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National Herbal Fair-2005 : A Resurgence of Herbal Sector

Considering the growing importance of herbal products & to provide all the stakeholders an interface for networking and marketing, Federation organized "National Herbal Fair- 2005" popularly known as "Van Mela" between 14th-18th December at Bittan Market, Dusshera Maiden Bhopal.

Rise in population, inadequate supply or spurious drugs in certain parts of the country, prohibitive costs of treatment for common ailments side effects of several allopathic drugs in current usage and development of resistance to currently used drugs for major diseases have led to an increased emphasis of plant materials for a wide range of human ailments. As a result of which interest among people the world over in the use of plant based pharmaceuticals is growing at a very fast pace

The fair featured over 300 traders & cooperative federations dealing with herbal products, medicinal plants, minor forest produce & herbal practitioners. The fair had its share of stalls selling ayurvedic medicine, food, herbal cosmetics etc such as triphala, aswagandha, safed musli, aonla murrabba, anola burfy, candy, juice and pickles. The favourite stalls amongst female were those offering special face packs. They were there to experiment on something new which is natural & do not have any side effect. The youth were more aware than ever before about ayurvedic treatment. There were stalls of handicrafts items made up of wood & bamboos. There were stalls of books on medicinal plants and handicrafts dress materials also. Some research institution like State Forest Research Institute (SFRI), Tropical Forest Research Institure (IFRI), Indian Institure of Forest Management, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, WWF, Ayurvedic Colleges and some print media related to agriculture like Krishka Duniya, Krishak Jagat also displayed their stalls.

 The Federation had its stall on display, which enlightened the general masses about its history, mandate, and activities undertaken till date along with its future plans towards NTFPs and Medicinal plants promotion conservation and development. The stall of federation also displayed the processing pattern of some of medicinal plants along with honey. The vending machine of honey was the crowd puller. In order to haul up participation and sale, prizes were announced for maximum sale & best decoration of stalls under three different categories - Government Bodies/ District Unions, Private Entrepreneurs & Women Entrepreneurs. This was an exclusive event of the state, which witnesses the conglomeration of all the major players of this sector from across the country.

Other attraction of the event was free consultation provided by traditional vaidyas/ hakeems and other registered practitioners. This free consultation was a crowd puller. The afflicted- young & the aged, all were seen queued up to get them diagnosed & treated. The practitioners of various system such as Panchkarma, Nadi Visheshagya, Acupuncturist served more than 5000 people. Hounarable Forest Minister Chaudhary Chandrabhan Singh felicitated these herbal practitioners/ vaidhyas from different part of the state with a citation and a shawl for rendering excellent services to the society.

 National Medicinal Plant Board, New Delhi & M.P.Government were joint sponsor of this mega event. Total business transactions of almost 40 lakhs took place during this five-day event. Seller-buyer convention was organized to provide them a forum for interaction. MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) worth Rs. Two Crore were signed between the agreed parties. To commemorate the occasions a "Souvenir" was released by Hon'ble Chief Minister of the State Shri Babulalji Gaur.

To witness the resurgence of herbal sector as a whole and experience the richness of the state in term of traditional health heritage, folk music and dance, tribal culinary and an entire galore of ethnicity and beauty, this was a must place to be.