An AKRSP research report on availability and marketing of medicinal plants by Iqbal Hussain, President, AMHRWO.

This section is based on material contained in Hussain (2004). According to this report, Pakistan has a wide floral diversity containing 600 taxa. A conservative approach indicates that 700 species are being used as medicinal/ aromatic plants. It further states that the total number of plant species in the Hindu Kush, Himalayas and Karakorum is estimated to be 25,000 or 10 percent of the world of which about 10,000 are useful. About 60 percent of the population in Pakistan uses herbal medicines. About 350 medicinal plants are found in wild. Around 100 of these are collected and sold by local hakims (healers), plant collectors and dealers. Twenty species are supplied to the national market, mainly Lahore and Karachi.

This study has short listed the following fifteen commercially important medicinal plants based on the following criteria: the endemic nature of plant, high domestic as well as export demand, endangered nature and documented use in traditional system of medicines.

Artemisia maritiama, Aconitum napellus, Angelica glauca, Bergenia himalacia, Carum carvi, Carthamus tinctorious, Dactylorrhiza hatagirea, Ephedra gerardiana, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Hyppopha rhamnoides, Picrorhizza kurrooa, Podophylum emodi, Sussurea lappa, Thymus serphylum, Valeriana walllichii

Collection

Medicinal plants are collected in the wild, purchased by traders and sold to exporters or to industry. They are exported in crude form i.e. in the form of roots, bark, seeds, leaves and branches. However, there is no systematic method for medicinal plant collection in Northern Areas. Local collectors simply collect whatever they find in the pasture. Wholesalers hire local people and pay them Rs. 80 to 100 daily for collection or barter them consumable products.

The collectors have a small share in the profit as they have little bargaining power and few options of marketing their products. They accept whatever is offered to them. The following table shows that the wholesalers earn a profit ranging from 250 to 650 times the price which the collectors receive:

Table Profit received by collectors and wholesalers of medicinal plants

Medicinal plant marketing linkages workshop at Bulashbar and Shinaki valleys

To boost the marketing of locally available medicinal plants on a sustainable basis WWF-Pakistan, under the Northern Areas Conservation Project, arranged a two day workshop from June 21-22, 2002 on Marketing Linkage of Medicinal Plants at Bulashbar valley, Astore and Shinaki valley, Hunza (WWF-Pakistan, 2002). The aim was to chalk out ways and means for the marketing of potential medicinal plants in both areas. For this purpose three local wholesalers/ local hakims were contacted to assist the communities in identifying economically valued plants.
The participants and local dealers/ communities discussed the issues regarding marketing, middleman threats and commercially important plants. Eighteen economically and medicinally important plants were identified that presently are being provided to the wholesalers by Shinaki and Astore communities. The following information was collected for each species:

Table . Information on medicinal plants from Shinaki and Astore

Study conducted by Hassan Sher, WWF-Pakistan

This study was conducted, as described above, in the Ghulkin valley and the researcher recommended the following medicinal plants for marketing.
Table . Medicinal plants for marketing from Ghulkin valley