'India must identify China’s vulnerable points and hit where it hurts' : Vijay Kranti

Vijay Kranti, Expert on China and Tibet affairs, author, traveler, photographer, a former staffer of BBC, WORLD TV, Deutsche Welle (German), Radio Voice of America, media educationist.

 

In a series of daring adventures between 2003 and 2010, Vijay Kranti, an expert on China and Tibet affairs, travelled incognito on a tourist visa deep into Tibet and China on eight separate occasions. Equipped with his camera, he captured vivid details of Chinese suppression of Tibetan art, culture, religion and people and development of military infra along India’s border. While doing so he narrowly survived the scrutiny of suspecting Chinese authorities on many occasions. He has penned about a dozen books. In an interview to Dipankar Chakraborty, he speaks about China and Tibet, his association with Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama, current standoff between India and China in Ladakh and its impact on global strategic equations. Excerpts:  

 

The Statesman: You have been among a very few Indians who have toured incognito deep into Tibet and in some parts of China. How easy or difficult it was to do so? 

 

Vjay Kranti: Since beginning of first decade of this Century, China got keen to make billions of touro-dollars through tourism in Tibet. So I planned my tours in a way to cover almost entire Tibet and some parts of China as an ordinary tourist who had keen eyes of a journalist. In all I have travelled about 5000 km within Tibet and China. It was perfectly legal way every time, but still there was a great risk of meeting similar fate as of Sarabjit or Jadhav.

 

Do you find any correlation between what you saw in Tibet then and what is happening today at Galwan or all along the LAC?

 

Sure. All along these eight years of my travels inside Tibet, my one consistent observation was that China was desperately developing roads and military establishments all over Tibet, especially along borders with India. They were also developing new townships and the railways. But one could easily make out that it was not for the convenience of the colonized Tibetan subjects. It was too obvious to miss that entire exercise was to create facilities for on or other military purpose and to develop new towns for settling millions of new citizens from China to change the demography of Tibet. In one of my early visits I saw dozens of Tibetan labour groups digging a trench parallel to the 500 km long road from Dram (Nepal) to Shigatse in Tibet. It must have been for optical fiber. Unfortunately India remained sleepy along its Himalayan borders all along past seven decades.

 

                    Optical fibre laying Tibetan labour team near Nylam in Tibet: Photo by Vijay Kranti 

Why China has started this confrontation with India at this juncture? Where is the present standoff between India and China heading to?

 

VK: To me this all appears more related to China’s internal political situation, especially the fresh power struggle within Chinese Communist Party than anymajor dispute with India. In his hurry to install himself as lifelong supreme leader of China like late Chairman Mao, Xi Jinping has started a campaign of purging his opponents in the CCP. In recent months he has dismissed and arrested over 200 senior functionaries of the Party as well as military officers. All of them are known supporters of senior and rival leaders like Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Zhu Rongji. Mao achieved the same goal by using youths and school level ‘Red Guards’ in a decade long ‘Cultural Revolution’. This ended up with almost every such potential opponent of Mao in CCP either dead, arrested or politically demolished who could pose any threat to his leadership in future. Today Xi is using the legal machinery underhis official control as the General Secretary of CCP, Chairman of Central Military Commission and President of China in the name of ‘fighting corruption’.

 

If he is involved so deeply in internal power struggle then why PLA’s misadventure on Indian borders, especially in Ladakh?

 

VK:     His plans of confronting India in Ladakh and other places along the LAC went haywire as his assessment about India’s military capabilities proved wrong. He was hoping to emerge as a victorious ‘national hero’ after ‘winning back’ China’s ‘lost land’ to India. His fresh aggressive actions in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Hong Kong etc too were aimed at diverting attention of the people of China to overlook his misadventures in the CCP and economic failure due to the Wuhan virus Covid-19.

 

Aeroplane in front of Potala Palace in Tibet - show of colonial arrogance. Photo by Vijay Kranti

 Many global players like the USA, Australia, Japan and other nations like Taiwan, Vietnam etc have started challenging the might of China in the wake of China’s aggressive attitude.What international implications do you see for China and India in near and long future?

 

China’s belligerence on the military front against all these countries and the enormous damage caused by the Wuhan virus on the life and economy of these countries has brought them together. Earlier China used to threaten them separately and could get away with it. Soon you will start seeing the impact of economic, political and military decisions which these and many other countries have already started taking against China independently or in tandem with each other.

