Comparison of economic benefits of cultivating medicinal plants with agricultural products in Khorasan Razavi province

The increasing need of pharmaceutical industry, the processing of herbal medicinal products, attending to the cultivation and increasing the level of cultivation of medicinal species are quite tangible. In Iran, most of the applicable medicinal plants are harvested in their main habitats, which, in addition to increasing the pressure and degradation of the habitats, the collected product is not pure for variety of reasons and lack desirable quality. In the case of cultivating medicinal plant species and determining the amount of net income and their effective substance, they can be used as alternative cultivations for common plants in allocated areas. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to investigate the economic viability of cultivation of the medicinal plants and compare them with crops and orchards. In this research, the only medicinally important species that are cultivated in Khorasan Razavi province, such as Descurainia Sophia, Echium amoena, Cuminum cyminum, Anethum graveolens, Satureja hortensis, Alpinia officinarum and Glycyrrhiza glabra are discussed. In 2012, for collection of the data and statistics, two different methods were applied: the documentary and the survey methods. The statistical population of this study consisted the farmers who were cultivating medicinal plants in Khorasan Razavi province. The results of the research show that the cultivation of medicinal plants under the study primarily, has the cost-benefit more than one and therefore has economic benefits, and secondly, the cultivation of one hectare of herbs will require less water consumption than other crops and orchards. The results of the research further indicate that they render higher profits than any other crop. Therefore, the cultivation of the medicinal plants is recommended to the farmers.