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| Kathmandu, Saturday March 22, 2003 Chaitra 08, 2059. |
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Focus on conservation of
herbal plants
Post Report
KATHMANDU, March 21 : The first Nepal-India
Science and Technology Day kicked off here today with an exhibition on medicinal, aromatic
plants, and herbal products – also the first of its type. The event is expected to
discuss ways in which Nepal can have economic gain in terms of its herbal resources.
Organised jointly by the Ministry of Science and
Technology in both Nepal and India to mark the first anniversary of co-operation between
the two countries in the area of science and technology, the three-day programme will be
participated by scientists of both the countries.
The event has been organised with an objective
to promote co-operation between scientists and technologists of Nepal and India working in
the area of herbal and medicinal plants.
"Presently much of the herbal resources is
collected from the wild and exported out of the country in the form of crude plant
materials," said Mahesh Man Shrestha, secretary of MOST. "Therefore these
valuable resources are still under-utilised and under-value in Nepal."
Shrestha further added that it was important for
scientists and technologists to work together in this field so that the rural people will
receive the maximum benefits and at the same time our herbal plants will be conserved.
"Science and technology inputs are required
to protect the valuable gene pool, enhance production and productivity through their
cultivation, and add value in the local areas so that local people are benefited
optimally," said Upendra Devkota, Minister for Science and Technology.
Minister Devkota also said that under the
programme of co-operation between the two countries, an Institute of Technology was being
established in the far-western region of the country, focusing primarily on information,
rural and bio-technology.
Similarly, speaking on the occasion, Prof. Dr.
Kedar Lal Shrestha, chief scientific advisor, MOST also stressed the importance in
utilising our herbal and medicinal plants. He expressed his hope that the event and
exhibition will prove to be a useful platform in dividing ways in which to enhance herbal
production.
The Himalayan region is very rich in medicinal
plant bio-diversity. Out of more than 250,000 estimated species on the earth, about 75,000
higher plants are used for traditional medicine. In Nepal, about 80 percent of rural
people depend on herbal medicines and about 80 percent of herbal products are exported to
India for manufacturing Ayurvedic as well as allopathic medicines.
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