This document discusses various factors that affect the cultivation of medicinal plants, including altitude, temperature, humidity, rainfall, irrigation, soil properties, fertilizers, pests, and pest control methods. It provides examples of optimal altitudes, temperatures, and humidity levels for cultivating specific plants like tea, cinnamon, and coffee. The document also covers soil types and components, types of fertilizers and their functions, common plant pests, and methods of pest control like mechanical, biological and chemical approaches. Plant hormones, polyploidy, hybridization, and the greenhouse effect are additional factors discussed.

1. Factors Affecting Cultivation Of
Medicinal Plants
By: Chaitali Agrawal
B.Pharm. IIYear

2. There are various factors
affecting cultivation of medicinal
plants such as:
● Altitude and Temperature and Humidity
●Rainfall and Irrigation
●Soil and soil fertilizers
●Fertilizers
●Pests and pest control
●Plant hormones
●Polyploidy
●Hybridization
●Green house effects

3. Altitude
 ▪Altitude is very important factor in cultivation
of medicinal plants.
 ▪Tea, Cinchona and Eucalyptus are cultivated
favourably at an altitude of 1000-2000 meters.
Cinnamon and Cardamom are grown at height of
500-1000 meters.
▪Seena can be cultivated at sea level.
▪Examples:Tea-1000-1500
Cinchona-1000-2000
Camphor-1500-2000

4. Temperature and Humidity
 ▪Excessive temperature , as well as, frost also
affect the quality of medicinal plants
adversely.
 Rate of photosynthesis is affected by change
in temperature.
 Rate of respiration increases with increase in
temperature.
 Humidity is present in the form of water
vapours.This is called atmospheric humidity.
 ▪Examples:Cinchona 60-75◦F
 Coffee 55-70◦F
 Tea 70-90◦F

5. Rainfall and Irrigation
 Except xerophytes plants like aloe
,acacia and few others need either
proper arrangements for irrigation or
sufficient rainfall for favourable
development.
 Rainfall and snowfall have large effect on
climatic condition.
 Water influences morphology and
physiology of plants.
 Examples : Continuous rain can lead to
loss of water soluble substance from
leaves and roots by leaching.

6. Soil and Soil fertility
 Soil provides mechanical anchorage as well
as water and essential plant food elements
for plant growth.
 The capacity of soil to supply plant nutrients
in quantities and proportions required and to
provide a suitable medium for plant growth is
known as soil fertility.
 The soil with 0.5-1.5% of humus is termed as
intermediate soil.
 The maximum availability of plant nutrients is
in between pH of 6.5-7.5.
 Acidic soil is not suitable for leguminous plant
due to poor growth of nodule bacteria.

7. Soil is made up of five
components:
 1Mineral matter
 2Soil air
 3Soil water
 4 Organic matter or humus
 5 Soil organisms
 Types of soil
 a) Clay-Clay practicle are very small.Size of Coarse clay
0.002-0.02mm.
 b) Loamy-The mixture of clay slit and sand.30-50% with
clay.
 c)Slit loamy- Most textile as it contains more amount of
organic substance than others. Silt 0.02 0.2mm with 20-30%
clay.
d) Sandy loamy-The amount of sand particles are more.Sand
0.2mmto 200mm with 10-20% clay.
e)Calcareous soil-Rich with nutrient elements more than
20%loam.

8. Fertilizers
 A fertilizer is any material of natural or
synthetic origin other than liming
materials that is applied to plants or soil
tissues to supply one or more plant
nutrients essential for growth of plants.
 Fertilizers is nutrients which are
necessary for development and growth
of plants.
 Fertilizers are either applied to the soil
,directly on the plant or added to
aqueous soutions,in order to maintain
soil fertility ,improve crop development,
yield or crop quality.

9. Biological origin of fertilizer
 Manure:Manure is material which is mixed
with soil.These supply almost all nutrients
required by crop plants.
 Manures are of three types:
 1)Farmyard manure-Cow dung manure,
poultry manure.
 2)Composited manure:Organic nitrogen
supplements,bone meal ,fish meal.
 3)Green manure:Neem seed
 4)Biofertilizer:Biologically active products or
bacteria,algae andfungi useful in bringing
about soil nutrient enrichment e.g. Rhizobium
,Azobacter.

