The value of medicinal plants as a source of foreign exchange for developing countries depends on the use of plants as raw materials in the pharmaceutical industry. It provides numerous opportunities for developing nations to advance rural well being. The global trade in medicinal plants is of the order of US$ 800 million per year. Export statistics available between 1992 and 1995 indicate that China with exports of over 120,000 tons per annum (US$ 264.5 million) and India with over 32,000 tons per annum (US$ 46 million) dominate the international market. All the major herbal-based pharmaceutical companies are showing a constant growth of about 15 per cent or more, next only to Information Technology industry. The turnover of herbal medicines in India as over-the-counter products, ethical and classical formulations and home remedies of Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha systems of medicine is about US $1 billion with a meager export of about US $80 million.

The worldwide market of herbal medicines is of the order of US $60 billion to US$80 billion. In the West the demand for herbal drugs has reached a new high in recent years. About 1400 herbal preparations are used widely according to a survey in Member States of European Union. In 1999 the global market for herbal supplements exceeded US $15 billion, with a US $7 billion market in Europe , US $2.4 billion in Japan , US $2.7 in the rest of Asia and US $3 billion in North America . The use of herbal medicine is widespread, with as many as three in ten Americans using botanical remedies in a given year.

In the USA, sales of botanical products (fortified foods, dietary supplements) increased by more than 40% between 1992 and 1996 to reach a global value of more than US$14 billion in 1996. Similar trends were observed in Japan and the Western European countries too.

It is estimated that Europe imports about 400,000 tons of medicinal plants per annum, with an average market value of US$ 1 billion from Africa and Asia . Germany is by far the largest market and within Europe , largest consumer of medicinal plants, spending £ 1.4 billion (US$ 2.2 billion) annually. France is second (£ 116 million) and the United Kingdom third (£ 88 million). Germany and the USA are among the top four countries in import as well as export, expressing their major role as a turntable for medicinal plant raw materials worldwide. Among the importers of botanical drugs, Hong Kong is at the top followed by Japan , Germany and USA . These assessments of international trade in medicinal plants include plants and their parts like roots, tubers, wood extract, bark, leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds.

Several important modern drugs are extracted directly from plants. It has been estimated that only 6% of all described species have been analysed chemically and only a small fraction analyzed pharmacologically. In the USA , the process of synthetic drug discovery and development takes an average of 12 years, and any new drug requires the investment of an average of US$ 230 million. It is seen that plant based drugs take a comparatively much less time and expenses than synthetic drugs. Hence plant based medicines would be cheaper, unless the market price are inflated by other considerations.

Some drugs are synthesized copies of chemicals found naturally in plants i.e. .phpirin which is a safer synthetic analogue of salicylic acid, an active ingredient of willow bark. The market share of herbal products made in developing countries remains comparatively low due to lack of research and development and the huge investments in making standardized products. Extraction of active principles and manufacture of drug formulations is sophisticated technology and capital intensive. Even in USA , there has been a lack of Research and Development on product and process development although recent research has helped propel the knowledge of other plants from around the world and this has helped accelerate the development of new supplements and medicines. There is thus an enormous scope for USA to emerge as a major player in the global herb based medicines and products by developing its Research and Development capability.

" We are trying to represent US in this competition by performing research in these areas and also improving the standards of research and development. "