Conservation of High-Value Medicinal Plants Through Agronomical Approaches

Medicinal plants have played an essential role in the formulation of modern pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products. With the increasing global population, the demand for healthcare services, including pharmaceutical products derived from medicinal plants, also increases. The increased demand for medicinal plant raw materials has led to their overexploitation from their natural habitat and placed many of them under the threat category. Therefore, the development of conservation strategies is crucial to maintaining the genetic diversity, sustainable harvesting, and preservation of traditional practices associated with medicinal plant species. Agronomic practices have emerged as a potential tool for promoting the sustainable management and conservation of therapeutic plant resources. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of medicinal plants and various agronomic practices that can be employed to conserve medicinal plants, propagation and cultivation, sustainable harvesting, and natural habitat management. By adopting agronomic practices, long-term viability and availability of medicinal plants can be ensured while preserving their germplasm and ecological integrity.