my uttarakhand news Bureau
Dehradun, 5 Dec: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today directed the officials to lay greater emphasis on innovation, value addition, and marketing in Uttarakhand’s medicinal and herbal sector and stressed on the importance of organised work through the creation of village clusters. Chairing a meeting of the Herbal Advisory Committee at the Secretariat here today, the CM underlined the need for focused promotion and conservation of herbal and medicinal products found in the high Himalayan regions.
Dhami instructed that a team of subject experts be deputed to visit two leading states in the herbal and aroma sectors to study their best practices, to enable Uttarakhand to adopt and implement similar innovations. He also stressed on the need for integrated work across research, innovation, production, marketing, and branding to enhance turnover in the herbal sector.
Pointing out that the Himalayan region is a natural repository of herbal wealth, Dhami observed that developing the herbal economy is a government priority given the immense potential in the state. He called for concrete measures to ensure farmers receive maximum benefit from their produce, to strengthen local self-employment opportunities, and to involve women in economic activities. He also suggested collaboration with Pantnagar University to facilitate arrangements for value addition, processing, and training related to herbal products.
Addressing the pressing issue of human-wildlife conflict, Dhami directed that joint teams from the Agriculture and Forest Departments be sent to areas where bears and other wild animals are causing damage to life and crops. These teams, he said, must provide information to the public on safety measures and crop protection.
During the meeting, Director of the Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI) Abhishek Tripathi presented a detailed account of the research being undertaken by the institute, along with its conservation, production, and training programmes for rare medicinal species.
Among those present at the meeting included Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi, Vice Chairman of the Herbal Advisory Committee Bhuvan Vikram Dabral and Balveer Ghuniyal, Principal Secretary RK Sudhanshu, Secretaries SN Pandey and V Shanmugam, Additional Secretaries Vijay Kumar Jogdande, Vandana and Anuradha Pal.
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