The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) under Ministry of Ayush has signed two MoUs to promote conservation and spread awareness of medicinal plants.
The first one with IshVed-Bioplants Venture, Pune, Maharashtra, is to conserve and maintain the germplasm of rare, endangered and threatened (RET) medicinal plants through tissue culture methods. The idea is to raise the cultivation of rare and endangered medicinal plants through tissue culture to preserve and maintain germplasm to facilitate their supply.
The second tripartite MoU signed among NMPB, All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi is for starting a national level medicinal plants garden in the premises of AIIMS to spread public awareness about the medicinal plants including among patients, students who come from distant areas and visitors.
Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State of Ayush (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said, the MoUs, represented a significant milestone in conserving and promoting India’s rich medicinal plant heritage by integrating traditional knowledge with modern science.
Among the attendants were Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, M. Srinivas, Director, AIIMS New Delhi, Ankita Mishra Bundela, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and senior officials from the participating institutions.
