Potential for growth in Scottish herb market
lucrative herb market, could soon respond to the growing interest
in medicinal herbs thanks to a recent research grant, reports
The Scotsman.
Scottish farmers who have until recently ignored the potentially lucrative herb market, could soon respond to the growing interest in medicinal herbs thanks to a recent research grant, reports The Scotsman.
Only about 10 per cent of Britain's herb consumption is met by home production, according to the paper, which reports that the market was valued at around £4 million in the late 1990s. It is now said to be growing at 10 per cent a year for culinary herbs and over 30 per cent for medicinal plants. The award of a £400,000 research grant to the Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, (SAC) by British healthcare company Boots may help boost Scottish farmers enthusiasm in a new market.
The project, headed by Dr Katya Svoboda, is aimed at developing technologies for the extraction of essential oils for toiletries, and comes after more than a decade of government funded research into the subject of herbs.
"We have amassed a great deal of knowledge on the production of and uses for herbs over the past ten or 12 years. There is no problem about growing many of them in Scotland; the real problem is sorting out a proper marketing system," Dr Svoboda told The Scotsman.
Her warnings seem to be reflected in the number of Scottish members of the British Herb Trade Association - a mere four, out of its 100 members are based in Scotland.
"The best way is to start out small and build your own niche market. But you have to be aware that many markets, such as medicinals, are not prepared to pay the price. For instance, dried Calendula flowers from Egypt are available here at 75p per kilo. There is no way we could match these prices," said British Herb Trade Association chairman Chris Nye.
Herb production can be labour intensive on the small scale and highly capital intensive once economies of scale are sought with a high degree of mechanisation, although machinery used in arable farming can be used to carry out many of the tasks.
"Market opportunities exist in all sectors for growers supplying a consistent standard of quality product," said Dr Svoboda. "To exploit these opportunities however, a grower should identify the appropriate organisation to whom he may be able to sell herbs of where herbs may be processed," she added.
She also noted that the scientific requirements of the customers must also be considered in terms of varieties, quality, timing of supply, quantities required and any restrictions on husbandry practices, such as controls on the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers.
"To meet some of these demands it may be necessary for a number of growers to consider working together in order to increase the overall scale of their production," said Svoboda.
