The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Need to conserve rare medicinal plants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 31, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Need to conserve rare medicinal plants

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI, JAN. 30. Speakers at the inauguration of the seminar on `agro techniques and trade promotion of herbs and herbal products' here today, highlighted the need for the conservation of rare medicinal plants.

They called for steps to provide marketing techniques to ensure attractive returns for herbal cultivators.

The two-day seminar was organised by the Srimad Andavan Arts and Science College.

Inaugurating the seminar, the Collector, V. Pandian, said that herbs formed the majority of the ingredients of allopathic drugs. Our ancestors had sound knowledge about the medicinal efficacy of various herbs but the manufacturing process had remained a mystery.

Mr. Pandian said that marketing the herbal produce was a problem for the cultivators and the seminar should address this issue.

"Evolve a vital link between the farmers and pharmaceutical firms so that herbal cultivation could become an industry.''

Standard nomenclature

The former Vice-Chancellor of the Bharathidasan University, A. Gnanam, who presided over the function, said that steps should be taken for the introduction of a standard nomenclature for the herbs.

A plant, with different names in various regions, would cause confusion among cultivators.

Dr. Gnanam said that the pharmaceutical industry should diversify by using new herbal plants.

Crop protection measures, mass cultivation and setting up of model farms would enhance productivity and profitability.

The Director of the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, P. Pushpangadan, said that side effects and the high cost of modern medicines had led to plant-based medicine the world over.

A majority of the medicinal plants were collected from the wild but unscientific extraction, rarity and the extinction of many important medicinal plants were a cause for concern. Rare species should be conserved while commercial cultivation should be encouraged.

The Chairman of the college, R. Rajagopal, said the college was planning to start new courses including B. Sc (Plant Bio-Technology) and an integrated five-year M.Sc (Life Science) course.

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