Abstract

This paper describes the domestication and economic potential of the cultivation of some therapeutically important medicinal plants. Pakistan is home to precious wide range of globally threatened species of plant resources with a number of progenitors of economically useful crops and a multitude of medicinal plants having applications for the development of pharmaceutical industries and possesses agro-industrial potentialities. In this context a study on the ex-situ cultivation of medicinal plants was conducted to evaluate the growth performance of six medicinal species (Asparagus recemosus, Carum carvi, Rauvolfia serpentina, Atropa accumonicata, Valeriana jatamonsii and Linum ustatissimum) from Swat, Pakistan. The studies were conducted during 2007 - 2008 at four different locations in Swat, Pakistan at altitudes ranging from 1400 to 2200 m.a.s.l. The objectives were: (1) to study the domestication and cultivation of six medicinal plants in farm lands and (2) to analyze their economic potential under farm land condition. A highest mean survival of 85.5% across all locations was observed forLinum ustatissimum followed by 77.6% for C. carvi. The remaining four species showed poor survival rates. The productive yield and economic potential of L. ustatissimum was certainly not reduced, but rather slightly enhanced in the higher altitude sites. The results revealed that the cultivation of C. carvi and L. ustatissimum was successful and showed high economic potential under farmland conditions.

Key words. Domestication, medicinal plants, altitude, economic potential, farm lands.