Sustainable supply of high yielding kacip fatimah (Labisia pumila) in Malaysia
2021
Masitah Mohd Taini | Syafiqah Nabilah Samsul Bahari | Farah Fazwa Md Ariff | Norhayati Saffie | Jamia Azdina Jamal
Labisia pumila, from the family of Myrsinaceae, also known locally as kacip fatimah, is an herbaceous plant commonly used in traditional medicine. It is one of the popular herbal species that are used by Malay women in childbirth. The water decoction of the root or whole plant is usually consumed before childbirth and is thought to induce and expedite labour. The herb is also used as a post-partum medicine as well as to treat flatulence, dysentry, dysmenorrhoea, gonorrhea and sickness in bones. Presently, most of the raw materials are sourced from the wild but the quantity and quality of the raw materials are uncertain to meet the current demand. Over exploitation of this species from the natural forest would endanger the species and without strict control, it will lead to the extinction of the species in the forest. A study by FRIM in 2017 reported that 87% of the raw materials used for traditional herbal preparation were harvested from the forest and only 17% were cultivated. Currently, L. pumila is not produced on any commercial scale. Several initiatives have been undertaken to plant the species for commercial use but they have been only limited, which cannot assume a sustainable supply of the raw material for industry. Therefore, planting on a large plantation scale is necessary as the raw material can be produced more efficiently and sustainably. Cultivation of this species can also be implemented on plantation basis either as single cropping or intercropped with other herbal species. This paper discussed on the aspects of i) propagation and nursery techniques and ii) cultivation of L. pumila based on organic farming. The information will help the interested parties such as plantation manager, planter, nursery and herbal industries in producing raw materials sustainably.
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