RM200,000 yearly on growing herbs

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has vast potential in exploiting its sustainably native herbs for the development of indigenous herbal industry and it’s sub-sectors Statewide.

Hence, the Government through Agriculture Ministry has intensified efforts by allocating RM200,000 anually for four years since 1997, to assist in the growing of medicinal plants industry.

It is due to the increasing demand expected for raw material, which signify great chances of success in its future development, although still considered as new activity in the agriculture and forestry sectors.

This was disclosed jointly by Mary Sintoh, Prof Dr Maryati Mohammed and Dr Mashitah Mohd Yusoff of Institute for Development Studies Sabah (IDS) and University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) at recently concluded conference on ‘Sabah Beyond The Crisis: Opportunities and Challenges’.

The plants could be incorporated with handicrafts to represent an extra mileage for the tourism industry in the State, through strategic presentation of its internationally produced gifts and souvenirs items.

Subject of items could include some herbal endemic species such as shrubs that has medicinal value as well as herbal or medicinal plants of the State’s origin which could also be included in the souvenir items.

In this small way, it would help explore new tourism products for Sabah to presen it’s truer identity as well as enhance better marketing for the State as it unconsciously symbolises the place of origin for the plants.

Herbal or medicinal plants could also be developed along the theme park concept, which could be emulated from those ‘desert park concept’ in Alice Spring, Australia.

In addition, the indigenous herbal park could also be developed along the agrotourism development, which tourists will be provided an insight by specialist nature guide with the assistance of interpretative materials on herbal indigenous in their primary healthcare.

An indigenous herbal or medicinal plants of Malaysia origin could be developed in the commercial basis while the national herbal industry development will also create several other related industries or sub-sectors which will be able to provide various products and services.

The birth of few private and public companies based on traditional medicine in Malaysia such as NonaRoguy, Nasuha Entreprise, Sime Darby, Kesedar and Mardi has undoubtedly indicate that herbal endeavour could be the next ‘sunrise industry’ of the State.

While, Forest Research Institute  of Malaysia (FRIM) in Kepong has identified pegaga or scientically known as Indian Pennywort, Gotu Kola, Hydrocotile asiatica or Centella asiatica as an important herbal plant that could be used in the health tonic preparation.

Apart from ‘memory enhancing effect’ of B-Complex, pegaga also contained Selenium, a powerful anti-oxidant, 100 times more than Vitamin E that helps in maintaining healthy hair and skin, beneficial also for good blood flow and prevents hardening of arteries.

Other herbal plants including Misai Kuching (Orthosipon aristatus), Hempedu Bumi (Andrographis paniculata) and other herbs which could have a potential to be brewed as indigenous tea of Sabah.

In the other hand, the cultivation of herbal would be vital in reducing import on herbs from China, India, Australia and USA, which stood at RM800 million annually. Several government agencies are involved in such project only in an experimental stage for research purposes.

These include the State Agriculture Development Corporation (SADC) which currently managing a 20 hectares area in Selinsing, Tapah and another 24 hectares as herbal crop nursery project run by Global Herba (Perak) Sdn Bhd.

Sabah Parks has significant documentation of State herbal usage, where Sabah Park Ethnobotany unit had recently signed an MOU with Kew Garden, Netherlands in documenting and further research on plants with ethnobotanic value found in Kinabalu mountain and its surrounding.

The State Museum Ethnobotanoc Garden, documents the overall use of traditional plants, supplemented and complemented by its own Etnobotanical Herbarium, an exotic ethnobotanical plant collection covering 16.96 hectares at the heart of Kota Kinabalu.

This living ecological showcase comprises mainly life ethnobotanical plant collection covering some 1.9 million individuals encompassing more than 150 families and 900 species of plants used by the inhabitants of Sabah since time immemorial.

Last year, Innoprise Sabah Foundation has also done some research on medicinl plants of the Orang Sungai Communities in the Upper Kinabatangan region of Sandakan and tapping oleo-resin from different species of keruing trees using barkchipped and traditional method.

Source : Larry Ralom, Daily Express, 29.12.99