Plants have always been one of the most important sources for medicines, essential oils and culinary since the beginning of civilization . In the early days, requirement of medicinal and aromatic plants were met through natural sources like forests and other open spaces . But due to the increased utilization of land for food crops and deforestation , the availability of these products from natural sources has declined considerably. However on the other hand the demand for these crops and their products is ever increasing thus necessitating the cultivation of these crops on an extensive scale. Herbal business in the global import market is estimated to be around $ 2.8 billon and is growing at a rate of 20 to 25% annually.

Historically emphasis had always been given to herbal farming in countries such as ours where the climate is conducive to growing this produce and also because of their rich use in native systems of medicines such as Ayurveda and traditional cuisine . Production of herbs requires significant hand labour and this factor could be worked to our advantage to derive a competitive edge for exports to other countries. The government is also promoting herbal farming by way of several policy initiatives and incentive offers which has resulted in drastic improvement in the exports of herbal commodities in terms of volume and value.