HP eyes farming of medicinal plants

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh government announced on Sunday that it was developing agrotechniques for making cultivation of medicinal plants profitable in the state. In order to identify species suitable for cultivation in each climatic zone, the state is developing the agro-techniques.

This would help supplementing income of the growers, the government said in a statement. The department of ayurveda has launched a programme for promotion and conservation of herbal wealth by setting up gardens in different climatic zones.

The herbal gardens have been set up in Jogindernagar in Mandi district, Neri in Hamirpur district, Dhumrera in Shimla, and Jungal Thalera in Bilaspur. At present, the state has four ‘Amchi’ (Tibetan medicine) health centres, three Unani centres and one drug-testing lab.

Three departmental ayurvedic pharmacies are manufacturing drugs for free distribution in the state, it said. The department is also providing specialised services in setting up of 17 ‘panchkarma’ and 9 ‘kasharsutra’ centres in hospitals across the state.

For preparing the workforce in the ayurveda medicine, the government has increased seats in Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery, course from 50 to 60 in the Rajiv Gandhi Government Postgraduate Ayurvedic College in Paprola. Besides, postgraduate courses in ayurveda like ‘kayachikitsa’, ‘shalakya tantra’ and ‘shalya tantra’ are also available.