BEST PRACTICE I

“AROGYAM”: SECURING LIFE & PRESERVING INDIAN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM

Objectives of the Practice:

Arogyam is an endeavor of the Green Youth Brigade Club (GYBC) which has been functional since 2014 and aims at environmental sustainability and conservation practices. The first objective of Arogyam is to explore the hidden treasure of the Indian knowledge system (IKS) available in the form of Indian Materia Medica and conserve the bio-diversity of Indian medicinal plants. The second objective is to extend the knowledge and health benefits of medicinal herbs to the common man and promote Herbal Gardens for urban houses.

The Context:

During the COVID pandemic, when everything failed to cure the spread of viruses and people were bound to look for alternative sources of medication for immunity, the concept of “Arogyam” was picked up as a remedy and to use of ancient knowledge encrusted in Indian Materia Medica. Since the college has already been maintaining a herbal garden with 200 plants, it took efforts with the help of GBYC and expert faculty members to develop a nursery of common herbs for distribution to the common people thereby making them aware of the significance of herbs in their day to day life and also counseling them to grow these herbs in their small balcony garden under the program: “Herbal Garden for Urban Houses”. This was significant in a way of conserving ancient knowledge and transferring it to the future generation while boosting the general immunity of the society.

The Practice:

The GBYC of College is practicing this at five levels:

1.Development of a conservatory of medicinal plants

2.Dissemination of knowledge through lectures and expert talks

3.Free Consultancy for herbal gardens for urban houses

4.Identification of medicinal plants and their active principles

5.Tagging the plants in the conservatory and assigning QR code

Evidence of Success:

Wastelands in the college were transformed into herbal gardens with the involvement of GYBC, guided by a Botanist. One part of the degraded land was converted into an herbal garden for planting approximately 200 medicinal plants. During the COVID pandemic and thereafter the college and GYBC distributed 3000 medicinal plants in the last four years amongst the houses, students, faculty, staff, and local people. The success of this practice is evident from the fact that since its inception, this practice has continued uninterrupted to date.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required:

A motivated workforce is necessary to sustain our green practices. The dry season poses a loss of plants in the conservatory. The prolonged lockdown period from 2019-2021 caused serious loss of germplasm. An uninterrupted water supply and a deep irrigation system are further needed for the Medicinal Plant Garden.