What medicinal herbs are profitable to grow. Growing medicinal herbs and plants as a business

* Calculations use average data for Russia

4 000 000 ₽

Minimum starting capital

From 18 months

Payback

30%

Profitability

Despite the development of medicine, the emergence of new drugs of synthetic origin and methods of treatment, herbal medicine, which originates from the practice of traditional healers, does not lose its relevance. The collection and sale of medicinal plants can become both a full-fledged and profitable business, and a way to earn extra money.

The last option, however, involves a restriction on your location. Collecting herbs is only half the battle. We still need to organize their sale. Such raw materials are readily purchased by pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. But they must be located in your region. Of course, private collectors often sell their own collections on local markets, but such “entrepreneurial” activity cannot be called legal.

In this article, we will consider the production of medicinal plant collections as a business that has a number of undeniable advantages. These include the low level of competition in Russian market, a shortage of producers with an increasing demand of the population for such products, relatively small investments, the availability of raw materials (although there are certain nuances), the widest assortment range with a seeming narrow specialization of production (both by plant species and by product), low risks.

Russian market of medicinal herbs and preparations

Medicinal herbs are those that are used to treat people and animals or are used as raw materials for the production of medicines. Currently, about 270 plant species are used for this purpose - 150 species as raw materials for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, approximately 90 plant species are sold after primary processing, and pure natural compounds are isolated from the rest. More than half of the entire range of procured medicinal raw materials are wild plants. Such raw materials include dried whole plants and their individual parts - buds, leaves, flowers, stems, tubers, bark, roots and rhizomes.

Since the 90s of the last century and until recently, the market for phytoproducts practically did not develop in our country. However, since the late 2000s, experts have noted a sharp increase in consumer interest in such products. First of all, this is due to the appearance on domestic television of numerous programs dedicated to folk methods of treatment.

In addition, natural drugs attract people with the absence of severe side effects compared to traditional drugs, so they are recommended for the treatment of children, the elderly and patients with chronic diseases. However, this advantage is relative, and sometimes doubtful. Herbal medicines also have certain side effects (most often allergic reactions). In addition, in terms of effectiveness, they can hardly be compared with potent drugs.

So far, the direction of phytotherapy is only developing. The main obstacle to its spread is the insufficient level of awareness of doctors about this method, the lack of motivation among pharmacists and physicians, as well as the insufficiently studied properties of many herbs. If we consider phytopreparations within the framework of the pharmaceutical market, then their share is very small - no more than 2%. For comparison in European countries this segment occupies up to 10% of the total market volume medicines.

In general, according to experts, this segment is promising, as many large manufacturing companies are showing interest in natural products. This interest is due to two reasons: relatively small size initial investment and the now popular trend of "environmental friendliness and naturalness", which affects all areas of life.

Now in our country there are about 120 manufacturers of medicinal herbs and fees. Moreover, most of them work only for a certain region or several regions, selling their products within their region. About 20% of Russian manufacturers work at the federal level.

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Why, despite all the prospects and attractiveness of this business, is pharmacy crop production so poorly developed in our country? On the one hand, the cultivation of even the simplest medicinal plants (for example, the common chamomile) is twice as profitable as the cultivation of cereal crops. But farms are not interested in this area because of the long payback periods for such a business.

Crops of medicinal plants in most cases begin to make a profit only 2-3 years after sowing. It is extremely difficult for specialized farms to obtain loans for such an impressive period for this industry, and sowing large areas and buying seed requires considerable investment.

An alternative would be to collect wild-growing countries. But to work in industrial scale need to organize a cleaning campaign. The season lasts only 2-3 months a year. With tight deadlines and low investment, you can only find non-professional assemblers who cannot ensure a sufficiently high quality of raw materials. As a result, with a high demand for wild medicinal herbs in our country and abroad, a huge raw material base and the availability of resources, it is very difficult to establish a work process and, moreover, to export part of the raw materials to other countries.

All problems in this industry are completely solvable, but only with the support of the state, which can create more favorable conditions for domestic producers and banks. To date, these problems have not yet been resolved, resulting in a paradoxical situation: our country, which has a huge base of medicinal plant materials, imports it from other countries of the world.

And yet, even taking into account the very a large number domestic producers of medicinal herbs and preparations, they produce almost 80% of such herbal medicines, which appear in the State Register of Medicines.

Business for the production of herbal preparations: organizational issues

As we mentioned above, the interest of entrepreneurs in this segment is stimulated mainly by low investment costs to start the project, low cost of equipment and good prospects for its development. To start such a small enterprise, it will take from 500 thousand rubles. Moreover, the main expenses will be spent on the purchase of packaging equipment, rent of premises and execution of the necessary documentation (in particular, permits from the Ministry of Health for the production of medicinal herbs). This activity is not subject to VAT and income tax. There are two types of herbs that can be produced in collections: for outdoor and internal use. The latter include infusion, oil extracts (extracts and tinctures), visible alcohol, decoctions. And the second type includes modified types: wraps, compresses, lotions, herbal bath.

Do not lose their relevance and special herbal preparations, which include plants with similar properties. Among them are diuretic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, multivitamin, diaphoretic, etc.

If you plan to get into the production of medicinal plants, you will first need to register as individual entrepreneur(IP) or open a company with limited liability(OOO). The OKVED code, which is suitable for this type of activity, is 01.28.30.120 "Medicinal crops". This code involves activities for the collection, procurement and sale of herbal medicinal raw materials.

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The production of pharmaceutical preparations based on plant raw materials is also subject to mandatory licensing. You will need to pass production certification, laboratory accreditation, and also obtain permission from firefighters and SES. All this will cost at least 170 thousand rubles.

Production technology medicinal fees includes four main stages (their exact number and content may vary slightly). At the first stage, the herbs are grown, they are bought from pickers or collected on their own. At the second stage drying of vegetable raw materials is carried out. The dried herb is then sent for processing and finally packaged. The content of the first stage of work depends on the size of your starting capital.

If you have an amount of more than 10 million rubles and time, then you can buy or rent land and start growing herbs on your own. In the absence of sufficient funds and / or time to wait for the first collection, it is more profitable to purchase herbs from individual collectors (they can be schoolchildren, students, pensioners, etc.) or supplier companies, and then process them. The first option is certainly more cost-effective, but pays off much longer (at least 5-6 years). The second option allows you to enter this business with relatively little money. However, there are several nuances that must be taken into account.

Collection of wild medicinal plants

If you organize the collection of herbs yourself, you need to take into account the region, season, weather and many other factors. Among medicinal plants, there are those that are on the verge of extinction. The collection of herbs listed in the Red Book is strictly prohibited and is fraught with unpleasant consequences for your enterprise.

However, even rare plants must be collected carefully so as not to destroy the thickets. As a rule, hired pickers are of little interest in the issue of planting safety. But such a neglectful attitude can lead to the complete disappearance useful plants in a certain area. For example, if your pickers don't follow the recommended timing and pick wild valerian before the seeds are ripe, it won't respawn in that location.

Some plants can and should be uprooted when harvested (for example, cornflower, which greatly depletes the soil), while others, on the contrary, can only be cut off fruits or leaves, preserving the root system (for example, St. John's wort, nettle, mint). Thus, the collection of medicinal plants is not an easy task, which requires special knowledge about the specifics of each plant, experience and responsibility. There are several simple rules for the conservation of natural thickets of wild medicinal plants:

In places of collection, you need to leave part of the thickets intact.

