ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants available for cultivation always represent only a small part of the diversity that exists worldwide. The aim of plant breeding is generally the improvement of producing capacity, related to one or several desired constituents. The tissue culture method has proven successful; many plant species produced haploid plants. Tissue cultures are more sensitive when affected by irradiation or chemical agents. Ecology in this respect means the rationalization of medicinal plant cultivation. For the sake of commercial viability, medicinal plant production must be located in a region where the yields are usually high and the geoclimatic conditions are deemed conducive and favourable. Medicinal plant cultivation has come into a new stage of development in many parts of the world. The cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants can be programmed and controlled, whereas the irrational exploitation of wild flora has doomed them to extinction.
