Determining the economic value and exploitation of medicinal plants in Freezi rangelands, Khorasan Razavi province

Economic evaluation of medicinal herbs and their exploitation is one of the basic requirements to prepare a vision document for the exploitation of rangeland by-products. In this regard, the present study was conducted with the aim of ecological assessment and estimating the economic indicators of the use of medicinal plants in the summer rangeland of Frizi higthland Rangeland located in Khorasan Razavi province. For this purpose, after measuring the coverage percentage and the amount of production of medicinal plants, economic indicators including economic rent and expected value were calculated during 2018 to 2020. According to the results, the economic rent obtained from the use of medicinal plants includes Achillea millefolium, Alyssum compester, Bunium persicum, Hypericum scabrum, Perovskia abortanoides, Salvia sclarea, Verbascum sinuatum and Ziziphora clinopodioides in one harvest period, 7,212,500 Rials per hectares per year. The expected value of each hectare of rangelands in the region in terms of production and exploitation of medicinal plants, considering the discount rate of 5.4% in 2020, was estimated at 1,335,650 Rials per hectare. In general, the results indicate that the use of medicinal plants in the study area can not play an important role in improving the livelihood of conventional farmers, and when preparing multi-purpose rangeland management plans, other aspects of rangeland use should be emphasized.