Conservation of medicinal plants in India appears to be nobody's business. The Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, recently published a book highlighting 65 medicinal and aromatic plants which are threatened or endangered. The Botanical Survey of India's red data book, published previously, had mentioned only 25 such plants. While the list has grown, these government agencies have done precious little to conserve genetic diversity and exploit resources sustainably.

A plant which recently become threatened is Mappia foetida ( Tetu Lakda ). Not mentioned in ayurvedic texts, the plant has received attention only in the last 20-30 years, when its anti-cancer properties were discovered. Sold for Rs 15-20 per kg, pieces of the tree's branches and twigs are crushed and exported. Its active ingredient is extracted by multinationals such as Boehringer and others and sold for US $15,000 per kg. Since 1,000 kg of crushed twigs yield about one kilogramme of the active ingredient, large quantities are being exported from India.

What is more, the product has been patented abroad and India has again lost out. "Why blame multinational companies?' says Arnavaz Damania, scientist at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi. "Plants like Mappia foetida have been growing in India for centuries. Our scientists should have discovered their potential medicinal value, cultivated them, and gone for patenting of their products.'

To be sure, the efforts of Indian scientists at many institutes appear to be either inadequate or haphazard. CIMAP is busy developing packages for commercialisation of aromatic plants and processing technologies while resources are being depleted. The department of biotechnology has spent Rs 2.5 crore on conservation of plants in the eighth five-year plan. The amount projected for the ninth plan is even less.

Diversity in medicinal plant varieties is rarely studied by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). "No repeat surveys are conducted