Gram Mooligas Company Ltd Brochure
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- Gram Mooligas Company Ltd Brochure
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SDA-RF-AT-3.29
Mooligas Company Ltd
(Village Herbs)
A public limited company owned by self help groups of medicinal plants
gatherers and small cultivators
The proud shareholders of Gram Mooligai Co. Ltd.
Background
Medicinal plants form an integral part in India's rich Medical Heritage (IMH). Over 8000 species of medicinal plants, herbs, shrubs,
trees, climbers, orchids, grasses, tubers and even lichens are reported to be used for medicinal purposes by millions of households
across the country. Although rural households have traditionally used the plants, they are rapidly gaining profound usage in the urban
domestic as well as by the industry. Rampant exploitation of these plants is now raising conservation concern. It was primarily because
of this concern fuelled by an equal concern towards the waning of this rich tradition that the Foundation for Revitalization of Local
health Traditions (FRLHT) came into being, in 1991 in Southern India.
FRLHT ever since has forayed into research on the various aspects of Indian Medical Heritage as well as formulated and implemented a
conservation strategy for these medicinal plants both through in-situ and ex-situ means. To achieve this feat in the three southern
states of India viz. Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu FRLHT has networked through a host of Forest Departments, Research Institutes
and Non Governmental Organizations with participation from rural communities. The network was christened Medicinal Plant
Conservation Network (MPCN), in 1997, all working in tandem towards fulfilling its mission.
One of the major learning of these efforts is that any sustained conservation effort will meet only limited success, unless the
commercial demands of the industry and the consumption needs of the people are met in a systematic manner. Research reveals that
more than 75% of the medicinal plants in trade are sourced from wild habitats. Apart from the spate of the disappearing plants, the
plight of the primary collectors of these medicinal plants from the wild is getting worse. Of the various players in the consumption chain
of medicinal plants, this section is attaining great levels of exploitation. Incidentally, this very community can provide a sustained
impetus to any conservation effort, provided their interests are suitably incorporated into the scheme of things.
Gram Mooligai Company-The Genesis
Gram Mooligai was conceived as a public limited company with its shares held by self help groups (SHGs) of medicinal plants
gatherers and small cultivators. The company has been formed to provide an assured market support to the medicinal plant
produce of the shareholders. The company got registered in January 2000. As of date the subscribed shares of the
company is Rs 5.02 lakhs and Rs 4.95 lakhs is held by 30 SHGs. These SHGs representatives are already in the
Board of Directors and started playing a management role.
The company's turnover has risen from a modest Rs 25 lakhs in 2001-2 to Rs 52 lakhs in 2002-3 and the turnover has reached
72 lakhs in 2005-6.
The company supplies quality raw herbs to other manufacturers,
extract makers and exporters in bulk, with processing involving
drying, cleaning, pulverizing (soft parts such as leaves), sizing and
packing. The company takes order from other companies and
places the order with SHG's through the NGOs. The company as a
policy does not procure herbs from traders. As a policy it pays 70%
of its sale price to the producers. GMCL and partner NGOs are
engaged in a range of activities like organizing cultivators and
collectors in groups or Sanghas, imparting training to Sangha
members
agricultural
regarding
sustainable
techniques,
quality
harvest
control
methods,
and
proper
scientific
storage
practices. The price, quality and quantity is declared aprior to the
sanghas. GMCL has evolved its own quality control systems where
the product conforms to the standards for moisture, physical
microbial infestation. Trainings have been
organized to the sanghas to adhere to the minimal
requirements as stated above. The money is usually provided
impurities and
promptly and some cases even advanced by the NGOs.
Over the last two and a half years, the GMCL has been able
to convince a few bulk buyers to place annual orders for
some medicinal plants
The GMCL in turn gives the orders to sanghas and the procurement
is done during the season and the herbs are dried / packed, stored
and delivered to buyers as per their schedule
Share certificates being distributed to sangha members
Value Proposition
Herbal sector has been identified as a growing sector for
medicines,
neutraceuticals and cosmoceuticals. Largely the
supplies of raw herbs are controlled by traders. Typically the
collectors (unorganized) gather herbs and provide to the traders
(small, medium and large depending on their access) who in turn
will supply to the big traders and then to the manufacturers.
