Setting Priorities for the Development of Medicinal Plants Sector in J&K (Kashmir) and Their Progress Towards Nanotechnology

Abstract

Medicinal plants have assumed global importance in view of their ever increasing usage in health care system. This resurgence of interest in herbal medicine has largely been an outcome of the realization of ill effects which other systems are inflicting on human beings. In India more than 7500 of the plants are being regularly employed in treating different ailments. Nearly 40% of known medicinal plants of Kashmir Himalaya are used in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry alone. However, the continued exploitation of this resource from natural habitats in the absence of any cultivation programme has resulted in the extirpation of many herbs which require formulation of pound policies on the part of Government. Besides to empower the local communities the development of General Awareness Programs and their execution at the farmer's field is highly desirable. This may involve the establishment of Medicinal Plant Conservation Parks. The combination of nanotechnology and traditional medicine may provide a very useful tool in designing future medicines with improved bioavailability profile.