Entrepreneurs ask due priority to herb cultivation

BY SIRAJ KHAN,Nepalgunj, May 27: Leading herbal entrepreneurs from western Nepal have urged the government to give special priority to policies promoting medicinal herb cultivation.Most herbal traders in Banke involved in the sector complained that the state has failed to seriously focus on promoting, preserving, identifying, and marketing medicinal herbs produced in Nepal.

President of the Nepal Herbal Entrepreneurs Association, Tanka Prasad Sharma, said Nepal had enormous potential for medicinal herb cultivation, but the sector had not received adequate attention or interest. “There are many medicinal herbs around us and in our villages, but they have not been properly managed,” he said.

Pointing out the strong potential for commercial cultivation, Sharma called on the government to introduce supportive policies and allocate a dedicated budget to encourage herb farming. He said that marketing is not the main issue; rather, the problem lies in government policy. Similarly, former association president Rajesh Kumar Jain said commercial herb cultivation could significantly contribute to the country’s economic prosperity, but policymakers had failed to pay attention to the sector.He also said that medicinal herbs could generate a large amount of foreign currency earnings for Nepal.

Another former president of the association and entrepreneur, Mohammad Yakub Ansari, stressed the need for government policies encouraging herb cultivation. He said large-scale cultivation and local processing of herbs before export would benefit farmers, businesses, and the state while also creating employment opportunities.

Lumbini Province Assembly member Mina Bohara Siddiqui said she had repeatedly drawn the provincial government’s attention to the need for support programmes such as seeds and other agricultural assistance to attract farmers to medicinal herb cultivation.

President of the Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tanka Dhami, said medicinal herbs were like Nepal’s ‘diamond,’ but the country had failed to recognise their value, leaving them as neglected as coal.

Senior herbal entrepreneur from Banke, Shakil Ahmad Jasgadh, said it was surprising that government agencies had not focused on a sector that could make a significant contribution to the national economy through both cultivation and trade.

On the occasion, Chief of the Nepalgunj Customs Office Janardan Paudel, General Secretary of the Herbal Entrepreneurs Association Bhanu Bhakta Rijal, and representatives from various districts also stressed the need for policies and regulations to promote medicinal herb farming and business.

According to the Nepalgunj Customs Office, medicinal herbs worth nearly Rs. 1 billion are exported annually through the Nepalgunj border point alone, one of western Nepal’s major trade gateways.