MEDICINAL PLANTS IN TROPICAL HOMEGARDENS

Nearly 80% of the people living in developing countries depend on medicinal plants (MPs) for primary healthcare, and homegardens are an important source of production of these plants. Homegardens can fulfill the dual role of production and in situ conservation of MPs to overcome their dwindling supplies and threat of extinction from natural sources. MPs in homegardens are either deliberately cultivated or they come up spontaneously. They are an important constituent of homegardens, next only to food crops and fruit trees; yet their economic value is not fully recognized, let alone exploited. Homegardens offer an economically and socially viable option for large-scale production of phytochemicals from important MPs under organic cultivation. Promoting organic production of selected commercially valuable species of MPs through homegardening can, thus, augment the farmers' income, enhance rural employment opportunities, and help reduce migration of rural youth to urban centers in search o f jobs. Research is needed to improve the existing germplasm, introduce suitable commercial MPs in different agroecosystems, and develop cultivation and processing techniques to increase yield and improve product quality, and exploit indigenous knowledge and market opportunities.

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