Mysore/Mysuru: The Government of India, through the National Medicinal Plants Board (an organisation of the AYUSH Department), encourages cultivation of medicinal plants for production of genuine good quality raw drugs for the Ayurveda and herbal industry. Also, farmers earn additional income from their farmland and provide livelihood support for many.

One of the main constraints in cultivation of medicinal plants is the difficulty in finding proper buyers for the produce. Over the past years the Regional-cum-Facilitation Centre – Southern Region (RCFC-SR), which is one of the seven regional-cum-facilitation centres of the National Medicinal Plants Board, has been successfully connecting medicinal plants farmers with potential buyers in the Southern Region (covering Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands).

In order to make the farmer-buyer linkage stronger, the RCFC-SR is facilitating selling and buying of medicinal plants produce between farmers and buyers in the Southern Region.

Medicinal plant farmers and buyers interested in availing this free facility may register their names with details of the produce of their interest through phone number and e-mail id given below:

Medicinal Plants Farmers  WhatsApp Message: 82899-95600; e-mail: [email protected]; Medicinal Plants Buyers  WhatsApp Message: 82899-95600; e-mail: [email protected], according to a press release from Dr. K.C. Chacko, Project Regional Director, Regional-cum-Facilitation Centre (Southern Region), National Medicinal Plants Board, Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Thrissur District.