Decoding dengue brew that’s raising a storm
Chennai: A bitter battle between age-old rivals is brewing on social media. The contestants: Sceptical allopaths and combative Siddha practitioners. The referee: A defensive state government. As the fight
Herbal Medcine
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Tried and lab tested
Bengal varsity set to analyse and authenticate herbal drugs
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RAMPANT COLLECTION
Rare plants and herbs of the Lingshi dungkhag region of Bhutan are indiscriminately being used for preparing traditional medicines by the Thimphu-based Institute of Traditional Medicines Service
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The Kerala experience
The Girijan Cooperative Society in Kerala is responsible for managing over 120 non-timber forest produce that includes a sizeable number of medicinal plants. However, present assessments show that
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Madurai and beyond
Once the trap is set, the tribal people can only go deeper into the forest to repay their loans and fill the coffers of agents, traders and forest officials
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Herbal heist
Hand-in-glove with the forest department, traders of medicinal plants and herbs make hay while communities who depend on herb gathering for survival scrounge for a living
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A Himalayan Tragedy
People who have no idea about forests step in to further trade, while the indigenous herb gatherers get exploited further
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Predicting the future
A severe shortage of medicinal plants and herbs threatens ISM. Cultivation may be the only way out. But currently medicinal plants that are cultivated in the forests cannot be traded and cultivation in private lands is difficult. Research on medicinal
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Grow more
There is no land to cultivate medicinal plants, neither are there any legal provisions, nor market access. At present, the risks involved are too high for small scale farmers to opt for cultivation of medicinal plants and herbs
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Highs and lows
The government s vanaspati van scheme is good news, but for it to succeed small scale farmers and local communities have to be brought in its fold
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Trading in contraband
At a time when traditional Indian systems of medicine are critically affected by the non availability of herbs, the country is losing its medicinal wealth to well organised smuggling networks. Government policies with a blind eye for domestic trade have m