Herb Production and Processing in Belarus
-by Matthias Reisen
Background
In June of 2004 I had the opportunity to travel to Belarus as a consultant regarding the production, processing and marketing of medicinal herbs on a private farm. Rodnik farm was specializing in dairy cattle breeding, feed grain production, and perennial grass seed production. Rodnik farm was one of the first private farms registered in Belarus in the early 90’s. In 2003 Rodnik farms merged with a loss-making collective farm under a 99-year lease. This merger forced the owner to look at the need to diversify the farms agribusiness. Through various market surveys conducted in Russia and Belarus there were indications of an increasing demand for non-conventional herbs ( medicinal herbs ). Rodnik farm decided to put emphasize on medicinal and aromatic plants, specifically calendula, motherwort, peppermint, marjoram, caraway, Echinacea and coriander.
The processing of herbs used to be widely advanced in Belarus during the 18th and 19th centuries and during the last century the Grodno Botanical Garden (located in Grodno oblast, western Belarus) raised and processed about 1,000 varieties of medicinal and aromatic herbs. At present, Belarus has neither such plantations nor experts in herb production and processing. Statistics on herb production in Belarus have been difficult to obtain, as many growers and processors wish to keep their production information informal. The main herbs grown in 2002 were spearmint, Echinacea, garlic, valerian, coriander, dill, sweet basil and chamomile. A large number of other herbs (for culinary, medicinal and cosmetic purposes) are being grown on a fairly small or experimental basis.
In Belarus, the Department of Health Protection controls the use of herbs in foods and medicines. Herbs used as food or drugs must be proven safe for human consumption and manufactures of products sold as medicinal herbs must obtain a certificate from the Department of Health Protection. By 2005, all manufactured medical products will be required to correspond to World Health Organization’s Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO GMP). At the time I was there, no producers in Belarus met these requirements, but should one appear a WHO GMP certificate will allow the company to export its products to other EU countries.
Of all the existing markets for herbs, herbal medicine is the fastest growing. Out of 90 pharmacological enterprises, including wholesalers and retailers of medicine, only 15 are dealing with procurement of raw herbal products from local growers.
The Country
Belarus has an area of 207,600 sq km, slightly smaller than the United Kingdom. It borders Russia in the north and east, Lativa and Lithuania in the northwest, Poland in the west and Ukraine in the south. It is a low-lying country, with the highest hill reaching only 345m. The climate and terrain are very similar to the Finger Lakes of western New York.
In December of 1991 Belarus became a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with Minsk its headquarters. The country has become, politically, an isolated island in the center of Europe. Belarus will be the only European country without membership in the Council of Europe, an organization which monitors democracy and human rights.
In 2002, Lukashenka was denied a visa to attend the NATO summit meeting in Prague and later denied an entry visa to both the EU and the USA- all in protest of his country’s poor human rights record.
The 1986 disaster at Chernobly has been the defining event for the Belarusian environment, if not for the entire republic. Some 70% of Chernobly’s released radioisotopes fell on Belarus ( primarily in the Homel and Mahileu districts in the south and east, but caesium-137 fallout was registered in many other regions of the country ), contaminating about a quarter of its territory where some 2.2 million people lived. Some 1.8 million still live in these areas; many are unwilling or unable to relocate elsewhere, primarily as government aid has been grossly insufficient.
The centralized Soviet system subjected Belarus to a process of Russification, with the result that well over 80% of Belarusian school pupils were taught exclusively in Russian. Today, Russian predominates in nearly all aspects of social life.
Assignment
Rodnik farm consisted of 3,000 hectares or well over 6,000 acres. As was stated a large percentage of the agribusiness was devoted to other enterprises. My assignment was to evaluate the potential for medicinal herb production on Rodnik farms. I first started by identifying existing plant species. The flora and fauna of Belarus is very similar to that of the Finger Lakes where I live so it did not take long to identify over 60 medicinal botanicals. The hard part was translating these into Russian so that we would have a common ground to communicate from. Each one had to be found in Latin and cross referenced to make sure that it was the correct translation in Russian. We went through many of the common medicinals; horsetail, lady’s mantle, dandelion, nettle (there were nettles all over), elecampane, wild ginger, calamus, and hawthorn. Belarus is a country rich in botanical species that can be used for medicine. It is similar to western New York down through the Ohio River valley, a rich repository of plant species.
I did meet some new plant people that were not familiar to me and that is always exciting; sea buckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides ), and bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ). Another beautiful sight in the rural country side was acres and acres of lupines and woods filled with lily of the valley.
I developed a three year business plan for Rodnik farms which would then allow them to apply for a state license to grow and process herbs. There were many dilapidated building left over from the communist state run farm from which one was chosen to be retrofitted in a drying and processing facility. A mechanical drawing was made for the new drying and processing facility showing a flow pattern and construction of shelves and air flow system.
A field production plan was put into action where Rodnik farms was to chose between 10-15 medicinals (some annual, some perennial), which was mutually decided to have a market potential. Enough seed was to be purchased to direct seed or transplant at least ¼ to ½ hectare of each.
There was an abundance of certain herbs which could be wild crafted but this was not suggested as field production was my main emphasize. Encouragement to look at long term medicinal crops that might have a market value outside of Belarus was discussed as was the risk of such crops because of market flocculation.
Belarus is a country rich in botanicals but the tradition of plant medicine has disappeared. When I used some of our comfrey salve that I brought for an injury it was cause for much discussion and the people wanted to know how to make it. Naturally a class in salve making was called to order and everyone was delighted. Each morning while I was with my host family in the small village of Mishkovichi I would collect fresh nettles from the meadow and brew myself a big pot of fresh nettle tea (this was partly because I love nettle tea but also to counter the effects of the Vodak from the night before, Vodak is a way of life in Belarus an at least three toast are made at the evening meal, and of course this has to be observed because you are a guest).
I enjoyed my journey to Belarus, it is a beautiful country that is still overshadowed by Russia and the long years of Communist regime. Whether it will become a major player in supplying medicinal herbs to eastern bloc countries and Russia has a lot to do with getting rid of the stigma of Chernobly and the damage created from it.
