• What will be the impact of leads obtained from traditional medicine systems to public health and socio-economic status of weaker sections of the society? Validation of the important medicinal plants may evolve new drug discovery and also development of various nutraceuticals. After scientific validation of these plants, one can prioritize the judicious use of the effective plants, and their protection through ex-situ & in-situ conservation. Once a certain leads are obtained in the line of plant-based medicinal and nutritional products, protected cultivation of the prioritized plants at large scale could be revolutionised in these least recognised villages which would serve as a platform to improve the socio-economic status of these village-based communities. • How can be develop a drug or a product through leads obtained from traditional medicine systems so that they are accessible to the public? When one talk about development of a drug certain norms have to be followed based on the pharmacopeia. A drug can be developed using a plant-based single molecule and it will be in the category of Phytopharmaceuticals. It takes atleast 15 years from Lab. to production level for a Phytopharmaceutical to be established. It requires a lot of biochemical experiments, Laboratory trials, safety studies and clinical trials. Another common category of products which can be developed is through the AYUSH mode i.e. in accordance with the Ayurvedic, Unani, Sidha and Homeopathy. If the plants to be used in the formulation of the product has mention in any of the ancient literature of Ayurveda like Bhav Prakash, literatures of Unani, Sidha or Homeopathy (Materia Medica for instance) then the formulation can be manufactured and marketed. No clinical trials are usually involved in these class of herbal products. The third category of products is nutraceuticals. These are in fact dietary supplements which help in improving health. These products can be formulated using any plant which have earlier reports of consumption by any ethnic group of people without any visible side-effects or toxicity. These products can go to the market through various laboratory experiments, nutrition analyses, safety studies and taste evaluation. These products can be proprietary items or intellectual property after obtaining a Patent. During the past, the importance of anti‐oxidants and other phytonutrients were not felt the way it is today since mankind was very close to Mother Nature. Today, we humans have gone very far from nature, shifting our niche to a concrete forest which has created a deep impact on our life styles in terms of health and resistance. Human have become more prone to a number of disorders and have acquired low resistance towards adverse environmental conditions. Is there a need to go back to the past? At this juncture, the role of Ethno-medicine become a requisite to meet the ends of human health. It is time to go back to the past for a new beginning in the development of novel phytopharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. (Contributor : Dr. Dhanaraj Singh Thokchom is presently Senior Scientist (Scientist-in-charge) Ethno-Medicinal Research Centre (EMRC) which is supported by the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of S&T, Govt. of India) at Hengbung, Manipur. During his tenure in EMRC, he has several patents on plant-based products developed from traditional knowledge. He was looking after the Orchid Research & Development Centre, KVK-Sylvan, FEEDS, Manipur as Scientist -D. He has a doctoral degree in Genetics & Radiation Biology and has been consistently working on areas of Redox Biology, Drug discovery and herb-based product development. E-mail: dsthokchom@gmail.com )

Agriculture is not only about producing food that we require but it is a way of life that define our society value and culture, our health perspective and our consciousness towards the well being of our future generation and environment. Today, this value chain is at stake due to human greed and self-centred profit mongers. On the other hand, the pressure given upon our land and environment by the fast pace of so called development at the stake of our land and environment has also added to biodiversity loss and climate change. Today, we talk of Sustainable Agriculture, Rain – Water harvesting, Bio – Diversity conservation and Preservation of Environment and Ecology and even these mentioned above hot topics have become a centre point of debate, discussion, government policy ( whether it may be a policy for name sake) and part of syllabus at school, colleges and universities. The modern generation today need to learn all the above mentioned topic by giving extra effort, time and even by investing additional resources but have we ever imagine that these problems were not a matter of concern when we introspect our traditional days or olden days, because giving importance to this issues were daily day to day part of life of our ancestors and our grand parents and existing together within the rules of nature was way of life. According to traditional belief, Hills or forest is our father, rivers are our mother and the paddy fields are resident of our grain goddess. Imagine how we can commit any mistake to harm our holy places which are life – line of our very existence and integral part of our belief for brighter future and blessed generation. Our agriculture was far sustainable before the advent of modern agriculture as everything was within the control of our mother nature, who always has sufficient to give for the need of her children and in the custody to every community. But today, even the seed is out of farmer’s custody, which is one of the biggest threat of modern agriculture. Where has all our indigenous seeds gone. Should we take it just as a normal phenomenal or take it as a serious conspiracy played by the profit mongers to increased Zero’s in their bank accounts by putting the entire farming community and agriculture at stake and on the other hand, the entire human race is being poisoned slowly by the so called chemical fertilizers, weedicides, insecticides and pesticides on the