When collecting, it is necessary to leave 2-3 plants per 1 sq. meter.

It is necessary to establish the alternation of collections so that the thickets do not decrease.

If roots and rhizomes are collected, then the entire area where the collection is carried out is leveled at the end.

Keep in mind that the amount of active ingredients in different phases of plant development (and sometimes even within one day) can vary greatly. The collection of plant raw materials is carried out during such periods of vegetation, when the largest amount of biologically active substances accumulates in the used part of the plant.

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If harvested too early or, conversely, late, the quality of raw materials not only decreases, but sometimes becomes simply unsuitable for use in medicinal purposes. Plants are collected in most cases in dry weather (except for the roots - there are no weather requirements for their collection), in the morning after the dew has evaporated, taking into account the climatic characteristics of the region, the season and the morphological group of raw materials.

Herbs are harvested during the appearance of buds, flowers and sometimes fruits. They cut sharp hand tool(secateurs, knife, sickle) at the base or at the level of the lower leaves. In the case of continuous thickets, plants are mowed with a scythe, removing all impurities from the mowed mass. Perennial plants should not be uprooted. In some plants, only the flowering part is cut off or side branches and leaves are broken off by hand. The collected grass loose mass is placed on pallets.

Leaves are usually cut from flowering plants, except for biennials. In early-flowering plants, leaves develop after flowering, and in plants with wintering leaves, during fruiting. Unlike herbs, which in some cases can be harvested using special equipment, the leaves are only plucked by hand. Only in rare cases is the entire tree cut to collect leaves. above-ground part plants, which is then dried. Only then is the leaf cut off or threshed from it. This applies primarily to nettles. Depending on the requirements of GOST, they can be torn off with or without a petiole.

Flowers are harvested at the beginning of flowering before signs of wilting appear. At this time, they have a brighter color and a high content of active ingredients. And in this case, the collection is also most often carried out manually: the flowers are cut off or plucked off with a minimum remainder of the pedicel. There are special devices for collecting certain types of inflorescences (for example, buckets or boxes with combs for collecting flower baskets). When collecting flowers from trees, knives, secateurs, sticks with hooks for bending branches, scissors with nets, etc. are used. You can only collect flowers that are not eaten away by insects and are not affected various diseases. Fruits and seeds are harvested when they are fully ripe.

Roots and rhizomes are harvested, as a rule, in the autumn after the seeds fly around, when the ground part of the plant begins to wither. The main thing is not to miss the beginning of wilting, otherwise the pickers will not be able to identify the right plants under the dried grass. Also, underground parts of plants are sometimes collected in early spring, even before the appearance of green shoots, but this collection period lasts a few days. The roots are also mined by hand, digging them out of the ground with shovels, forks, pulling with rakes or picking them out with their hands.

Then they are cleared of the ground, cut off the above-ground parts, damaged areas, washed in cold (the main requirement!) running water. Some roots cannot be washed, otherwise they darken and quickly deteriorate. The peeled roots are laid out on clean grass or a tarp to dry, stirred regularly to dry evenly. Please note: in no case should you dig up the roots and rhizomes during the flowering period. When harvesting this part of the plants, no more than half of the raw materials are collected per square meter of thickets. At the same time, re-harvesting can be carried out with a break of at least 2-3 years.

Regardless of what plants and what parts of them you collect, collections cannot be carried out within the city limits and near roads (highways, highways) with heavy traffic. Mark areas for fees on the map. Depending on the type of plants, their collections can be carried out with a certain frequency.

For example, the roots and rhizomes of cinquefoil, valerian, dandelion, horse sorrel, male marshmallow fern, etc. are harvested in the same place every 3-5 years. Leaves or grass of celandine, strawberry, wormwood, yarrow, plantain, coltsfoot, St. John's wort and others can be collected two years after the last collection.

Leaves of bearberry, lily of the valley, lingonberry, lily of the valley can be collected every 3-4 years in the same place. When harvesting medicinal herbs, try to leave part of the plants without cutting them at the root. When collecting flowers, leaves and berries of hawthorn, wild rose, viburnum, bird cherry, mountain ash, raspberries, currants, junipers and other plants, branches must not be broken. Pine buds and bark from trees and shrubs are cut without damaging their trunks. When harvesting leaves of currant, raspberry, birch, blueberry, lingonberry, etc., some of them must be left on a bush or tree.

If you do not collect plants yourself (which is too complicated and time consuming), but buy it from different suppliers, you need to carefully check the quality of the purchased raw materials. It must comply with GOST 24027.2-80 “Medicinal vegetable raw materials. Methods for determining moisture content, ash content, extractive and tannins, essential oils.

It is desirable to have a specialist on staff who will evaluate the quality of plant materials before purchasing. However, the initial quality of raw materials, of course, has great importance, but in order to obtain a quality product, it is also necessary to carefully observe the requirements for its processing (for example, drying, on which the content of active substances in the raw material depends), storage, packaging and transportation.

Production of herbal medicines

Processing of vegetable raw materials involves its cleaning, sorting, drying and packaging. During processing, damaged shoots, rot, etc. are separated from the total mass. Then the raw material is sent for drying. The interval between processing and drying must be very short, otherwise the plants will begin to wilt, which leads to their deterioration under the influence of enzymes and the temperature resulting from the self-heating of the compacted raw material.

Drying can be done naturally or with special equipment. In the first case, immediately after collection, plant materials are scattered on a flat surface on a clean floor in a well-ventilated area, under a canopy on fresh air or in the attic. The density of the "fill" should be no more than 1.5-2 kg of raw materials per square meter. Turn it over regularly to dry evenly.

The nature of drying plants in a natural way directly depends on the type of raw material and on the active substances contained in it. So, raw materials with a high content of essential oils (calamus, mint, oregano, thyme, etc.) are dried long time at a temperature not exceeding 35 °C. At higher temperatures, the oils volatilize and the raw material loses its value.

But plants that contain glycosides (these include lily of the valley, adonis, wormwood, foxglove, etc.), on the contrary, must be dried at a higher temperature - up to 60 ° C, at which the activity of enzymes that destroy glycosides stops. Raw materials with a high content of vitamin C (fruits of sea buckthorn, wild rose, currant, etc.) are dried at temperatures up to 90 ° C to avoid its oxidation and destruction.

However, drying naturally takes too long. Now this method of processing medicinal raw materials is used extremely rarely. Most medium and large enterprises use special equipment for this, which also has several drying modes. And for each type of plant, you can choose your own temperature and duration of treatment. Well-dried plant materials should contain no more than 12-15% hygroscopic moisture. After drying, the herbs are crushed using cutting machines. In this case, the degree of grinding is determined by a sieve with cells of a certain diameter.

At the next stage, the crushed raw material is sent to the mixer, where it is mixed with other components, including essential oils and special salts. Ready mixes if necessary pass additional drying at a temperature up to 60 °C. Finally, herbal mixtures are packed in plastic bags and carton boxes. Bulk mixtures are sent to a warehouse, which must be dry with an air humidity of not more than 45% and well ventilated.

