Processing of medicinal plants for entrepreneurship development among rural youth

Abstract

India is gifted with 8000 medicinal and 2500 aromatic herbs, many of which can be mined for natural chemicals and processed for commercial products with export value. Herbs are beneficial for human health as it contains significant amount of micronutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals and fibre content that may help protect against degenerative diseases and micronutrient malnutrition. Still, herbs are considered as alternative medicine and primary source of health care for 80 per cent of the world. Popular fresh herbs include basil, chives, cilantro/coriander, dill, mint, parsley, rosemary, and lemongrass. Product prepared from herbs can be fresh, dried whole or ground, oleoresins and steam distilled oils. Growing demand for products derived from medicinal and aromatic herbs across the world have opened up entrepreneurial opportunities to process these herbs for value added products. Large and small scale value addition through processing can be done by unskilled rural youth and unemployed, educated urban youth. The variety in value addition allows the small-scale farmer to potentially have a diverse portfolio of products that derive from the same crop and so not only have more marketing flexibility, but also more chances of earning income from the diverse products. So, the present paper has been structured to highlight the opportunities in this industry for young, innovative entrepreneurs and farmers for commencing successful, eco-friendly and natural product small scale enterprises.