The importance of herb, shrub and trees for curing and preventing ailments is an old age tradition, which has been relegated to the background due to invasion of modern allopathic system of drug. There is an awakening all over the globe to turn back to the traditional treatment using plants part as an affordable way and to revive traditional system of medicine uninterrupted supply of genuine raw material are of prime necessity.
The resource pool of the medicinal plants were abundant in forest but forest areas are dwindling fast due to anthropogenic pressure. Therefore the alternative means to generate more raw materials could be only through cultivation of medicinal plants in agriculture fields.
Mount Everest Forest Botanicals Alliance is working to promote cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants and supported in a Mission mode under the banner of One Million Women: One Million Plants since 2017, a flagship program launched by MEFBA in collaboration with FECOFUN and other grassroots developmental agencies in Nepal.
The main objective of MEFBA is to encourage cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants and its sustainable management across the country and to reduce pressure on the collection from wild habitat in forests.
The Ayurvedic systems of medicines use Medicinal Plants as the main raw material and their accelerated growth is pushing strongly for the demand for medicinal plants. It is challenging to meet the ever-increasing demand sustainably through wild collection. Although in recent years, cultivation of medicinal plants has started gaining momentum, still a significant part of industry’s requirements continues to be met from wild sources. In order to meet the increasing demand for medicinal plants, from both domestic and overseas markets, there is a need to focus on both ex-situ cultivation of medicinal plants as well as in-situ conservation. Both the domestic as well as the export markets are dependent on quality raw materials. MEFBA supports end to end conservation and cultivation activities along with good post harvesting. MEFBA also envisaged the necessity of connectivity between stakeholders in the supply chain and value chain. To establish the linkage between the farmers and manufacturers, a ‘Seed to Shelf’ approach is being introduced with a focused emphasis on clustering of contract farming by trained and motivated farmers and the community forest uses groups. Wherein, aspects related to Quality Planting Martials (QPM), Good Agriculture Practices (GAP’s), Good Post Harvest Practices (GPHP’s) would be addressed.
We encourage farmers and community forest users to take up contract in order to gain more benefits from the security of the future contracted market services. Farming of agricultural crops is just to enough to suffice the needs of farmers nowadays due to the uncertainty of rainfall the and due to undependable market rates. We, therefore, encourage farmers to grow medicinal plants along with the traditional crops in order to gain more profit with each passing year. Our contract farming is one such effort where we develop various medicinal and aromatic plants from high-quality seeds.
Contract Farming with a Confirmed Buy-Back
MEFBA contract with the farmers comprises of supply of QPM seedlings, organic fertilizers, and other required items. This contract is not just a business arrangement but also to educate the farmers about the latest farming techniques and build a strong partnership with them. We encourage sustainable farming and optimum utilization of resources with a guaranteed buy-back.
Complete crop management
During the tenure of the contract, care of every aspect is taken so that the farmers do not feel left alone. Out technical team advise them on necessary farming equipment to be used so that their production is surplus and unhampered. We advise them on how to maintain these techniques so that no additional expenses are incurred by them which may cut down their profits.
Direct purchase from the farm
MEFBA market collaborators purchase the ready harvested plants directly from the farms to avoid any loss due to third party vendors. As a result, the farmer feels secure and the deal is done peacefully without any doubts and fear.
Help from sowing till harvesting
Our field extension experts assist the farmers from sowing to harvesting so that they do not face any problem that delays the yield of crops. Seeds of high-quality MAP are used while sowing so as to obtain rich cultivation of crops. Also, care is taken so that the plants are unaffected by wind, rainfall, pests or other climatic conditions. The experts guide and help the farmers while harvesting so that the farmers do not damage the crops while harvesting and completes the process in a safe and tested manner.
Farmers are free to convey their queries and issues 24/7 to the partner agency. MEFBA assures them a complete support service. They are free to call, email any hour of the day if they find any difficulty in cultivating the medicinal plants.