Equipment for the production of herbal preparations

The equipment that is needed for the production of herbal preparations is perhaps the biggest expense in this business. If you take it “to the maximum”, then you will need a drying machine (from 250 to 800 thousand rubles, depending on the volume), a mixer (170 thousand rubles), a vibrating sieve (25 thousand rubles apiece, you will need from three pieces, depending on the volume production), chopper (200 thousand rubles), filling machine (from 300 thousand rubles). The productivity of such equipment will be about 12 thousand 100-gram packs of herbal preparations per day.

If you plan to buy raw materials in bulk, and not organize their collection or grow them yourself, then purchase prices fluctuate in a wide range from 50 to 300 rubles per kilogram. It all depends on the type of plant. However, the retail price finished products will be from 25-30 rubles for a fifty-gram pack.

Few people think, but the cultivation of medicinal plants as a business is a very profitable and sought-after business. First of all, the pharmaceutical industry is interested in this product. This industry is always thriving. In addition, the demand for natural preparations has increased the need for herbal manufacturers.

At the same time, the ability to collect herbs in wild nature. If earlier the mass purchase of herbs from the population was organized, now it has everything fewer opportunities collect herbs in meadows, fields, steppes, etc. All free space is redeemed for various needs, cultivated, which is why the growth areas of useful herbs are reduced.

Therefore, the targeted cultivation of medicinal herbs is increasingly in demand on the market today. Moreover, in the pharmaceutical industry, various parts of plants are in demand, depending on the type:

• roots;
• flowers;
• fruit;
• bark;
• leaves;
• stems.

What is needed to organize a business

Growing medicinal plants has an undeniable advantage - it is not necessary to have a large area for its organization. Cultivation can be organized on your own plot near the cottage. The demand for herbs is so great that even small plot will generate income.

However, one should not hope that a business can be organized in a city apartment. Most herbs require plenty of sunlight to thrive. In addition, it is recommended to take up the cultivation of herbs typical of this natural zone. In this case, the necessary water regime, soil composition, etc. will be observed. Only in this way they will be stretched with all the necessary substances, for which they are valued by pharmacists.

So, the first thing you need to organize the cultivation and collection of herbs is your own plot in the countryside. It makes sense to rent it when you have studied all the intricacies of growing and are planning a volumetric collection of herbs.

plant species

Next, you need to decide how you will sow the plots. To do this, you need to study the demand for medicinal herbs. Contact potential suppliers and clarify what kind of plants they are interested in, what their procurement requirements are. You can immediately tell them, they say, I sell medicinal herbs. Perhaps already at this stage it will be possible to reach preliminary agreements on the sale of products.

As for plant species, which are usually in high demand in the market, they can be divided into 12 main groups:

• Myrtle (cedar, ginger).
• Lavender (lavender, cypress, sage, juniper).
• Bitter (naioli, wormwood, thyme, tea tree, eucalyptus).
• Coniferous (spruce, pine, fir).
• Sweet floral (ylang-ylang rosewood, geranium, nerola).
• Camphor (valerian, jasmine, frankincense, chamomile).
• Woody (vetiver, patchouli, myrrh, sandalwood).
• Sweet-spicy (cinnamon, ginger, bay, cloves, pepper, nutmeg).
• Honey (stevia, anise, fennel).
• Citrus fruits (bigardia, lemon, bergamot, orange).
• Menthol (verbena, mint, lemon balm).
• Spicy (rosemary, marjoram, basil, oregano).

Some plants are unpretentious in care, while others are extremely difficult to cultivate. So it's better to start with simple plants, gradually cover the more capricious.

Herb selection

The greatest demand today for such herbs:

• flax seeds;
• fern rhizomes;
• hemlock;
• aconite tubers;
• hop inflorescences;
• dope;
• henbane;
• digitalis;
• belladonna leaves;
• St. John's wort;
• oregano;
• succession;
• plantain;
• Birch buds.

Before growing any of these plants, it is necessary to study all the subtleties of its cultivation, the requirements for soil, climate, light regime, fertilizer and more.

Growing organization

So, you need to start a business with simple and popular plants, and with the acquisition of experience, cover more complex and expensive ones. Over time, the collection of herbs can be expanded with related production: grinding and packaging herbs, making aromatic oils, dry extracts, and more. Of course, this will require significant investments in expensive equipment, but the profitability of such production will be much higher.

The type and cost of equipment in this case will depend on the type of plant processing chosen. So, if you decide to specialize in essential plants, it will make sense to later purchase essential oil extraction equipment. If your specialization is the collection of rhizomes, stems and leaves, then you need to purchase equipment for washing and grinding them.

In any case, the collection of plants involves their drying and storage. These stages must comply with state standards. They are designed separately for different plants. For example, the collection of nettle leaves is regulated by GOST 12529-67.

Therefore, if you plan to cultivate herbs on an industrial scale, you must be certified by the Russian Ministry of Health. To do this, it is necessary to bring the cultivation and storage to the appropriate standards. Detailed requirements for each plant can be obtained from the ministry itself. Of course, to obtain a certificate, you will need to register as an individual entrepreneur or legal entity.

Collection rules

The main rules that must be followed when collecting herbs can be expressed in the basic postulates:

• suitable place of growth;
• timely collection;
• good drying;
• the freshness of the herb;
• uncorrupted;
• neutrality.

The land from which the plants are collected must be clean, away from highways and highways. Stems, branches and roots are harvested after the juices have dried. Young shoots, milk and leaves - in the rainy season and active growth. The ends of the shoots, fruits and flowers - in the fall. It is impossible to collect plants all clean, so that the possibility of their reproduction remains.

Business nuances

If you decide to start with small volumes, it is worth growing several species that are similar to each other at once. At the first stage, it is not necessary to purchase expensive equipment. You can basically do without it. In this format, the profitability of the business can reach 150%.

You can learn all the nuances of growing plants in special courses. They have a different thematic focus and for 64 hours of training they will require only $ 120. Payment.

The idea of ​​the business is to collect various medicinal herbs and plants for subsequent sale.

Let's look at a few examples, from which it will be clear what potential income can be brought by the activity of harvesting medicinal herbs and plants.

Liquorice root- it's time tested natural remedy from colds, asthma and stomach ulcers, it has a powerful immunomodulatory effect, significantly increases the body's resistance and has an antioxidant effect.

Also, the roots of the plant are used in the food industry, for the manufacture of coffee, cocoa, marinades, compotes, kissels, flour products, halva, caramel, marshmallows and chocolate.

Dry extract of licorice root costs 1,850 rubles per 1 kilogram.

Intended markets for licorice root:

• Sales to food and pharmaceutical companies. The requirements for the purchased products must be found out by contacting the purchasing company directly.
• Implementation through various trading platforms in the Internet (Avito.ru, Slando.ru and others);

Elecampane root

Elecampane root is used for medical purposes as an anti-inflammatory, choleretic, diuretic, hemostatic agent.

Dry extract of elecampane root costs 1,350 rubles per 1 kilogram

Intended markets for elecampane root:

• Implementation of shops and pharmacies involved in the sale of medicinal herbs in your city;
• Sales to pharmaceutical companies.

  The requirements for the purchased products must be found out by contacting the purchasing company directly.

• Search potential buyers can be carried out either through telephone directories or via the Internet (a significant number of requests are issued for the request “buy licorice root”)
• Implementation through various trading platforms on the Internet (Avito.ru, Slando.ru and others);
• Implementation through your friends.

