level cultivation and market linkage.
| Important CTC from this article for UPSC National Medicinal Plants Board Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) |