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Sunday, Feb 04, 2007
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A garden full of surprise and much more

Mandira Nayar

ALL SET FOR VISITORS: The President in his garden at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. — PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

NEW DELHI: With lakhs of flowers in full bloom, the majestic Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan here are all set to greet visitors with an unprecedented riot of colour. While the Capital's "first'' gardens -- as they are often referred to -- are most likely to be thrown open to the public for a month on February 10, one thing is certain: they will pleasantly surprise everyone with their new layout, colour and splendour.

With something for everyone, even those who prefer green to dainty flowers will be spoilt for choice. From a separate glass house for cactus to graceful lilies, the Mughal Gardens have enhanced earlier elements and added a dash of something new for the regular annual flow of February visitors. And to ensure that there is some utility in beauty too, there is a separate section for flowers that have the power of "green''.

Also this time the Mughal Gardens have something special for the farmers. "There is an exclusive day for farmers to come to the gardens. This is usually some time in the middle of March. We will show them plants that are commercially popular. There are 33 herbs with a high commercial demand that we have grown here. The idea is to encourage the farmers to grow these plants. There are things that they may already know, but once they see it at the house of the President, it makes all the difference,'' said a Rashtrapati Bhavan official.

There is also machinery set up for farmers so that they can see how to take out the extract from the plants. "Usually the Union Rural Development Ministry has programmes in which they take farmers out on field trips to expose them to different methods. We try and fit a trip to the Mughal Gardens during this time. However, we are hoping that we would be able to get farmers from distant areas too,'' said the official.

With a vast variety to choose from for farmers, this section of the Mughal Gardens -- slightly away from the area that the other visitors really get to see -- has medicinal plants as well as "fashionable" ones. Apart from the usual plants like ashwagandha that suddenly become popular to vanilla and even roses for ittar, the idea is spread information about the potential of cash crops.

"There are different kinds of medicinal plants. Besides isabgol and tulsi, we have primrose that is now being used for the treatment of eczema; lemon grass which has become very popular; and artemisia, which is used for the treatment of cerebral malaria,'' say Rashtrapati Bhavan officials.

Apart from giving farmers tips on how to alternate crops, Rashtrapati Bhavan officials will also take them round the bio-diesel park. With the Jatropha plantation in its third year now, the farmers will be given a lesson on this environment-friendly fuel also.

"This is the second time we are harvesting from the plantation. It has shown good results. We will show the farmers how to cultivate the plant and the process to make the fuel. The seed of the plant is used for fuel and the cake for manure,'' explain officials.

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