Vol. 11, Special Issue 1 (2022)

Author(s):
Minal H Patel, Payal C Patel, Soufil S Malek, Ram Mayur L, Bimal S Desai, Vipul B Parekh and SK Jha

Abstract:
Conservation of Medicinal and aromatic plants through nursery is one of the major promotional schemes now days promoted by National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB) and various state medicinal plant boards. The Core of the nursery is to raise the MAPs plants from the seed and through vegetative propagation and thereby provide quality planting material to farmers, schools and common man. The rapidly depleting valuable medicinal and aromatic plants must also be preserved. So, nurseries specializing in these crops have started to thrive in order to save and multiply the precious medicinal and aromatic plants. The Ayurvedic medicinal professionals also demand these plants. Model Nursery on MAP’s at Navsari Agricultural University was initiated under National Horticulture Mission. It is located in the AES zone-III (Heavy rainfall zone) with a total area of over 4 ha. In all, 117 MAPs species is conserved and multiplied by various vegetative and non-vegetative methods. Out of this 117, 49 are herb species, 21 species of shrubs, 11 species of climbers, 4 grass species and 32 tree species. Some of Medicinal plant taxa categorized as rare, endangered and threatened such as Calophyllum inophyllum, Tecomella undulata, Rauwolfia tetraphylla, Costus speciosus, Chlorophytum borivilianum, Strychnos nux vomica, Semecarpus anacardium and Sterculia foetida are also conserved in the nursery. Apart from this, nursery also harbors 3 species of genus Asparagus- Asparagus racemosus, Asparagus sprengeri and Asparagus gonocladus, 3 species of Mentha- Mentha piperita, Mentha spicata and Mentha arvensis, 2 species of Withania- Withania somnifera and Withania coagulans along with two varieties- Anand Ashwagandha 1 and Jawahar Ashgandh. Seeds of 97 MAPs species are collected and stored. Annually, 80,000 plant seedling and sapling are sold and more than 200 farmers and students visit the nursery. Some of the other important plant species at nursery includes red and white seeded Abrus precatorius, Andrographis paniculata, Gloriosa superba, Gymnema sylvestre, Sida acuta, Sida rhombifolia, Piper betel, Plumbago zeylanica, Aloe vera, Tinospora cordifolia and Glycyrhhiza glabra. The present compilation is aimed to provide the details of collection, multiplication and conservation of herbal resources at Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat.