Increasing awareness on the advantages of herbal medicines by health-conscious people has led to a growing market for the products. Experts have turned their localised individual efforts into micro or small business enterprises and are looking for wider markets.

This is evident from the participation of at least half a dozen small level herbal and ayurvedic medicine manufacturers in the 10-day-long district level industrial exhibition jointly organised by the District Industries Centre, Government of Karnataka, and the Mysore Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Mysore.

Apart from mofussil centres of Mysore district, the exhibition has attracted herbal medicine manufacturers even from far off Davanagere and a few other places.

After working under a couple of ayurvedic experts, Nerlige Gurusiddappa began manufacturing herbal medicines in a small way at his hometown of Nerlige in Davanagere taluk. He first sold his home-made preparations in plastic pouches. The very first exhibition at the Taralabalu Math fetched him Rs 13,000 revenue.

Thanks to the support and encouragement since then by the Taralabalu Swamiji, Gurusiddappa on Tuesday does an annual sale of around Rs 2 lakh. His herbal medicines come in packed and labelled bottles.

Gurusiddappa produces popular herbal powders for diabetes, asthma and skin problems and tablets for obesity and oil for dandruff, published a handbook on the merits of herbal medicines and brings out a magazine regularly.

Also from Davanagere, Chandre Gowda, a horticulturist-cum-herbal doctor, who has a herbal garden at his village in Neelanahalli, holds regular camps at Srirangapatna, Mandya and Shimoga and gives treatment to patients. "Nature has gifted us with a large variety of medicines through plants. We have only neglected them," he says.

Another notable participant at the exhibition is a firm from Mysore. The Prakruthi Ayurvedic Foundation, a unit under the khadi and village industries, produces a variety of juices, which it claims can help overcome a number of ailments like constipation, indigestion, diabetes, cholesterol, bronchitis, skin problems and gastric problems. It also produces a variety of powders, oils, mixtures, pickles and other ayurvedic products.

It runs a clinic, conducts mobile sales at important centres during peak hours, and publishes a monthly Kannada magazine Swasthya Sanjeevini which has a circulation of 2,000 copies.

"Our monthly turnover is Rs 2 lakh and in Mysore alone our business is between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000," says S Harish. Traditionally experienced and well-known Barkur ayurvedic pandits of Siddapura manufacture its products, numbering around 50.