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Strengthening the critical resource base of medicinal
plants has always been considered an important task
by Arya Vaidya Sala. The efforts in this regard have been in five
major directions, viz., maintaining of demonstration
garden, cultivation in natural estates, undertaking
collaborative research, collating and publishing reference
material and undertaking extension work.
An important activity has been in
the area of collating and compiling information
on the character and use of medicinal plants as
found in classical and modern texts. This major
work has resulted in bringing out a five volume
treatise entitled “Indian Medicinal Plants-A
Compendium of 500 Species” (Orient Longman,
Chennai, 1994-96).
A demonstration garden is set
up in an eight acre plot at Kottakkal. A live collection
of 700 scientifically identified medicinal plants,
a herbarium and a museum for selected items of correctly
identified crude drugs are maintained in this facility.
This facility serves as a centre of learning and referencing
for professionals, physicians, students, farmers and
others. Based on the taxonomic studies made here,
several scientific papers and a book entitled “Ayurvedic
Drugs and Their Plant Sources (Oxford & IBH, Delhi,
1994) have been published. The garden is a favoured
location of visit for informed visitors as well as
laypersons.
Over 200 acres of medicinal plant
estates are being maintained at Mannarghat (Near
Palakkad, S India), Kottapuram, Thrikkakara (Near
Kochi, S India) and Kottakkal, where large-scale
cultivation of rare plant species is organised.
These estates also support scientific activities
by providing trial cultivation and maintenance of
field gene banks.
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One of the major research projects, entitled “Medicinal
Plants (India) Project”, was undertaken in
collaboration with the International Development
Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. Twenty endangered
medicinal plants of the Western Ghats were studied
under this project with respect to their pharmacognosy,
propagation and distribution. Several scientific
papers and a major compilation entitled “Some
Important medicinal Plants of the Western Ghats,
India – A Profile” came out of this
project. IDRC sponsored a project on harvesting,
processing and storage of Ayurvedic raw drugs with
the aim of evaluating present practices and evolving
new procedures. A programme to set up a Germ Plasm
Bank of medicinal plants has recently been initiated
with the support of the Department of Biotechnology
of the Government of India. The major components
of this programme are a field gene bank, an in-vitro
bank, a seed bank, a digital database, etc.
Extension work has been planned to ensure availability
of genuine herbs. Seeds and seedlings from the estates
are distributed at nominal cost to farmers. Organic
manure from plant residue is also made available
to them at a competitive price. Training programmes
are organised for the benefit of farmers, NGOs,
agricultural officers, etc on cost-effective farming
techniques. Arya Vaidya Sala has also been instrumental in setting
up a society of farmers for promoting need-based
cultivation and marketing of medicinal plants.
Future programs include an important drive to generate
computer-aided library of plant standards with morphological
and anatomical data and to use them for on-line
application at medicine manufacture level.
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