In an attempt to provide strong innovative livelihood opportunities for sisters of Sakhi Mandal nurseries of about 10 medicinal plants are being run by rural women till now. In the coming days, the target is to establish more than 50 nurseries through convergence with the National Medicinal Plant Board. With this initiative, about 11 thousand rural families will be connected to the medicinal gardens, which will benefit more than one lakh families.
Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nancy Sahay informed that in the last few decades, Hodopathy had reached the verge of extinction due to the lack of medicinal plants. “In such a situation, the JSLPS has promoted its conservation by reviving ancient medicinal systems through the Medicinal Vatika initiative under the Women's Farmers Empowerment Project. Presently the project is being run in 35 blocks of 17 districts of the State with 6500 farmers,” she added.
“Under this, more than 30 medicinal and aromatic plants like Harra, Bahera, Karanj, Kusum, Lemongrass and others are being promoted, which are mainly grown under medicinal garden. Apart from this, efforts are also in full swing to generate new livelihood opportunities in the State by promoting scientific collection, cultivation and aromatic plants of forest based medicinal plants,” said Sahay.
The JSLPS CEO further said that the goal of Medicinal Garden is to increase immunity and promote disease preventive measures through ancient natural remedies through the sisters of Sakhi Mandal. Due to this, while Naturopathy and Hodopathy are being revived, the women of the village are also earning income, she added.
Sahay gave some example like Asha Devi of Peto village under Daru block of Hazaribagh district has been associated with the Medicinal Garden project for the last one and a half years, not only in the difficult times of the COVID, but also by cultivating more than 30 medicinal plants including Tulsi, Giloy, Harsingar and helping her family and nearby people. She also makes some income through the sale of these medicinal plants, she added.
“Anita Sanga of Birhu Barka Toli of Khunti had never imagined that the nursery of medicinal plants like Tulsi, Giloy, Chironji, Satwar, Ghodwar etc. could become their means of livelihood. Anita Sanga, a member of the Naveen Aajeevika Farmer Producer Group, is cultivating more than 50 medicinal plants today. Earlier, dependent only on forest produce based livelihood, Anita is making good income by doing nursery of medicinal plants and fruits along with the women of Sakhi Mandal,” said Sahay.