Organically grown medicinal and aromatic crop products are not only readily accepted in the global markets, but also command higher prices than those cultivated using chemical inputs. Globalization increased the demand for Indian medicinal and aromatic plants. India is currently exporting Rs.1256 crores
of crude drugs from medicinal plants and Rs.260 crores
worth of essential oils annually to a number of countries including USA, Europe and Japan. India has an excellent potential to emerge as a global leader both in medicinal and aromatic plants sector. This paper reviews the work done on various aspects of organic farming in medicinal and aromatic crops. Aromatic plants are defined as “plants possessing odoriferous and steam volatile substances occurring as essential oils, gum exudates, balsam and oleoresin in one or more parts such as roots, bark, heartwood, foliage, flowers, fruits, seeds etc.”
in the Indian context, medicinal plants can be broadly defined as “plants whose products such as roots, stem, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds either individually or collectively or chemical substances derived from these parts are used in different systems of medicine like Allopathy, Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Homeopathy, Herb-mineral, Folklore etc. specially for their curative properties”. However, in the context of globalization, medicinal plants are defined as “all higher plants that have been alleged to have medicinal properties i.e. effects that relate to health or which have been proven to be useful as drugs by western standards or which contain constituents that are used in drugs” or as “those that are commonly used in treating and preventing specific ailments and diseases, and that are generally considered playing a beneficial role in health care.”