Medicinal plant "Yarrow"

Yarrow is used to stop various bleeding, to get rid of worms, to treat atherosclerosis, bronchial asthma, liver diseases and gastritis. It is useful in gastric ulcers with low or normal levels of gastric acidity. With the help of a decoction or infusion of this medicinal plant, burns, wounds with pus, psoriasis and eczema can be cured.

Dry collection of yarrow costs 300 rubles per 1 kilogram.

Intended Markets for Yarrow

• Implementation of shops and pharmacies involved in the sale of medicinal herbs in your city;
• Sales to pharmaceutical companies (Yarrow preparations are widely used in medicine).

Abstracts

As can be seen from the examples, the collection of medicinal herbs and plants can become a very profitable business, and the collection costs are negligible. (the cost mainly includes fuel and lubricants and packaging). In addition, this type of activity has a beneficial effect on health. (Hiking in nature hasn't hurt anyone yet).

The activity of collecting medicinal herbs and plants can also be considered as an additional income, without dismissal from the main place of work, this type of business is also suitable for pensioners and students. If you think of collecting herbs as a larger project, then we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the field herbal tea business model.

Pyotr Stolypin, 2012-04-06

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Growing medicinal plants as a business from scratch

Collection of medicinal herbs profitable business from scratch. Growing medicinal plants is not among the popular businesses. But in vain. This is an occupation that can bring tangible profits, because competition in this market is almost invisible. On the contrary, experts note an unfilled niche in the production of medicinal herbs.

Industrial cultivation of medicinal herbs is still very poorly developed today, and the consumption market is huge.

Estimated prices for medicinal herbs:

A photo	Name of herbs	Price for 1kg.
	Licorice Root Naked	1,4$
	Rosemary leaves (Labiatae) (fraction 3-5 mm or more)	10$
	Roots and leaves of Potentilla alba	Leaves $17.5 Root 25$
	Flowers, leaves and stems of Euphrasia officinalis	4,3$
	Stems, leaves, flowers of Winter-loving Umbrella (Chimpahila umbellata)	7,5$
	Calamus rhizome (Acorus calamus)	3$
	Flowers with bracts of Linden small-leaved 2mm. (Tilia cordata)	13,5$
	Spotted Orchis tubers (Orchis maculata)	50$
	Leaves and stems of Ortilia one-sided (Orthilia secunda)	9,28$
	Blue cornflower flowers (Centauréa cyanus)	17,5$
	Birch Buds Hanging or Warty (Betula pendula)	6,25$
	Euphorbia Pallas or Fisher Root (Euphorbia fischeriana)	20$
	Rhizomes of Elecampane (Inula)	1,85$
	Aconite rhizomes (Aconite)	5,8$

Business from scratch on the cultivation of medicinal herbs

It is not difficult to grow medicinal herbs, for this, in fact, you do not need to have special knowledge.

For most rural residents, this is a stable business from scratch. There are three main "whales" you need to start a business:

1. A small piece of land on which plants will grow.
2. suitable seeds.
3. Your desire to start a business.

It is worth noting that almost all medicinal herbs grow well in wild environment. Therefore, they are absolutely unpretentious to any conditions and do not need special care, unlike cultivated plants, flowers and vegetables.

There is only one condition that will require your attention: when choosing the type of medicinal herbs for planting, choose those that grow well in your climate zone. So you get rid of the need for additional watering or heating plants.

The most popular varieties of medicinal herbs that grow well and easily tolerate any weather disasters are medicinal chamomile, calendula, yarrow, amaranth (a fairly new culture for us, but very promising), licorice. However, there are plants that require certain rules to be followed in order to get a good harvest.

Technology of growing licorice root

Licorice root - wholesale purchase price: from $ 1.4 / kg. Talking about the benefits of Licorice Root, licorice, licorice root, licorice) is a simple matter. It is one of the most popular medicinal herbs. It is also used in cosmetology, because licorice root extract allows you to quickly remove age spots on the skin. Due to the high content of glyceric acid, this plant is used in hormone therapy. Moreover, licorice root is actively bought abroad, having a really high export potential. After all, medicines against cancer are produced from licorice root. Its properties have an antitumor effect, inhibits the growth of malignant neoplasms.

Licorice is grown, usually in warm climatic zones. It tolerates a lack of moisture well and grows well on poor soils. The main condition under which the licorice root develops as efficiently as possible is the abundant lighting of the plantation. Licorice is one of the plants that need maximum sun.

Good areas for growing this crop will be sandy and sandy soils, licorice grows well in floodplains of rivers and reservoirs. It should be noted that licorice belongs to perennials, so only 3-4 years after planting with rhizomes, or after 5 years if you planted seeds, you can get a crop of licorice root or licorice root.

Despite the fact that the main product is the root, the crop is harvested many times and every year more and more. Sow once and reap profits annually. Many summer residents cannot get rid of licorice, which fills their land more and more every year 🙂 The yield of licorice root depends on its age. From one square meter in the third year, you can collect 200 grams of already dried product ready for sale. And after another 2-3 years, the yield can reach up to 1 kg / m2 in dry form. The shelf life of the dried product is 10 years.

Licorice Uralskaya easily takes root in cold climatic zones, and its root chemical composition no different from Licorice Naked.

Now a lot of people are looking for ideas for their own business, and herbs and teas are becoming more and more popular, so every day dozens of people across Russia decide for themselves: “I will open my own business for collecting and selling herbs” because it’s so simple: “collect and sell!” and immediately start looking on the Internet where you can donate herbs and, accordingly, find our or similar sites.

Accordingly, we found the site and decided to call or write, and at the other end I will answer you with a sad voice, and most likely with a refusal.

Why did I decide to share my experience on how to start collecting herbs?

Well, calls with a proposal for cooperation come to me every day and more than once, but the saddest thing is that even with people with whom you agree to cooperate, out of 100 people, 30 will reach the point, and 29 of them will decide in a month that this occupation is not for them. As a result, out of 100 people, only one likes this activity after he tried it. It turns out a lot of time and effort is wasted, do you need it?

By no means do I want to dissuade anyone from taking herbs, I just want to explain why this happens and reduce the number of your mistakes.

So the main reasons why for many the idea is unsuccessful. To do this, consider several different groups people and the reasons that led them to the idea of ​​​​a business of collecting medicinal or tea herbs. I will call the groups in my own way, but I think it will be clear, maybe you will recognize yourself.

We moved out of the city and decided to open our own business

The city dwellers are the most numerous and, in my opinion, the most hopeless group, they have lived in the city all their lives and suddenly moved out of town or simply bought a summer cottage, they think that their area, since it is 10 km from the city, is environmentally friendly, because they were told so by selling a plot or a house, and indeed in a new place is much greener than in the city! As a rule, thoughts about the ecological cleanliness of a new place of residence are just a delusion, there is no dispute outside the city cleaner than in the city, but it’s still not enough to collect herbs.