10. Element of
fertilizer
Functions Deficiency
symptoms
Forms in
which
available
1Nitrogen Improves the quality of leaf drugs Shunted
growth,less
flowering
Ammonium
suphate,am
monium
chloride
2Phosphorus Brings early maturity of crops Shunted root
growth,delays
maturity
Water
soluble
phosphate
and water
insoluble
phosphate
3Potassium Resistance of plants against
diseases
Shrivelled
seed,Shunted
growth
Potassium
chloride
4Sulphur Formation of nodules and
chlorophyll
Leaves turn to
yellowish green
colour
Water
wettable
sulphur
5Magnesium Essential constituent of green
plant
Suseptible to
fungal growth
Magnesium
sulphate

11. Element of
fertilizer
Function Deficiency
system
Forms in
which
available
6Calcium Promotes root
formaton,translocation
of carbohydrates
necessary for mitosis
Root growth
retardes,hooking of
leaf tips
Calcium
ammonium
nitrate
7Zinc Helps in utilization of
phosphorus and
nitrogen in plants
Plants are
stunted,yellow
coloured spots
develop on plants
Zinc sulphate
or zinc oxide
8Copper Development
reproduction and
formation of vitamin A
Brown spots in
citrus fruits
Copper
sulphate
9Manganese Respiration
process,synthesis of
chlorophyll
Chlorosis,leaves
turn to yellow
colour
Manganese
sulphate
10Iron Synthesis and
maintainenceof
chlorophyll
Yellowish green in
colour of leaves
Ferrous
sulphate

12. Elements of
fertilizer
Function Deficiency
symptom
Forms in
which
available
11Boron Involved in lignin,protein synthesis Death of
growing
plants
Borax
12Molybden
um
For nitrogen utilization and fixation Marginal
necrosis,in
folding of
leaves
Sodium
molybdate,a
mmonium
molybdate
13Silica Stiffness of cell walls,resist fungal
infestations
Susceptible
to fungal
infection
Silicon
dioxide

13. Pest and Pest control
 Pest is an undesired animal or plant species and pesticides
are chemicals derived from synthetic and natural sources
effective in small concentration against pest.
 Types of pest:Fungi and Viruses:Collectotrichum fuscum
(anthracnose) on digitalis and Phyllostica digitalis(leaf spot)
 Viruses:Necrosis of leaves,petioles and stem of different
Solanaceous plant.
 Insects:Agrotis species,Flea bettle- affect Mentha species.
 Weeds:It is an undesired plant.Losses of nutrients and
moisture are problems of major concern of plants yielding
food ,medicine,fibers etc. Datura and Menispermus species
are poisonus weeds.
 Non insect pest:They are grouped in two categories:
 1Vertibrates like-rats ,monkeys ,birds etc
 2Invertibrates like:nematodes ,crabs .snails etc

14. Methods of pest control
 Mechanical method:Techniques such as:Hand picking,pruning ,burning and
trapping of pest.
 Agricultural method:Plant breeding techniques:Genetic manipulations result
in pest resist species.Hybrid varieties- resistant to fungal and bacterial
attack.
 Biological control:Effective safe and economic method of pest control.Eg
Employing of Australian lady bettle” lady bug” to feed on damaging insect
called cottony cushion scale insect on citrus crops.
 Chemical control:Include insecticides,fungicides,herbicides and
rodenticides.
 Use is regulated by the Insecticides Act in India,Federal
Insecticide,Fungicide and Rodenticide Act in United states and the
Agricultural Regulations in the UK.
 Rodenticides;Warfarin,red squill etc
 Insecticides: DDT,gammaxine
 Acaricides:Tetradifon,chlorobenzolate
 Fungicides:Chlorophenols,antibiotics
 Herbicides: Calcium arsenate ,sulphuric acid.

15. Plant Hormones
It is hormone like synthetic organic
compound.In small amounts,it modifies the
growth and development by promoting or
inhibiting growth.
General plant hormones
The phyto hormones are brodly grouped into
five
Groups
1Auxins: Cell elongation
2Gibberellins: Cell elongation+cell division
3Cytokinins :Cell division + inhibits senescence
4Abscisic acid: abcission of leaves and fruits
5Ethylenes: promotes senescence
,epinasty,fruit ripening etc.

16. Polyploidy
When some plants contain more than two
genomes it is called as polyploidy.
Polyploidy is caused by artificially induced
methods:a)Colchicine b)Veratrine
c)sulphanilamide
Significance effects of polyploidy:Greater
significance to medicinal plants.It may
cause formation of new species.
Mutation:Sudden change in genotype
causing qualitative or quantitative
alteration of genetic material called
mutation.

17. Hybridization
 Hybridization is the process of crossing
two genetically different individuals to
result in a third individual with a different
set of traits.
 Hybridization of plants occur in nature
through various mechanisms.
 Some plants such as oil palm are insect
pollinated and others such as maize or
corn are wind pollinated.Such plants are
cross pollinated plants.
 Natural hybridization has played
significant role in producing new genetic
combinations and is norm in cross –
pollinated plants.

18. Green House Effect
 Normally a sun ray reaches the earth and
heat is radiated back into space. However,
when Co2 concentration increases in the
atmosphere,it forms a thick cover and
prevents the heat from being re-radiated.
 The atmosphere gets heated and the
temperature increases.This is called green
house effect.
 Green house gases include water vapour,
carbon-dioxide,methane,nitrous oxide,ozone
and some artificial chemicals such as
chloroflurocarbon(CFCs)
 This mainly affects plant growth,development
and yield.

19. References:Pharmacognosy-
Gokhale Kokate, Purohit and
Wikipedia
THANK YOU