pretext of helping to increase production and controlling diseases of our agriculture. We did not have to harvest rain water, as our existing environment itself was rain water harvester by default but that very harvester has been destroyed by us itself. Bio – Diversity conservation was never needed because our act never destroyed the beautiful diversity we had because it was our heritage and source of livelihood. Preservation of Environment and ecology was not required because we prayed to the forest god to give us hint and show us way that whether we should cut a big and mature tree or not. We act to the wish of nature. It can be termed as superstition by the modern agriculture but it is far better to live in that so called superstition environment instead of destroying every thing in the name of modern development and destroying even the essence of our very own existence. Permaculture, which can be also called as permanent culture is a new interpretation of our traditional agriculture into modern term. The techniques, methods and design adopted in this culture are our very own traditional system with some new explanation. Ranging from seed preservation, using farm yard manure, preparing medicines from natural sources and pattern of planting are all synonymous to our traditional practice except for few modification and addition of innovative techniques added to suit the changing environment in the form of Vermi- compost manure and all. Now, it depends on us whether to put at stake the entire world through slow poisoning or once again reclaim our healthy environment of our “Agri – CULTURE” for the betterment of our generations to come and the world. (Contributor - Tombisana Khumukcham is a community enabler and permaculture practitioner. She can be reached via email id:sana.umathel86@gmail.com )

• Traditional medicine systems: Healthcare is one of the most important and basic needs of humankind, which have been associated since human civilization. From time immemorial human beings have been using plants as medicine in treating various ailments. Most of the plant parts used include leaf, fruit, whole plant, root, seed, bark etc. All the ethnic groups used a large number of wild plants for the treatment of various ailments, as the state is predominantly inhibited by indigenous people. The most common traditional medicine systems practiced since ancient times are Ayurveda, Unani, Sidha, Homeopathic, Chinese, etc., and apart from these there are various other practices prevailing within various ethnic groups in the world. In this space age, herbal medicine still flourishes and is getting popularised in both the developing and the developed countries due to its natural origin and lesser side effects. Over 80,000 species of plants are in use in herbal medicine throughout the world. Approximately, 80% of the people in the world’s developing countries rely on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs, and about 85% of traditional medicine involves the use of plant extracts. Many plant‐derived compounds have been used as drugs, either in their original or semi‐synthetic form. There are also several plant extracts or phytomedicines in clinical trials for the treatment of various diseases. With the increasing realization of health hazards and toxicity associated with indiscriminate use of synthetic drugs and antibiotics, interest in the use of plants and plant‐based drugs and nutraceuticals has been in vogue throughout the world. • What makes certain plants possess medicinal values? When we look at the flowers, colourful leaves and fruits, we only say that they are colourful and beautiful but never gave a second thought‐ Why these colours and where do they come from? People say that they are there to attract insects and other pollinators but, it is just not that. They are, in fact, defensive attributes which the plants use, to withstand various stress conditions exerted by environmental factors such as temperature, mixed radiation regimes from the sun and outer space, background radiations and other epigenetic factors. These colourful displays enhancing the richness of biodiversity contain hidden wealth which can be harnessed in the form of various phytochemicals and are extremely valuable. Plants which are considered to be have medicinal properties have certain attributes and functionality. The medicinal plants contain bio-active molecules in the form of secondary metabolites which are produced inside the plant parts during stressed conditions and stored in them. These secondary metabolites are defence mechanism of the plants which help in protecting themselves during adverse environmental conditions. These bio-active molecules exhibit medicinal properties against various ailments. On the other hand these bioactive molecules exhibit antioxidant properties which are useful in scavenging free radicals inside the body. • What is the need to understand and scientifically validate traditional medicine practices? Traditional knowledge on medicinal plant uses has been considered as an area of high priority, sometimes leading to drug discovery thereby contributing to socio-economic development. Further, the indigenous knowledge is the life line of the humans and base line of drug discovery and nutritional beneficial food plants. Hence, validation of these folklore claims of medicinal plants through phytochemical, pharmacological and biological investigation is an urgent need to prove their curative properties. ( Contributor : Dr. Dhanaraj Singh Thokchom is presently Senior Scientist (Scientist-in-charge) Ethno-Medicinal Research Centre (EMRC) which is supported by the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of S&T, Govt. of India) at Hengbung, Manipur. During his tenure in EMRC, he has several patents on plant-based products developed from traditional knowledge. He was looking after the Orchid Research & Development Centre, KVK-Sylvan, FEEDS, Manipur as Scientist -D. He has a doctoral degree in Genetics & Radiation Biology and has been consistently working on areas of Redox Biology, Drug discovery and herb-based product development. E-mail: dsthokchom@gmail.com )