Okay, let's leave the environment alone, anyway, the presence of a 100m motorway will not stop anyone, because since we have already moved, we need to start exploring new activities! We go to the nearest clearing and start collecting, and it turns out it’s not just a truck and you can’t play on the phone, in general you need to work and not like in the office, namely to work, and then there are bugs, ticks and midges, I’m still silent about what else is needed know a lot and the head begins to look for a way out of the situation. Usually such a way out is the population of the nearest village, according to many people who have lived in the city in the village, people have nothing to do at all and they will gladly work for them for a penny. Accordingly, the workers are quickly and voila! Problem solved! A newly minted businessman sits relaxing at home, and the villagers work for him, showed a picture of a plant and ordered several bags of this to be brought by the evening, everything is like in a fairy tale, but the fairy tale ends in a few days, when it comes time to sell these herbs, then it will begin to become clear what the workers had they said to bring parsnip grass, but they brought dill and you can’t fault it because they look alike in the picture! Chicory was wrapped up at the reception due to dirt, as it was easier for workers to pick it up on the side of the road, there is more of it! And Ivan-chai was collected for only 1000 rubles in a week, since it was collected where there was almost none, and the advance payment received had to be urgently spent on drink and there was no time left for Ivan-chai, because quickly finding a hard-working worker in the village is no easier than in the city, everyone is busy with their own business, and in search of hacks, as a rule, people who do not like to work, but like to drink.

In general, you can talk endlessly about this category, the meaning will be the same: before you start leading, first do it yourself, there are enough leaders in our country who are “not in the know about what is happening” without you, you need to work here first of all yourself - this is the main difference between the village from the city.

Since ancient times, people have been treated with herbs. Medicinal plants were collected in autumn and summer, and used all year round. Even in the 21st century, despite the abundance of medicines, herbal medicine remains a popular method of treatment and maintenance of health. This information should be taken into service by novice businessmen. After all, this type of entrepreneurial activity is year-round and profitable. The article will tell you how to make money on medicinal plants. He will also tell you how to properly collect and prepare herbs for sale and where to sell them in the future.

A farmer can grow everything

Let's imagine a farmer who has his own plot, as a rule, has grown potatoes and corn all his life, but suddenly he got bored or he saw some interesting proposal for taking herbs, for example, our price list) and decided to plant fireweed on the entire plot, let's say the farmer took into account that fireweed does not grow well on dry soils and his site is suitable for him, and even took into account that since fireweed will grow well on his site, then he will uproot it for more than one year. I planted, looked again at our admission price and imagined mountains of gold. Disappointment will come to him when he sees a limit of 30 kg, which is set at the time of admission, and they can even wrap it, since it is almost impossible to collect and dry grass on an industrial scale with high quality, with the exception of several types and the market is crowded with them.

What do I want to say? Collecting herbs on an industrial scale and qualitatively incompatible words in one sentence, because you are collecting for people! Well, if you forget about quality (after all, this is a “business”, and the well-known principle of Russian business, unfortunately, is already becoming an integral part of our Motherland), then before planting, I highly recommend finding an office in advance that will buy everything from you, usually these are pharmaceutical enterprises that produce dietary supplements or cosmetics. We are not here to help you.

Looking for work

The third group of people who from time to time are tired of unscrupulous employers, shifts or just want to change their activity and start collecting plants. As a rule, everyone has little idea that this is not easy, that you must follow the rules of collection and hygiene, that before you collect you still need to find, and so on. The problem is that people are looking for any job, no one thinks about whether they like it or not, and as a rule, after a few days or weeks they find another job and forget about herbalism.

Looking for a job is good! But try to look for all the same work to your liking, I understand perfectly well that in our time it’s just difficult to find a job, not only to your liking, but still try, I can’t give other advice, because I just don’t know what to advise.

Family business

The rarest group is when the whole family or its individual member decided to go into the herb collection business, and in this case the maximum number of successful starts, as a rule, these are people who live in nature and are no longer familiar with the profession by hearsay. But even here there are very neglected cases, for example, the family is engaged in the collection and sale of herbs and everything is fine, but they are not familiar with hygiene and cleanliness, and it is unacceptable to dry herbs from goats in a barn, if at all this barn is not combined with housing. I once had such a dialogue with a herbalist, a simple Russian woman of about 45 years old, who has been harvesting medicinal plants for many years:
Me: How can you sell such herbs?
Herbalist: what is it?
Me: but you can see with the naked eye that they are dirty.
Herbalist: well, if you don't like it, you can not buy it, I don't forcefully offer it to anyone, after all.
Me: what if someone gets poisoned?
Herbalist: well, my goats eat them and nothing is done to them, and in general, everything fresh that is not for sale is always eaten by goats.
Me: how many goats have died in the last 10 years?
Herbalist: well, a couple somewhere.
Me: why do you know?
Herbalist: Yes, who knows, they probably got drunk.

It was useless to continue further dialogue.

Instead of total

No matter who you are and what motivates you to learn how to make money with herbalism, remember one thing for this you need a love of cleanliness and hard work, a strong desire to learn. This decision should not be spontaneous, first try to prepare a couple of tea herbs for a year for yourself and your family, and then decide whether you like it or not. And most importantly, conscience!

Well, the second part of the article is for those who have firmly decided to start harvesting herbs.

How to make money on herbs and certain plants?

Phytotherapy is becoming more popular every year. This is explained by the following: trust in most medicines is falling, almost all medicines are expensive, herbs were treated in ancient times, there is trust in them, plants can be used for beauty and youth. However, not everyone understands herbs and knows how to properly prepare them for use. Therefore, the collection, preparation and sale of medicinal plants is good type business. In order to start this business, you will need:

To study all types of plants that grow in the surrounding areas. To do this, you need to be well versed in herbs and poisonous plants. After all, the health, and sometimes the life of people, depends on it.

Learning all poisonous plants, as well as those that are listed in the Red Book.

Permission to lease a plot where medicinal plants grow.

Preparation of relevant documentation for the sale of herbs.

Purchase of special equipment.

It is worth saying that it is difficult to obtain permission to collect herbs in a certain area. I personally have not seen any collector with such permission and everyone just collects herbs in the wild.

Documents required for work

To obtain a license for the collection and processing of medicinal plants, you need to obtain a license. To get it you need to collect and present a list of documents.

This list includes:

List of medicines to be sold;

Charter and memorandum of association;

Protocol on the founding of the enterprise;

A document confirming registration with the tax office;

Conclusion of the sanitary-epidemiological station.

Preparing everyone required documents will cost 2500 rubles. The cost of a license (declaration of conformity) is about 20,000 rubles. It should be said that you can get it in your hands only after a few months. This is if you do everything yourself.

Equipment for processing and drying plants

In the business of collecting, processing and selling plants, you can do without staff. However, it will not work without special equipment. You will need the following equipment:

Vibrating sieve (not necessary if only manual collection is carried out);

Grind (you can not buy if you deal with whole herbs);

Dryer (there are plants that cannot be dried natural way);

Packaging equipment (well, or at least packaging and labels).

It is also worth thinking about inviting such specialists as a pharmacist and phytotherapeutist to the production. They will advise clients and suggest what herbs to collect.

Rules for the collection and preparation of medicinal plants

Before you start collecting and selling plants, you need to consider certain rules.

The first rule: you need to collect herbs away from highways and industrial facilities.

Second: best time to collect the morning after the dew has gone.

Third: it is necessary to dry herbs in the shade.

Fourth rule: if the plants are not frozen, they cannot be stored in bags.

Fifth, some plants lose their healing properties when frozen and dried at temperatures over 40 degrees.

