GUWAHATI, April 11 � Inadequate Government initiative coupled to low public awareness could result in the disappearance of an invaluable asset of Assam. Experts now assert that unless immediate and effective steps are taken, the State stands to lose its treasure trove of medicinal plants.
A senior academic with Gauhati University, who preferred anonymity, pointed out that the Botanical Survey of India has recently revealed that some medicinal plants in Assam face very serious threats. �The Government should realise the sheer value of medicinal plants, and have a comprehensive policy that ensures their survival, propagation, and sustainable economic use before it is too late,� he remarked.
Till today a comprehensive database of all the medicinal plants of Assam is not available in the public domain. But what exists, have very great economic implications for the region, particularly for those engaged in their cultivation. The academic emphasised that surveys must be carried out to know the full inventory of medicinal plants which grow in the State�s plain and hill areas.
�It is imperative that the State becomes aware of her medicinal plant diversity, and only then a plan of action can be executed,� he noted. The wide array of species due to the agro-climatic conditions of the state could be the next big revenue earner after tea as the medicinal plants are in demand in India�s burgeoning pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.
Plant taxonomist and emeritus scientist with NEDFI, Dr Padmeshwar Gogoi regretted that there was an absence of political will to protect and promote medicinal plants in Assam, as a result of which the fate of many rare and valuable varieties was uncertain. He said that close to 500 types of medicinal and aromatic plants have been identified so far, some of which are endemic to the region.
Gogoi who has specialised in medicinal plants for more than two decades believes that habitat destruction and over exploitation are the two major threats which need to be countered through strategic interventions.
A positive intervention, according to him, could be extraction of slow-growing medicinal plants, their ex situ conservation, and their tissue culture. Later, the saplings can be relocated in their original habitat. However, the real challenge would be in finding habitats which remain intact.
Gogoi and other experts believe that many medicinal plants are smuggled out of Assam to the India-Myanmar border, which are then sent to China. This illegal enterprise has put additional pressure on select medicinal plants which are being extracted in an unsustainable way.
Incidentally, while the government response has been lethargic, some tea growers and companies have started scientific cultivation of medicinal plants after a period of successful experimentation and made substantial profits.
