Local body in Kozhikode to set up a garden of medicinal plants in schools to acquaint students about their usage

In an attempt to acquaint students about the use of medicinal plants and teach them about its significance, Nadapuram panchayat has come up with an initiative to set up a garden of various medicinal plants in schools within the limits of the local body. Designed by the panchayat, the project was approved by the District Planning Committee for implementation.

Nadapuram Gram panchayat vice-president C V Kunhikrishnan the project will be implemented in ten selected schools in the panchayat. The local body is planning to supply various kinds of medicinal plants to the selected schools.

“The idea of the project is to acquaint the students with various medicinal plants. There was a time, medicinal plants were grown at home. Even children were aware of the significance of the plant and its application. But now, the people are ignorant about it. Children are not even able to identify medicinal plants. We believe this project would at least help them to identify medicinal plants and teach them about their medicinal value and how to use it,” he said.

In the first phase of the project, the local body will supply around 50 saplings of various medicinal plants to each selected schools. The saplings will be procured by the local body from the nursery and will be supplied to the schools for free. The teachers and students are responsible to take care of the plants.

“The students will learn about the plants while they nurture it. This will be done under the supervision of a teacher,” said Kunhikrishnan. If the project goes well, it will be extended to other schools. There are 15 schools under the limits of Nadapuram panchayat. Presently, the local body has kept apart a fund of Rs 50,000 for this project in the budget and start distributing the saplings in the coming months.

“If the project yields the desirable results, panchayat would supply more medicinal plants and will allocate more fund for the project,” added Kunhikrishanan. This project of the Nadapuram panchayat has been approved by the District Planning Committee under the category of innovative projects undertaken at the panchayat level.