Sixth: For each plant there is a certain collection time, those. when it is at its most useful, it is usually flowering time for grasses and autumn spring for roots, but there are exceptions everywhere. If you search a little on our website, you can find a calendar for collecting herbs for each month with pictures.

It is also worth remembering about dosages and that some types cannot be mixed together.

Where can plants be sold?

In addition to private individuals, medicinal plants can be left in some industrial locations. For example: pharmacies, shops, herbal medicine shops, saunas, for the production of brooms. You can also sell herbs to healers or open your own outlet. Various phyto-firms are considered a good marketing option. You can rent to us, but we are very picky). As well as various cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies. After all, in present time many cosmetic products are prepared for natural basis: plants and other ingredients. However, there are more often needed large quantities a variety of herbs. And the prices there are not interesting at all.

The sale of medicinal plants is a relevant and profitable business in the 21st century.

Despite the huge availability of pharmacies and bio-supplements, people trust herbal medicine. Yes, and for them this method of treatment is cheaper, and the quality is similar.

I hope I have laid out everything in detail, as far as possible, of course, it is difficult to indicate all the pitfalls in one article, but the main harm is there.

All of the above is a fiction and invention of your computer, if you recognized yourself in the article, it seemed to you, drink tea and calm down!)

Growing plants at home, greenhouses, on plots

Oyster mushroom cultivation

It has long been known to everyone that mushrooms are a valuable food product for humans. They are not only harvested in the forest, but there is also a simple technology for growing mushrooms, such as oyster mushrooms, in an apartment, cellar or on personal plot.

Growing shrubs of various shapes

Nowadays, more and more often they began to show interest in ornamental shrubs, plants that are trimmed in the form of various animals, birds, or even fairy-tale characters. Try to organize your business on the cultivation and sale of such original shrubs.

Growing strawberries

Strawberries are one of the favorite berries of children and adults. Growing this crop for commercial purposes can bring a good income. It is better to start with small plantations of 10-15 acres, dividing them into two sections, one of which is for strawberries for sale, the other for new seedlings.

Growing greenery

If you grow vitamin greens all year round, you can not only provide yourself and your fellow citizens with the necessary vitamins, but also make decent money on it.

Growing Kuril tea

Kuril tea, which is also called Siberian tea much more useful than usual. If you take advantage of its acquired popularity and good demand, you can open your own business and grow this plant for sale.

Not tulips or lilies

Selling flowers is one of the most profitable types of small business. But in this section you are invited unusual option— collection and sale of bouquets of wildflowers. This seasonal business can bring in a good additional income.

Growing radishes in winter

The cost of radishes in winter is three times higher than in summer. You can grow it not only in the garden, but also indoors, observing the necessary rules of agricultural technology.

Picking and freezing berries

If cranberries, lingonberries, blueberries or blueberries grow in the area where you live, then try to organize a collective collection of this useful and medicinal berry, so that you can then sell it to organizations that need it for the production of yogurt, ice cream, etc.

Cultivation of medicinal herbs

This is not a bad idea for a small business for those who have a plot of land. It is possible to organize the cultivation of the most valuable medicinal herbs in order to sell them to pharmaceutical factories in the future.

Processing of medicinal herbs

In terms of business, the processing of medicinal herbs and other plants is of good interest. The pharmaceutical, food and perfume industries lack tens of thousands of tons of extracts.

Business on garden plot

On your garden plot, you can arrange a business for growing seedlings dwarf apple trees, as well as other fruit trees and shrubs, organizing a kind of nursery for such dwarf fruit trees.

sunflower cultivation

To begin with, you can start growing sunflower in a small area, gradually expanding the plantations. This is a less expensive, but more time-consuming method. In this case it is better to choose early maturing varieties with a yield of up to 25 kg of seeds per hundred square meters, and organize the sale of roasted seeds.

Growing broccoli

Broccoli is now in great demand not only in Europe but also in Russia.

In terms of the amount of vitamin, it surpasses other varieties of cabbage, and broccoli is grown much faster than, for example, cauliflower, and on top of that, it gives a longer harvest. You can start your own business by growing and then selling the grown products in markets and shops.

Collection of medicinal herbs

The need for pharmaceuticals and not only for medicinal plant material is increasing every year, and the collection and harvesting of medicinal plants will not require high costs, so you can try to organize a business on medicinal herbs.

Cultivation of cranberries

This business is for those who have a plot of land where you can try to grow a very useful and treatment plant such as cranberries. Here you will find a plan and recommendations for this case.

Ginseng cultivation

Recently, ginseng is grown in the middle lane. An expensive plant in the future more than pays for the considerable costs spent in the process of growing it. They sell not only roots, but also seedlings and seeds.

Growing Eleutherococcus

The medicinal plant Eleutherococcus is in great demand, therefore now artificially planted plantations of this herb have begun to appear. It turned out that Eleutherococcus can not only be collected, but also grown and at the same time receive a good income.

Poppy cultivation

Food poppy is a fairly profitable crop that can bring good profits to the entrepreneur who grows it. There are special varieties permitted by the law of the Russian Federation, they contain a minimum of prohibited substances, but this business requires a special license and mandatory protection for plantations.

Sculptures from flowers

Increasingly, our cities are decorated with plant sculptures, various places for entertainment and recreation are being ennobled. It is possible to open a business growing such works of art, especially if you have the skills of a designer and the ability to make sketches or drawings.

Growing asparagus

Asparagus (Asparagus) is a seasonal plant. You can find edible sprouts from May to July. It is possible that this determines the price for it, an average of nine hundred rubles. The business of growing asparagus and subsequently selling it will undoubtedly bring good profits.

Growing orchids

Today, sellers of orchids have already appeared on domestic markets, growing these plants in greenhouses. However, it is worth noting that this process pretty labor intensive.

Growing cucumbers

Perhaps the most popular vegetable in culinary arts, cosmetology and nutrition is the cucumber. In addition, this plant is quite unpretentious in terms of maintenance and is able to bear fruit all year round. That is why the cultivation of cucumbers attracts the attention of many entrepreneurs.

Growing and selling blueberries

Cultivation and sale of blueberries can be the basis for a long-term and successful activity for you, since blueberries are in demand in various fields and are in constant demand.

Since ancient times, people have used medicinal herbs to treat various diseases. Currently, they are used not only in the form of infusions, decoctions, on their basis, pharmacologists prepare medicines - tablets, powders, ointments necessary for treatment.

Many well-known foreign pharmaceutical companies grow medicinal raw materials on their own plantations, thereby obtaining high-quality raw materials.

In our country, with a few exceptions, the old system of harvesting herbs has been destroyed, and a new one has not been created. At the same time, the demand for herbal medicine is growing. All this creates a shortage of medicinal herbs and an increase in prices for them.

Plan. If you have the opportunity to use the land, organize cultivation of medicinal herbs the most valuable. This is a rather profitable business, especially if you get the appropriate training, become the official manufacturer of a large company, best of all, a pharmaceutical plant.

The most popular raw materials are St. (cones) of hops, aconite tubers, hemlock, fern rhizomes, flax seeds, etc.
Successful cultivation of medicinal plants requires the same conditions as for other crops, i.e. growing in areas with proper weather and soil conditions where there are optimal opportunities to meet the heat, moisture and soil requirements of the respective plant species. All these conditions must be carefully observed, especially when growing those plant species whose natural habitats are located outside the area in which they are to be bred. The fact is that when growing medicinal plants that are not typical for a given region, they may not contain some substances necessary for the manufacture of the corresponding medicine. That is why one should strictly adhere to the agricultural technology of growing each type of medicinal plant.

