Cultivation of medicinal plants in developing nations: means of conservation and poverty alleviation

Plants, whether wild or domesticated are fundamental components of ecosystems on earth. They form the productive bases and the physical structures, support diversity of animals and other organisms. Human economies are highly dependent on the plants for supplies of material resources, such as food, housing, fibre, construction materials, fuel, craft materials and medicines. The nature of the plant cover significantly influences the quality of the climate, the availability of water supplies and the stability of the soil. How people use and manage wild plant resources will significantly influence the sustainability of their livelihoods and the conservation of their diversity. Collection is the major ways of harvesting medicinal plants in the wild and this had significant impact on both the ecosystem and the survival of such plant. Cultivation of highly valued medicinal plants should be creating new dimension in the field of agriculture in developing nations. The need for developing countries to apply technologies and techniques of food crop production to program cultivation of medicinal plants within the cropping system in order to improve the medicinal value of such plant.