Call for massive production of herbal plants

They said apart from their traditional use in ayurvedic, unani and siddha medicines, herbal plants are being used in different parts of the world to manufacture medicines by using modern technology.

The seminar titled 'Medicinal plants: An opportunity for Saarc countries' was organised by Saarc Agricultural Information Centre (Saic) at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (Barc) auditorium in the city.

Presenting the keynote paper Dr VP Kamboj, former director of Central Drug Research Institute of Lucknow, India said herbal medicines, which are very effective for the treatment of cancer and malaria, can also cure age-related diseases including metabolic and immune disorders.

Around 75-80 percent population of Saarc countries have been using ayurvedic, unani and siddha medicines, he added.

Explaining the reasons for growing demand of herbal drugs in world market Kamboj said two of the 10 best selling medicinal plants-allium sativum (garlic) and aloe vera (aloe gel) grow in Saarc countries.

He laid emphasis on standardisation of herbal medicines by using modern technology to get hold of international market being dominated by China and Thailand other than India.

During a question-answer session, Kamboj demonstrated various aspects of medicinal approach to herbal plants.

Experts and representatives from different government and private organisations including Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hamdard, National Herbarium, Drug Testing Laboratory Institute of Public Health, Saic and Barc officials attended the seminar.

Answering a question on whether India would provide technological support to standardise the herbal drug industry of Bangladesh, he suggested Bangladesh should institutionalise the sector by means of a comprehensive approach in the production of herbal plants before seeking collaboration from India.

Farid Uddin Ahmed, member director of Natural Resource Management (NRM), BARC presided over the seminar while Dr Wais Uddin Ahmed, director of SAIC and Samdrup Rigyal, deputy director (Planning and Policy) of SAIC also spoke on the occasion.