Anantapur: AGRA creates awareness on medicinal plants

Anantapur: Andhra Pradesh Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Board (APMAPB) has launched an innovative project of promoting medicinal and aromatic plants in the premises of government schools for creating awareness on medicinal plants and encouraging establishment of home medicinal gardens.

The idea is to use medicinal plants for several ailments for healing and also preventing such ailments. The objective is to build up healthy practices by adopting nature cure techniques.

The APMAB is encouraging NGOs to take up medicinal plantations by adopting 10 schools each and promoting plantation in school premises with the cooperation of schools’ managements and the district education officer.

Association for Global Rural Alert (AGRA), an NGO, has taken up the project to create awareness on the plantation in school compounds and as part of the program has reached out to the ZP school in Bukkarayasamudram mandal using tools and charts supplied by APMAB on scores of medicinal plants.

Addressing students, teachers and local people, AGRA president Ashwartha Narayana Swamy recalled the days when elderly people having knowledge of medicinal plants mostly used the nature cure medicinal plants for curing their day to day ailments and sicknesses.

He said one can find medicinal plants in our home vicinity and the leaves, stem and root are used for different ailments. Ashwartha said besides the medicinal plants, spices including Cinamen, Cloves etc are also used as panacea for bodily ailments. Plants including Tippatheega, Karakkai and Pudina leaves etc very much helpful in tackling cough, cold, fever etc. Those suffering from diabetes can use the simple black berry (neredu) fruit to fight and neutralise diabetic conditions. The medicinal plants can be used without monetary investment and nil side effects unlike the pharmaceutical drugs we use which has multiple side effects.