By Henry Lowe, ContributorTHE COMMERCIALISATION of locally-grown herbal medicinal plants impacts several sectors including tourism (and health tourism as a specific sub-sector), health, agriculture, manufacturing, youth, finance, national security and foreign affairs and foreign trade.
There are abundant idle lands, and this will increase, as the fall out in sugar and banana worsens. Jamaica's unique climate and soils will give the product national distinctive qualities similar to those that are renowned in coffee, ginger and pimento. The main outputs of commercialisation includes:
New product development
Increased land use toward herbal production
New direct employment in primary production
New direct employment in secondary production (spanning certification, transportation, processing, labelling, packaging and shipping, among others)
Biodiversity Conservation and Protection and
Baseline information on the medicinal and herbal industry in Jamaica.
Many herbs bring prices that are far higher than could be expected from the cost of production. Farm prices in Asian countries, in general, range from US$600 - $2500 per ton. One to three tons per acre is the average harvest. This kind of return rivals that of the most lucrative farm crops; yet, once established, herbs will continually produce this high return with lower continuing cash requirements. We (The Caribbean Herbal Business Association) intend to conduct research to determine our yields and returns under Jamaican conditions.
Areas with limited water and poorer soil can produce as much income per-acre with herbs as the most fertile areas with abundant water producing traditional farm crops. Investment requirements are lower when growing herbs. The primary investment is labour; and since total volumes used by specific end users is less than the major crops, smaller farm ventures are favoured.
These markets are well suited to the need for diversification in agriculture, particularly into organic and sustainable farming that bring premium prices on the market and is suited for small producers. In addition, machinery costs are less and chemical costs are almost non-existent in their production. This is also an opportunity for the herbal industry and the nation to contribute to fulfilling Goal 7, of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and fulfilling our obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The world market in natural products is a multi-billion dollar enterprise dominated by the USA and Europe. International trade in plant-derived chemicals, which include pharmaceuticals, fragrances, flavours and colour ingredients alone exceed several billion dollars per annum. Estimated global trade in crude medicinal plants now exceeds US$1 billion per year, while the trade in herbal extracts and semi-finished raw materials is estimated to be thirty times this figure. The botanical market in the USA, inclusive of herbs and medicinal plants is an estimated US$18 billion per annum, while Europe imports an average of US$2 billion in medicinal plants from Latin America, Africa and Asia. Herbal raw materials and extracts are increasingly being used in cosmetics, toiletries and other beauty care products.
Dr. Henry Lowe is the President of the Caribbean Herbal Business Association.