A number of plants are easy to grow, they do not require special agrotechnical methods of cultivation, special care. Here are the technologies for growing the most popular plants.

Valerian officinalis. At the end summer period or at the very beginning of autumn, try to walk through the wet and swampy places of forest edges and glades and collect the seeds of valerian officinalis, and plant them in the ground in early November, you can do this in the spring. Sow seeds with a distance of 45 cm between rows in well and deeply cultivated soil to a depth of 1 cm (compost is desirable, and if the earth is acidic, then lime). Takes out valerian officinalis and slight shading. Although it prefers moist soil in nature, it was believed in the old days that the best roots can be collected from dry high places. From time to time it is useful to plant wild valerian between the bushes. To make the rhizomes more powerful, appearing in the summer flowering stems cut. In the second year, valerian rhizomes can be dug up. Leave the most for seeds best plants, water them abundantly and fertilize thoroughly. Rhizomes grown in the garden reach a length of 15 cm (in the wild - 5 cm).

Altea officinalis. The soil for planting should be fertile, sandy or clay. For planting, it is better to use seeds 2-3 years old; before planting, it is advisable to soak in water for 3-5 days. In the autumn, 5-6 kg per 1 square meter is brought in for digging. m of rotted manure or compost, in early spring the plot is loosened with a hoe by 4-5 cm, and seeds are sown in furrows to a depth of 2-3 cm with a distance between rows of 45-60 cm. Already in the first year, under favorable conditions, you can get a good harvest of roots.

Elecampane is high. Elecampane seeds are sown in well-fertilized and dug up soil in early spring or late autumn to a depth of 2-3 cm with a row spacing of 60 cm. About a hundred seeds are sown per 1 meter of beds. Elecampane can also be propagated by segments of rhizomes or seedlings can be grown from seeds, then planted in well-fertilized soil. Blooms from late June to September. The rhizome is harvested in October in the second year after planting.

Melilot officinalis. The soil for its cultivation should be fertilized with phosphorus and potash fertilizers. It grows on any soil, does not like acidic and waterlogged soil, tolerates drought well. Seeds are sown early in spring to a depth of 2-3 cm with a distance between rows of 45 cm. It will take about 200 seeds per 1 m of the bed. Blooms from June to October. Gathering leaves and flowers.

Oregano ordinary. Since it has been growing in one place for several years, the soil must be well fertilized (5 kg of manure and 30 g of superphosphate per 1 sq. M). Grows in sunny places. Seeds are sown in May to a depth of 1 cm with a row spacing of 45 cm. The soil is well leveled after sowing and watered. When propagated by rhizomes, oregano is transplanted in early spring or September. In the first year, the plants do not bear fruit. The herb is used for medicinal purposes.

St. John's wort pierced. St. John's wort, a light-loving plant, tolerates cold well; in one place it can grow up to 10 years. Therefore, the soil must be well fertilized (5-7 kg of manure will be required per 1 sq. M). It is better to sow the plant before winter 1-2 weeks before frost. St. John's wort is sown superficially with row spacing of 45 cm. 1500 seeds (0.15 g) are sown per 1 m of beds. The beds periodically need to be weeded, the aisles need to be loosened. St. John's wort is harvested during flowering, cutting upper part stems with leaves and flowers.

Pharmaceutical camomile. Chamomile can be sown in the spring, when the snow melts, winter sowing can be done a few days before frost, but it is better to sow in the first decade of August. Seeds are sown with incorporation during winter and autumn sowing to a depth of 1-1.5 cm, with late sowing - 0.5 cm. Chamomile inflorescences are harvested during flowering - from July to September.

Salvia officinalis. He loves light and warmth, tolerates drought well, but freezes in cold winters, does not like excess moisture. Sage is sown with germinated seeds in early spring to a depth of 3-4 cm with a distance between rows of 46-60 cm and a sowing rate of 0.8 g/sq. m. Crops are loosened, weeded, moderately watered. Sage blooms in June-July. Collected for medicinal purposes leaves with the tops of the stems during flowering.

Experts believe that up to 5 tons of chamomile, calendula, St. John's wort, motherwort and valerian can be grown on 5 hectares of land, which will require about 180 thousand rubles, taking into account all expenses, and the net profit will be more than 100 thousand rubles a year. When sowing medicinal herbs, about 50 species per large areas(up to 500 hectares), the annual net income will be about 25 million dollars, however, for this, up to 22 million dollars will have to be invested initially. Looking for investors!

Recommendations. Start with a small amount of several types of herbs. As you gain experience, stop at the most profitable types. In the future, you can organize the processing of raw materials: grinding and packaging, production of dry extracts (isolated from herbs and dried active substances), production of aromatic oils. Profitability with processing will be significantly higher, but at the same time it will be necessary to purchase expensive equipment and obtain a license.

Training can be done at special schools, where you will find out which herbs are more profitable to deal with, study the cultivation technology in relation to your soil and climatic conditions, and find the necessary information on the marketing of your future products. Courses "Ornamental garden and kitchen garden" are available at the International Academy of Business, where training takes place on the topics: "Garden of medicinal herbs", "Garden of herbs", "Growing exotic plants"and others (10 topics). Training period - 64 hours, cost - 120 USD. e. You can take similar courses at the Moscow State Technological Academy (courses for fish breeders and farmers on the topic “Cultivation of medicinal herbs”).
JSC "Krasnogorskleksredstva" sells seeds of medicinal plants: plantain, succession, valerian and concludes contracts for their cultivation, providing full methodological assistance.

Growing medicinal plants as a business is common in rural areas with good ecology, far from highways, cities and hazardous industries. In Russia, many people resort to the help of traditional medicine, use herbal decoctions, tinctures, and rubbing instead of or in combination with tablets. Various parts of natural raw materials are processed by pharmacological, cosmetic, perfumery and food industry.

The list of medicinal plants is huge, in addition to the well-known chamomile and calendula, there are thousands of medicinal herbs and shrubs. A novice entrepreneur can choose the most suitable type, taking into account the characteristics of agro-climatic conditions. To organize a profitable business, you need a large land plot, since dried raw materials weigh little, but you need a lot of it. Before proceeding closely with the implementation of a project for growing medicinal plants, you need to study the market, assess the risks, calculate the amount of investment and future profits.

Types of medicinal raw materials

Medicinal plants are recognized in which at least 1 useful component is present. The healing component is concentrated in flowers, leaves, roots, fruits, buds. When growing for sale, you need to know which part of the plant has value. The branch of science that studies the properties of medicinal plants is called pharmacognosy.

The largest classification of medicinal raw materials:

1. Medical purpose. The category is regulated by the Ministry of Health of Russia through inclusion in the state register of medicines.
2. pharmacological use. Plants included in this category are described in the Pharmacopoeia - a collection of articles, standards and regulations.
3. Folk methods applications. The therapeutic efficacy of the subgroup has not been proven by official methods. This does not prevent people from actively collecting plants and using them in ancient recipes.

