Model Medicinal Plants Garden
(MMPG)
 


 MMPG - Govind Ballabh Pant University Of Agriculture and Technology
(MMPG-GBPUAT)
 
 

Introduction || Objectives || Outline of the site || Project Team || Work Progress
 
 

Theme:
 
Conservation through cultivation.
 
 
 

Introduction:
 
With a mere 14% of the world’s area, India accounts for 7.31% of the global faunal and floral diversity. It has 26 recognized endemic centres that are home to nearly one third of all flowering plants identified and described to date. Uttaranchal located between 77° 34’ and 88° 02’ E longitude and between 28° 43’ to 31° 27’ N latitude and extends elevation from approximately 300 to 7000 m above the sea level forms a part of Central Himalayas where around 1750 species are existing. Many of these are covered under threatened and endangered categories. Presence of medicinal and aromatic plants is a unique character of plants diversity of the state. Starting from the foothills in the South, it extends to snow clad mountains in the north. The state is interspersed with rivers, deep valleys, glaciers, flower valleys and high peaks. The total state is divided into four zones i.e. Zone A (Tropical zone: plains, shivalik, hills, valleys) upto 1000m; Zone B (Sub tropical zone) 1000-1500m; Zone C (Cool temperate zone) 1500-2400m; Zone D (Sub alpine zone)>2400m. Based on the elevation, the flora is also diversified.

G. B. Pant University is the first agriculture university in India located at 24° N latitude and 70° 30’ E longitude and at an elevation of 243m msl near the outer hills of Himalayas which is truly recognized as the birth place of green revolution. It has been the forerunner of in implementing its teaching, research and extension programmes in an integrated manner. University includes all the necessary components of plant sciences i.e. Agriculture, Home Science, veterinary, Basic Sciences, Technology, Forestry & Hill Agriculture, Fisheries. To fulfill the need of all the disciplines especially crop sciences, University has also established research centres on crops, vegetable sciences, horticulture, agro-forestry and medicinal and aromatic plants. Looking the plant wealth of the state, medicinal and aromatic research and Development centre has already procured 70 different plant species of medicinal and aromatic uses. Besides these, the main feature of the university has been to give in hand training on the cultivation of different crops to the students and also through the organization of farmers’ fair twice a year, university is inclined to give an insight of the agriculture technologies to the farming community. Every fair fetches around 15 to 20,000 farmers from all over the country and neighboring countries like Nepal and Bhutan. The University is located at such a location where all the tourists coming to Himalayas are passing through the University campuses.

This institution with strong agricultural, botanical, biotechnological, environmental and ecological base could play a pivotal role in education and is turning out scientific manpower trained for exploration, documentation, quantification and conservation of plants biodiversity of this area.

University plays an important role in imparting agricultural education. Knowledge of plants, habitat, etc. form the basis of teaching in agriculture and help to identify not only crop plants but also important plants of food, horticulture, medicinal, insecticidal and other economic values. University has further gone in to the industrialization of agriculture by giving land to India’s larger companies like Dabur, Parle G and Britannia who are involved in the procurement and manufacturing of herbal and food products.

Conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants through cultivation is an important aspect for not only procuring but also popularizing the knowledge of these plants. Looking to the topography of the state and presence of the important plant wealth at different locations, an effort is needed to demonstrate this wealth at one place and also work out the technology for their propagation. Modern Medicinal Plants Garden at University will not only facilitate the spread of awareness about this important diversity but will also attract farmers to adopt their cultivation. Needless to say adoption for cultivation will achieve two objectives together i.e., it will improve socio-economic conditions of farmers and also assist in conservation of this important diversity by reducing the pressure on cultivation. The proposed garden will emphasize on interpretation and display of medicinal and aromatic plant diversity as per their climatic zones. It will also highlight the feasibility of their cultivation.
 
 

Unique features
 
Once developed then the following salient features of this garden will make it a unique MMPG at Pantnagar:
  • The first MMPG in the state Uttaranchal, which is the one of the richest state in medicinal plants.
     
  • The first MMPG in Agriculture University and posses huge cultivation of medicinal plants and thus beneficial to farmers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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