32nd AGM of ICAR-AICRP on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants & Betelvine organised

24^th – 26^th February 2025, 

The 32nd Annual Group Meeting (AGM) of the ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants & Betelvine (ICAR-AICRMAPB) was organized at ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal Aromatic Plants Research, Anand, Gujarat, from February 24 to 26, 2025. The event brought together scientists from 26 AICRP centers to discuss advancements in the field of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) and Betelvine.

The Chief Guest, Dr Sanjay Kumar, Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), highlighted the importance of MAPs in the health sector and emphasized the project's role in contributing to sustainable development. He also urged a reorientation of the programme to address contemporary challenges, focusing on value addition and fostering linkages for the benefit of farmers.

The Guest of Honor, Dr B. K. Pandey, Former Assistant Director General (Hort. Sci.), ICAR, emphasized the role of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) in providing technologies for local farmers and ensuring quality research outputs.

Dr K. B. Kathiria, Vice-Chancellor, Anand Agricultural University, Gujarat, stressed the need for effective planning to produce quality planting material and to meet quality parameters for species under experimentation. 

Dr Manish Das, Director, and Project Coordinator, ICAR-AICRPMAPB, presented the key achievements of the project for the reporting period (2023-2024), providing an overview of the progress made in the MAP sector.

About five technical sessions covering topics such as crop improvement, crop production, crop protection, phytochemistry, and an important session on the interaction with government developmental agencies and farmers were organised. In the farmers' interaction meeting, key issues such as the availability of Quality Planting Material (QPM), MAP processing techniques at the farm level, the role of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and subsidies and crop insurance related to MAP cultivation were discussed.

During the deliberations, four new varieties were recommended for release: NBMHT-4 (Opium Poppy), MOB-16 (Sweet Basil), DBM-4 (Brahmi), and Arka Rama (Betelvine). Additionally, nine crop production technologies and seven crop protection technologies were endorsed. The meeting also saw the release of five significant publications on MAPs and Betelvine.

(Source: ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Anand, Gujarat)