On Russian territory, chamomile, valerian, marshmallow, licorice, calendula, sage, St. viburnum, linden, birch, oak, motherwort, plantain, burdock.

Chamomile and calendula have a calming, anti-inflammatory, analgesic effect. Coltsfoot is used for diseases of the respiratory tract, high blood pressure, nephritis. Licorice is known for its antitumor properties and high content of glyceric acid.

Rosemary is used as a seasoning for food, essential oils tone up, disinfect and relieve stress. Calamus contains alkaloids, starches, vitamins, volatile oils, which improve appetite, digestion of food, restore vision, and strengthen blood vessels. This is not a complete list of what are needed and how medicinal plants are used.

Production technology

The full cycle of business on medicinal plants includes the following stages:

• cultivation;
• collection;
• drying;
• treatment;
• packaging.

Healing herbs are generally undemanding to soils and are more likely to be weeds than to cultivated plants. Perennials are planted, including for the enrichment of land plots depleted by agriculture. The main rule is that for planting, types of vegetation that are typical in a particular area are chosen, which do not need to create special conditions for growth.

If you plan to grow herbs in an assortment, then it is better to group the raw materials in such a way that the costs of organizing a business are not too high. For example, the root is taken from licorice, marshmallow, valerian; flowers - in chamomile, dandelion, calendula.

The cultivation technology can be considered on one specific plant, for example, licorice. The international name is licorice or licorice root. The culture is cultivated mainly in the south, where licorice receives a lot of sunlight. Areas with insufficient moisture and a small amount nutrients in the ground are also suitable for cultivation.

Before planting, the plantation is prepared - they dig up and harrow the ground, clear weeds, and apply fertilizers:

1. Superphosphates.
2. Potassium salt.
3. Ammonium nitrate.

For planting, licorice seeds or roots are purchased; to increase the percentage of germination, the seeds are scalded with boiling water. Sowing works begin in April-May by a square-nested method. Seed material is laid in the ground to a depth of 10-15 mm, 10-20 pieces per cell 0.5x0.5 meters. Cuttings for propagation are chosen 5-10 years of age in the fall after harvesting the field. They are cut in such a way that 3-4 eyes remain, planted at a depth of 15 cm.

The main disadvantage of licorice is slow ripening. The first crop is harvested after 5-6 years with the seed method or after 3-4 years with vegetative propagation. In the future, the plants grow on their own, and every September the roots are dug up, leaving a part in the ground for reproduction. The average yield of licorice is from 200 g to 1 kg of dried raw materials from a plot of 1 sq. m.

For further processing, the roots are washed, better specimens are selected, defective and spoiled parts are thrown out. If weather conditions allow, the raw materials are laid out in the sun, or in well-ventilated indoor and outdoor areas. Along with the natural method of drying, technological moisture reduction is used in special units at a temperature of 60°C. In the process of processing, the roots lose up to 65% of their weight.

Dry raw materials are crushed in crushers. According to GOST, the particle size should not exceed 3 mm. If the company is engaged in the preparation of herbal preparations, licorice roots are mixed with other components.

At the last stage finished material packed in bags (paper) and packaged in packs of 50, 100, 150, 200 grams for retail sales. For wholesale shipments, bags, boxes and tanks are used. Subject to the storage rules, licorice is stored for up to 10 years without loss healing properties.

The production technology of other medicinal plants may differ at all stages, from growing conditions to the type of finished product. From essential oil varieties, pomace and aroma compositions are made, from some types of herbs - infusions, extracts, decoctions.

Equipment

The set of necessary tools and equipment for growing medicinal plants depends on the type of raw material and the production cycle. When harvesting herbs at the primary stage, without drying and further processing, standard agricultural equipment is sufficient:

• cultivator;
• shovels;
• braids;
• choppers;
• rake;
• buckets;
• bags;
• hoses.

For further work washing, drying units, sheds, crushers, mixers, a packing line will be required. If it is planned to build a business on essential oil crops, then specialized equipment is needed to obtain high-quality extracts.

Year-round cultivation of plants is possible in greenhouses. To do this, you can choose any species, even atypical for the area, which is profitable to cultivate in small areas.

Staff

An entrepreneur who does not have sufficient knowledge in the field of medicinal plants will need expert advice. It makes sense to hire a professional biologist or pharmacist who can set up production.

In addition, you need:

1. Operators technological equipment.
2. Field workers.
3. Storekeeper.
4. Purchasing and sales manager.
5. Accountant.

The number of employees and the specific list of specialties depends on the scale and direction of the business.

Company registration

To sell medicinal plants, a business is registered in the form of an individual entrepreneur or a limited liability company. The production of herbal preparations in Russia is subject to licensing. Therefore, the organization of a complete technological cycle with the production of finished products takes a lot of time and will cost investors several thousand rubles.

Documentation package for obtaining permission:

• registration certificate;
• certificate of registration with the Federal Tax Service;
• record sheet from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities / EGRIP;
• production permit issued by the local administration;
• conclusion of the SES;
• confirmation of the right to use the land (ownership or lease);
• a list of available household equipment;
• a list of employees with documents confirming their qualifications;
• production technology with detailed description operations;
• quality certificates of materials and raw materials used in the manufacturing process;
• act for a batch of products.

Permits are involved in the licensing process. government bodies, Rospotrebnadzor, SES, Ministry of Health, expert organizations.

Sales

One of the advantages of the business on medicinal plants is the ability to sell raw materials in any form: raw immediately after harvest, dried, processed and packaged.

Main distribution channels:

1. wholesale firms.
2. pharmaceutical factories.
3. Pharmacies.
4. Cosmetic production.
5. Internet shops.

Growing medicinal plants is a seasonal business. Raw materials are harvested for several spring-summer months, the rest of the time is devoted to processing and sale.

If there are properly executed documents for products and quality certificates, there are no problems with sales of popular medicinal herbs. Demand for raw materials and finished products is consistently high. If you study the market, prices in advance and identify an empty niche, you can earn large sums in a short time.

Among potential consumers medicinal plants are distilleries that, in the struggle for a buyer, produce products with the inclusion of phytocomponents - birch buds, cranberries, milk thistle, hot pepper. When concluding a contract for the supply of raw materials with such an enterprise, a businessman ensures sales on an ongoing basis.

Video: growing medicinal plants as a business.

Profitability

When the concept of a business idea is chosen, the main stages of the project implementation are determined, it is necessary to calculate the amount of investment and plan future income. According to current entrepreneurs, economic efficiency cultivation of medicinal plants reaches 150%.

To create a herb plantation with subsequent drying and packaging of fees and teas, you will need to invest the following amount:

During the year, the company needs to regularly pay salaries to employees, taxes and communal payments, these are the main expenses of the business - approximately 3.5 million rubles. The productivity of the packaging line is 1,000 packs of medicinal herbs per shift.

In the presence of an established sales and 100% sales of manufactured products, the annual income is:

The proceeds cover the initial investments and current costs throughout the technological cycle. The rest is spent on preparing for a new sowing season, care and harvesting the next crop. Net profit is used for business development - increasing the area of ​​plantations, updating the range, purchasing equipment.

Multimillion-dollar investments are needed to grow medicinal plants on an industrial scale and produce drugs that require licensing. If you cultivate medicinal herbs on small plot, sell raw materials to processing factories, then the costs will be minimal. But such a business will not bring large incomes.

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