Five herbal parks will come up in the district as part of a nationwide project to impart knowledge on Ayurvedic medicinal plants and create awareness on it among the public.
The project is being implemented by the Ayush Mission in association with the district Ayurveda and Homeo Departments and Haritha Kerala Mission.
As part of it, 16 medicinal plants will be grown in the five centres selected in the district with 16 ayurveda medicinal plants.
Custodian
According to an official in-charge of implementing it, the custodian of the park is district medical officers of Ayurveda and Homeo Departments. The herbal parks will be set up in the five grama panchayats of Purappuzha, Rajakkad, Kudayathur and Arakkulam in addition to the municipality of Thodupuzha.
The 16 medicinal plants to be grown in the parks included Amalaki (Phyllanthus emblica) Ashvagandha (Withania somnifera) Bala (Sida cordifolia), Bhumyamalaki (Phyllanthus niruri), Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Haridra (Curcuma longa), Kumari, (Aloe vera), Mandukaparni (Centella asiatica), Nimba (Azadirachta indica), Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus), Shunthi (Zingiber officinale), Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), Eranda (Ricinus communis), Nirgundi (Vitex negundo) and Vasa (Adhatoda vasica).
As per the list of medicinal plants, the State governments can make modifications to include endemic ayurveda plants, said Haritha Kerala Mission district coordinator G.S. Madhu. He said that the services of Haritha Karma Sena in the respective local bodies will be utilised for planting the medicinal plants and their protection.
Beena Zacharia, District Medical Officer (Homeo) said that two of the five herbal parks will come up under the homeo dispensaries at Kolani and Arakkulam.
