Agronomical aspects of officinal plant cultivation

Great interest in natural and aromatic plant cultivation arises from the need to guarantee a constant supply to industry in terms of quality and quantity. Their cultivation seems to be the only possible way to obtain these plants in industrial nations, especially if one considers the high cost of finding wild plants. Too often the cultivation of natural drugs in Italy is associated with rigid rules that exclude indispensable agronomic techniques such as fertilization, protection against parasites (animal and fungus) as well as weed control that involves the use of chemical compounds. At the present time, it is known that the commercialization of plants cultivated with chemical compounds present acceptable risks for man and are an indispensable means for high yields. Correct cultivation techniques cannot exclude consideration of the use of these substances (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, fertilizers) usually used for other crops. The lack of knowledge on cultivation techniques in order to correctly carry out the choice of products to be used for plant protection as well as tillage methods is rather high, but it would not be necessary to set them up ex‐nova. In fact, much research has been carried out in many nations on how to use modern economic techniques that can be partly adapted to our environment. It is interesting to point out that many species are cultivated on fertile soils and easily accessible to machines, and not on marginal areas which are often infertile and difficult to reach. Plants cultivated on the latter soils would certainly not have competitive costs compared with those cultivated in other nations that have lower labour costs. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.