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 From mountains to valleys
 He has brought fame to an already famous college. Dr T Sekar, senior lecturer in the Botany Department of Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai, has been awarded Rs 9 lakh as funding for research and development of select medicinal plant species of Tamil Nadu – for the first time in the history of the college.
Sekar has been awarded the funding on the recommendation of the State Medicinal Plants Board which comes under the National Medicinal Plants Board. This in turn comes under the Department of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy – known as AYUSH – under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The Central government grant is actually aimed at encouraging farmers take up cultivation of medicinal plants for commercial use. Sekar’s work is to do research on medicinal plants and develop agro techniques and pass on the technology to the government for propagation among the farming community.
The Rs 9 lakh is a three-year grant. In the first year, Sekar is expected to set up a lab for the R&D work and find the manpower for it. The other thing he has to do is collect germ plasm (seed material) from different parts of the state. In the second and third year, he has to “help create a herbal garden in Pachaiyappa’s College and create awareness about medicinal plants in teachers, students and the public at large,” says Sekar.
He could also supply seed material for those interested in growing medicinal plants.
Sekar plans to establish the tissue culture lab in the botany department of Pachaiyappa’s which has all the facilities for the work. He is going to focus on plants that are useful for curing conditions like arthritis, diabetes and cancer.
“I have to find these rare plants in the Western Ghats and make them suitable for cultivation in the valleys.” The growing techniques that he discovers will help farmers use the plants to advantage.
Sekar has been teaching and doing research for 15 years. His Ph.D. thesis was on bamboo. His other area of interest is medicinal plants. He attended the International Conference on Medicinal Plants, 1988, conducted by the National University of Singapore; and the IV International Bamboo Congress in Bali, Indonesia, in 1995.
He has attended several national seminars and presented papers. More than 25 research papers have been published in national and international journals.
He has authored/co-authored 20 textbooks for school and college students. He has the distinction of having guided 20 M.Phil. students.
S Chitra
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