Sometimes it is seen that small manufacturers also supply herbs
to
other
manufacturers.
Quality of herbs
is
a
problem.
Substitution/adulteration, contamination with foreign material,
poorly
dried
material;
fungal
infestation
is
a
common
phenomenon. Collectors get the crumbs of the market value and
willy-nilly do unsustainable harvesting and destroy the natural
resource base of medicinal plants to get more incomes. Price
variation and fluctuation is another common phenomenon.
A meeting with Sangha in progress
Cultivation of herbs is slowly growing and has a 10% share in the supply of herbs. Cultivators are usually at the mercy of trade
and often do not get a remunerative price for their produce. Cultivation as a technology for supply of herbs is still a nascent field
with much needs to be done in terms of standardizing cultivation practices, supply of good quality seeds/planting material.
The ethical threshold in the market is rather low resulting in the continuous exploitation of gatherers and cultivators and also
endangers conservation of medicinal plants. It is in this context
>
>
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The GMCL serves as an organized business platform for gatherers and small cultivators of medicinal
plants to ensure fair share of the pie thus assuring incomes and employment to rural SHGs in the
herbal sector.
Assures quality herbs to buyers at a fixed price.
Undertakes agro-technology, sustainable harvest studies and imparts training to SHGs.
At stake in the herbal sector is the interest of the gatherers and cultivators, the interest of conservation of medicinal plants and
the interest of the manufacturers. In the medium to long run GMCL intervention creates a win-win situation to buyers and
suppliers as well as for conservation.
It is expected that the herbal sector would undergo a churn with the injection of "professionalism." By professionalism it is
meant fair pricing; adherence to quality of raw materials used; traceability of raw materials, conservation friendly practices in
both collection and cultivation of herbs, level playing field between buyers and sellers etc. The Government of India has already
passed an order that all commercial manufacturers must adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices. One of the major implication
is that of use of standard raw materials.
In this scenario GMCL will have a competitive edge as it is owned by original suppliers of raw materials and also has access to
experts, data bases developed at FRLHT. At present GMCL's is competing with numerous local level traders who supply raw
material to the manufacturers when the going concern is cheaper price rather than quality or conservation.
F GMCL- Operations
NGO partners organize the collectors and cultivators into
small groups or sanghas who undertake the collection or
cultivation of medicinal plants as per the demand of the
industry. Requisite training is also imparted to the sangha
members on group building, sustainable harvest methods,
agro-techniques, cleaning, quality control, accounts and
record keeping. The material collected at the village level is
then transported to the respective buyers.
The Company has organized cultivation of select medicinal
plants through its sanghas and provided assured supply of
raw drugs based on prior agreement with buyers.
Since
inception the company has organized cultivation of 400 acres
consisting of Cassia angustifolia, Cathrenthus Rosea, Bacopa
monneri,
Mucuna
pruriens,
Phyllanthus
amarus,
Cultivation of Coleus Forskohlii by GMCL sanghas
Andrographis paniculata, Coleus forshkolii, Ocimum Sanctum,
Eclipta alba and Aloe vera. Further through collection from non-forest areas supplied about 350 tons of Eclipta prostrata,
Boerhavia diffusa, aloe vera suckers, Tribulus terrestris, Ocimum sanctum, Phyllanthus madraspatensis and other medicinal
plants. This gives the buyer an assurance of getting supply of raw drugs at a fixed price and frees him from worries about
market fluctuations. The Company is in a position to mobilize and organize cultivation of medicinal plants with prior buy back
arrangements. GMCL has also been organizing collection of a few medicinal plants notably Boerhavia diffusa, Phyllanthus
madraspatensis, Cyperus rotundus, Cassia auriculata etc. A list of plants that we have been handling is given at the end.
