 "Dr Harsh Vardhan speaking at a Kisan Mela")
Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, has urged farmers to adopt cultivation of improved varieties of medicinal and aromatic plants to enhance their income. This would also help in production of quality raw material demanded by user industries, he said while speaking at a Kisan Mela organised by Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), a frontier plant research laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in Lucknow on January 31, 2016.
The minister said, “Medicinal and aromatic plants are the valuable green wealth of the country. These should be sustainably used for creating livelihood opportunities of poor people residing in rural areas. There are immense possibilities for promotion of production of medicinal and aromatic plants and industries by start-ups.”
Dr Harsh Vardhan called upon the scientists to develop improved technologies for conservation and cultivation of these plants keeping in view the changing climatic conditions and limited as well as diminishing agriculture resources. He said that farmers should be apprised regularly about the new developments being made in the research laboratories by organising awareness meets, workshops and farmers fairs in different parts of the country.
Minister further said that today people are inclined towards the use of drugs and cosmetics made from natural resources as ill effects have been reported from the use of synthetic drugs world over. “It is also necessary to make initiatives to improve trust of the people towards herbal drugs. Scientists should standardise the ayurvedic drugs so that their use can be increased in health care of the poor people. The need for development of such plant varieties which can withstand vagaries of nature and can be grown in stressed soils ensuring utilisation of large tracts of waste lands available in the country,” added Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Minister also inaugurated a unique pilot-scale herbal product manufacturing unit ‘Technology Business Incubator Centre (TBIC)’. In TBIC, various machines have been installed to facilitate manufacturing of creams, gels, shampoo, oils, face wash, floor mopping liquid in approximately 100 kg batch size. The TBIC will help the technology users and entrepreneurs to manufacture the herbal products based on CIMAP technology. This will also serve as an incubator centre for the start-ups.
