TEHRAN – The Ministry of Agriculture announced plans to expand the area of lands under the cultivation of medicinal plants by 40,500 hectares during the current [Iranian calendar] year (began on March 21), IRIB reported on Sunday.

Hossein Zeinali, the manager of the Ministry of Agriculture’s cultivation project, said that plants such as saffron, Damask rose, cumin, caraway, licorice, shallot, mallow, henna, thyme, fennel flower, coriander, and hops are the main medicinal plants in the project.

These plants meet the domestic needs, then it is planned to improve the quality and productivity of these herbs, which will result in increasing the added value of products, he explained.

According to the statistics, about 70 percent of people around the world consume medicinal plants and herbal medicines.

The global industry has a large market in the world, and forecasts indicate that by 2050, the export value of this industry will reach $5 trillion.

In Iran, the area under cultivation of medicinal plants has reached more than 250,000 hectares, according to the latest statistics released by the Vice President for Science and Technology.

Other measures in this area include increasing the number of knowledge-based and creative companies to 700, increasing health centers to 60, and producing more than 5,000 herbal products.

Persian traditional medicine

Iranian traditional medicine is one of the most ancient forms of traditional medicine. It is grounded in the concept of four senses of humor: phlegm (Balgham), blood (Dam), yellow bile (Safra'), and black bile (Sauda'). The concept of four senses of humor is based on the teachings of Rhazes and Avicenna in an elaborate medical system.

Iranian traditional medicine strongly focuses on prioritizing health maintenance and disease prevention over treatment.

So far, about 30,000 plant species are identified in the world, with Iran's share of about 8,000 species its plant diversity is more than the whole of Europe.

Currently, about 2,300 species of medicinal plants have been identified in the country, accounting for one-third of the medicines used in human societies, the share of world trade in these products is about $124 billion and Iran’s share is $570 million, which is only 0.5 percent of the total.

The per capita consumption of medicinal plants in Iran is about one kilogram of dried plants, in other words, 83,000 tons of medicinal plants worth 1.2 trillion rials (around $29 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) are consumed in the country, while in Europe this amount is 900 grams and in the United States is 2.5 kilograms.

FB/MG