•--------------------------------------- SOME OF OUR ESTEEMED BUYERS ARE----------------------------------------•
Himalaya Drug Co, Natural Remedies, Cavinkare, Reliance Agro-technology Ltd, Sri Dhootpapeshwar
Ltd., SIRISIMPEX, Om Pharma and Indfrag to name a few.
In September 2004, GMCL launched the production and sale of herbal medicines in the brand name of "Village herbs" Village
herbs is selected from the traditional medicines and are meant for treatment of primary health care conditions. The brand is
owned by the community of share holders of GMCL and is meant for the community. Village herbs represent effective
medicines at reasonable cost and is produced confirming to goods manufacturing practices in a licensed unit. Our
manufacturing unit at Sevaiyur, Tamilnadu has obtained the license no 1106 dated 6th August, 2004. The production unit has
been designed to make the formulations for which approval has been obtained. We are using equipments supplied from
reputed manufacturers. A women's sangha is providing the required skilled labour. The manufacturing unit is managed by an
ayurvedic physician. We will be shortly adding medicines for scabies, head ache, menstrual problems, anemia etc and in one
more year have a range of about 20 medicines for primary health care. Village herbs medicines provide additional livelihood
opportunity to the sales women as well as bring down the average health expenses of the family. The medicines are being sold
through rural women in villages as well as via mainstream market in Bangalore city.
GMCL in June, 2004 has set up a modern honey processing plant, housed in a hygienically designed spacious layout in
Bangalore. Quality control is strictly adhered to at every stage from procurement to storage of honey. A series of chemical
tests like moisture content, reducing and non-reducing sugars, acidity and HMF are carried out to ensure that the honey
quality parameters meet the standards. The Honey testing is regularly carried out in Bangalore Test House, a BIS (Bureau of
Indian standards) approved laboratory.
GMCL list of species under cultivation and collection
Cultivation:
8.
Aerva lanata
28. Eclipta prostrata
1-
Cassia angustifolia
9.
Albizia amara
29. Enicostemma littorale
2.
Catharanthus roseus
10. Aristolochia bracteolata
30. Evolvulus alsinoides
3.
Phyllanthus amarus
11. Azadirachta indica
31. Hygrophila auriculata
4.
Andrographis paniculata
12. Biophytum sensitivum
32. Limonia acidissima
5.
Aloe vera
13. Boerhavia diffusa
33. Madhuca longifolia
6.
Coleus forksholii
14. Boerhavia erecta
34. Mollugo ceruviana
7.
Medicago sativa
15. Calotropis gigantia
35. Ocimum tenuiflorum
8.
Bacopa monnieri
16. Cardiospermum halicacabum
36. Phyla nodiflora
9.
Ocimum sanctum
17. Cassia angustifolia
37. Phyllanthus amarus
Collection:
18. Cassia auriculata
38. Phyllanthus madraspatensis
19. Cassia tora
39. Punica granatum
1.
Abutilon indicum
20. Catharanthus roseus
40. Ricinus communis
2.
Acacia nilotica
21. Centella asiatica
41. Sida cordifolia
3.
Acalypha fruticosa
22. Cissus quadrangularis
42. Solanum xanthocarpum
4.
Acalypha indica
23. Citrullus colocynthis
43. Tinospora cordifolia
5.
Achyranthes aspera
24. Curculigo orchiodes
44. Tribulus terrestris
6.
Adhatoda zeylanica
25. Cynodon dactylon
45. Tridex procumbens
7.
Aegle marmelelos
i
i
26. Cyperus rotundus
Vernonia
46.
27. Datura fastuosa
Vitex
47.
cineri
negundo
Note: The list is not exhaustive. Apart from supplying above mentioned species, we receive enquiries for several other
species based on which we try to find sources of them and subsequently add to our existing list of species. Apart from above
mentioned species, we also supply raw as well as processed honey (Forest 8t Apiary)
Reach us at:
GRAM MOOLIGAI CO. LIMITED.
50, MSH Layout, 2nd Stage, 3rd Main 2nd Cross, Anandnagar, Bangalore - 560 024. India
Ph.: +91-80-23546971 Telefax : +91-80-23632008
Email: gmcl@vsnl.net www.villageherbs.com
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