The Hindu : Model herbal park set up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Model herbal park set up

By S. Ganesan

TIRUCHI, MARCH.17. The Tiruchi collectorate campus would soon have a model herbal park, with as many as 150 species of herbs and medicinal plants.

This is the third model park to be established in the Collectorate after the traffic park and the sanitation park, with the former serving as a training ground for students to learn the rudiments of traffic rules, and the latter exhibiting various low-cost toilet models and propagating an awareness of total sanitation. The herbal park would probably be the first of its kind in a Collectorate campus in the State, officials said.

The herbal park, being established in an area of about 1.50 acres, was essentially aimed at reviving an interest among the youth and the student community on the country's rich bio-diversity and medicinal plant resources, the Collector, K.Manivasan, told The Hindu.

Besides, the district administration was keen on encouraging self-help groups to take up cultivation of herbs. The park would serve as an ideal training ground, he said.

Being established at a cost of about Rs. four lakhs under the Integrated Wasteland Development Programme, it is set up with technical support of a private agency, Rohini Herbal Farm of Sengipatti near Thanjavur, under the supervision of the `Kattida Maiyam.' The agency would undertake planting of saplings and maintain the park for three months before handing it over to the District Rural Development Agency.

The piece of land that has been converted into the herbal park was till recently a thicket, adjoining the main block in the Collectorate campus, and was heavily encroached upon by farmers who were using a portion of the area as a threshing floor and for storing haystacks. Some locals were using it as a pathway. The land was reclaimed by the district administration and fenced recently. An alternate threshing floor was laid nearby, says the Engineer of the Kattida Maiyam, M.Vadamalai Kumar.

Already about 75 species of herbs have been planted in the park and the rest would be planted over the next few days. The park would include a wide range of species including the commonly found `naval' (syzygium cumini), `illupai,' (madhuca rongi folia) `nochi,' (vitex trifalia), `kattamanukku' (jatropha curcus), `athimathuram,' `karunkurichi,' `kandankathiri' `nithya kalyani,' `vettiver' and some rare varieties too.

`We would like to have as many species as possible and whatever variety we could lay our hands on,' Mr. Manivasan said. Tissue cultured banana and hybrid amla varieties are to be raised in a portion of the park, with drip irrigation facilities. A borewell, with a network of pipelines, has been provided exclusively for the park. The nomenclatures, the common and botanical names, their attributes and medicinal properties would be displayed under each species.

With saplings being planted in summer, the authorities are planning to provide cover to protect the sensitive species. The recurring expenditure of maintaining the park could be met from the Centrally-sponsored wasteland development programmes. The district administration would also explore the feasibility of roping in some corporate houses or banks to take over the maintenance, Mr. Manivasan said.

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