With app, forest dept gets set to check illegal supply of medicinal plants, herb

Was the cinnamon that you consume procured legally by a licensed supplier or sourced illegally from the forest? These are some of the questions the Forest Department is trying to answer by using the e-Charak app to keep track of over 700 plants and herbs grown in Karnataka.

Through the Android app launched by the Ministry of Ayush, the Karnataka State Medicinal Plants Authority (KaMPA) can check whether spices like cinnamon have been obtained from trees growing in the forest or on private land.

Most of the medical plants and herbs grown in the forests of Karnataka are illegally supplied to the market. These plants and herbs are used in Ayurveda, Unani and other systems of herbal medicine. Their demand ranges between one kg and two tonnes a year, U V Singh, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, KaMPA, told DH.

The app lists all the registered industries, plants and herbs that can be legally extracted, where the plants are available and what is their demand. It is designed to help industries and producers by eliminating middlemen. It will also help the department know where spices like cinnamon are produced illegally in the guise of minor forest produce and how much. The app is also useful in keeping tabs on the prices, he said. Many industries use herbs and medicinal plants that grow only in the forest. The app will help keep track of all of them. The KaMPA is also preparing a detailed list of medicinal plants grown in the forest. Cinnamon is grown in the Western Ghats districts of Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga. The KaMPA, which functions under the Forest Department, had written to 1,100 village forest committees, 200 industries and 60 farmers who grow medicinal plants and 20 LAMPS (Large-sized Adivasi Multi-Purpose Co-operative Societies) to register on the app. It has completed listing plants grown in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mandya, Bidar and Tumakuru, and is working on listing those grown in Chitradurga, Ballari, Koppal and Gadag.