Abstract:
Currently, plants with medicinal values have attracted enormous attention due to several reasons,
such as for the rationale of biological diversity and economic contemplation. Most of the
resources for these plants are obtained from the tropical natural forests. The present interest
surge in herbal medicines all over the world (both developed and developing countries), has
resulted in unregulated and exploitative harvesting of the raw materials from the natural forests.
This will pose pressure to the ecosystem and threat of extinction of several valuable medicinal
plant species. The logging activities and encroachment of the forests have also contributed to this
problem. Therefore, cultivation of these valuable medicinal plants should be encouraged as it
could avoid dependence of these materials from the natural forests. This is to ensure their
sustainable supply to meet the health care needs of the present and future generations. For any
cultivation program to be successful, adequate and regular supply of planting stocks should be
available. Normal techniques of raising these planting stocks are from seeds. However, the
dependence on seeds as source of planting materials is inadequate as seeds are difficult to obtain
due to depletion of mother plants. Hence suitable techniques for mass propagation of these
species have to be developed. This paper highlights the propagation and nursery techniques for
the planting stock production, and the growth performance of some medicinal plant species that
have been planted. |
