Dabur Nepal and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have entered into a five-year partnership to promote herbal medicinal and aromatic plants from the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. Experts from Dabur and ICIMOD will bring to bear their significant resources and experience to establish an herbal garden at ICIMOD Knowledge Park at Godavari. The garden will facilitate research and development and act as a learning centre with demonstrations, hands-on training, and information sharing. Dabur Nepal will provide the initial establishment costs, technical assistance, planting materials, and maintenance and ICIMOD will provide the space. The technologies, approaches, and practices showcased in the garden will help students, researchers, government line agencies, universities, and industries working with herbal medicinal and aromatic plants.
With over 125 years experience in ayurvedic products, Dabur has pioneered the cultivation of medicinal plants as a regular agricultural practice in Nepal. Dabur Nepal’s Ashok Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Center at Banepa, Nepal, is a world-class greenhouse facility with state-of-the-art technology. Dabur Nepal is promoting the cultivation of critically-endangered species across 24 districts in Nepal and through 50 cooperatives to transform the livelihoods of farmers through herbal farming as an alternative source of income.
ICIMOD brings to the partnership its 30-hectare Knowledge Park, which attracts over 5,000 visitors a year. The Park is a repository for important biodiversity resources and a practical venue for testing sustainable technologies and farming practices and demonstrating them to farmers, researchers, students, and development practitioners. Activities at the Park are carried out in the areas of renewable energy; water, vegetation, and soil management; livestock and aquaculture; income generation; biodiversity conservation; training; and community outreach. David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, says that “the private sector is an important development partner for achieving impact and, as users of mountain resources, the private sector has a critical role to play in ensuring the long-term green economic growth of the region and in protecting its invaluable resources and biodiversity”.
It is hoped that the partnership between Dabur Nepal and ICIMOD will contribute to the accumulation and sharing of knowledge about herbal medicinal and aromatic plants and the development of new technologies and practices for sustainable land use and natural resource management in the hills of the Hindu Kush Himalayas. The partnership is expected to encourage and promote research in herbal medicinal and aromatic plants, which will eventually benefit students and local farmers. Information on propagation, gene banking, and multiplication techniques will be an integral part of the technical knowledge transfer generated by the initiative. The initiative will help in identifying and understanding medicinal and aromatic plants and herbs with the potential for industrial use.