With no marketing facility, medicinal plants lie in rot at Tamenglong
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Daniel Kamei

Tamenglong, July 25 2013: Planting of a huge quantity of Ayush Medicinal Aromatic and Spices plants in Namkaoluang (Keikao) village of Tamenglong district has become is futile due to lack of marketing facility in the state.

Namkaoluang (Keikao) village is located under Tameglong police station, some 28 kms from Tamenglong district HQs.

Under the initiative of Kisan Society of Namkaoluang village, 12 Hectares of land have been brought under the plantation of more than 20 varieties of Ayush medicinal and Aromatic Spices plants in Namkaoluang this year.

Apart from Namkaoluang village, another 30 villages in Tamenglong district have also started planting Ayush medicinal and Aromatic Spices plants under Kisan Society of Namkaoluang village from this year.

However, the farmers are facing great disappointment as production of the medicinal plant has become futile due to lack of marketing facility in Manipur and no hope of any buyer coming from outside.

Talking to Hueiyen Lanpao in this regard at Namkaoluang village, Namkaobi Kamei, President of Kisan Society Namkaoluang village, said that the production of medical plants this year would be more than 70 Metric tonnes.

Out of this, 10 metric tonnes would come from Namkaoluang medicinal and Aromatic Spices plants farm alone.

To the query, Namkaobi Kamei said that he has already contacted one N.Tombiraj at Imphal for buying the medicinal plants produced in Tamenglong district.

However, he asked for dried powder extraction, which is out of their capacity as their no capital to buy expensive machineries.Kamei also recalled that planting of Ayush medicinal and Aromatic Spices plants started since 1997 but without any benefit.

In 2000, he lost 30 metric tonnes of fresh Ayush medicinal and Aromatic Spices plants as one man Bija Kumar from Gauwahati who was supposed to buy the production met with an accident.

However, Kamei doesn't lose his hope as well as the sight on the prospects of cultivating medicinal plants.

"I will keep on encouraging the farmers to plants more and I will try my level best to contact the buyers and one day I will be able to buy all their production,' Kamei stated with optimism.

"All the plants growing in my farm can be used for medicines or as aromatic spices," he added.

Kamei further revealed that under the initiative of Kisan Society Namkaoluang village, 'Botanical Medicine Gardens' were opened in some schools in Tamenglong district this year.

However, the process has been halted due to financial constraints.

Nonetheless, Namkaobi Kamei appealed to the farmers to be patient and continue to plant more and more medicinal plants in their respective farms as this is one venture that would take them far.

While talking to Hueiyen Lanpao, one farmer, Abam Kamei of Namkaoluang village, said, "Namkaobi told me to plant medicinal plants, so we are planting over more than two acres of land" .

Apart from common medicinal farm, all the catholic families in Namkaoluang village too have started planting medicinal plants as their own gardens, Abam Kamei informed.

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