 

How this is going to impact position of Xi Jinping?

 

First, the resolve of most of countries world over to reduce their dependence on business with China and Chinese products has already lead to cancellation of business orders in China. Hundreds of thousands production sites have either stopped production or are working in a minimal production mode. Process of laying offlabour has already started. As a result 10  to 30 million migrant workers have already left for their homes in remote areas. This is result of non-coordinated efforts among various countries. You just wait for an orchestrated economic push from some newly forming anti-China blocks of countries and you will see the Red-Pie crumbling. The very first victim is going to be Xi Jinpinghimself whom the CCP and public opinion is going to lynch – at least politically.

 

Any chances of a public uprising in China in a situation like this?

 

No one should be surprised if a TienAnmen Square type uprising of 1989 type happens in a very new form all over China. In 1989 it happened despite the fact that there was no internet and Chinese people relied exclusively on Party controlled information. Moreover that youth generation was made up of poetic-revolutionaries who would paste hand written poems on walls to express their anger. But new Chinese generation is internet savvy and has tasted blood of prosperity, luxury and personal comfort. Their aspirations come from Deng’s dictum “Being Rich is a Virtue”. Their uprising will crush anyone – evenXinJinping or the CCP, who comes in the way of their personal and collective interests.

 

Today Chinese think tanks are warning India of ‘repeating 1962’ and Indian establishment is repeatedly saying that 'today’s India is different from India of 1962’.What does it mean?

 

We must understand that when China attacked India in 1962 then not only India was militarily unprepared and weak, it also had no friends who could stand by India in the war. Even USA who could have helped India in a big way due to its strong allergy to Communism, could not do much because of the Cuban nuclear crisis on its own door steps. Today not only India is well prepared on military grounds, it has a hue of friends across the globe who will join hands India to settle their own scores with China.

 

 

Do you think the stalemate atGalwan and the subsequent occupation of vantage positions by Indian forces on top of the hills overlooking Chinese deployment can be the game changer?

 

Yes, sudden drop in China’s arrogance vis-à-vis India in Ladakh following occupation of vantage heights in Ladakh by Indian Army gives that impression. By occupying these heights the Indian Army has practically undone most of advantages that PLA had acquired by quietly advancing in Galwan and most other areas. These occupations have practically brought almost entire fortifications of PLA on the frontal as well as backup positions under direct scrutiny and hitting capability of Indian Army. This practically means freezing PLA in current positions at least until a full blown war takes place.

 

Actually Xi’s PLA was so overconfident about their military superiority over India that they were hoping to conquer Galwan and adjoining Ladakhi areas in a jiffy.

 

They had plansto further secure their grip on already occupied Aksai Chin and to make fresh advances towards Siachen to make it difficult for Indian forces to maintain their hold on it. But they are stunned by Indian Army’s resolute response. This has turned the tables on PLA and Xi who were hoping to  use their Ladakh victory to score points on Xi’s political rivals inside China. Now Xi will surely have to face music on this and many other accounts in the forthcoming 20^th Congress this October.

 

 

Why there is not much discussion on a nuclear-China and a nuclear-India? Are there chances of a nuclear faceoff between the two in the light of present conflict?

 

Let us not forget that in present world situation nuclear weapons have become too prolific to be an asset. They are useful onlytillthey are not used. No sensible leader, who cares even an iota for the future of his country, will make the first strike. India has already graduated its nuclear policy from ‘no use’ to ‘no first use’. And China cannot afford making a first strike on India, or for that matter, on any other country like Japan or Taiwan. Doing so will be like issuing an open license to all those nuclear powers who just can’t afford to live in a world where China comes victorious over another country after a nuclear attack. If China fires one, it will get back a shower from India and many others who are not even directly provoked.

 

 

How can India counter 'One China' policy effectively?

 

Originally PRC’s ‘One China Policy’ was limited only to Formosa (Taiwan). Mao wanted that no country should recognize the ‘exile’ government of Chiang Kai-shek in  Formosa. But PRC wants the world to also keep mum on its occupation of three independent countries namely South Mongolia, East Turkistan (Xinjiang) and Tibet and accept them as ‘integral parts of China’. Now Beijing wants same treatment on Hong Kong also. Since China has done everything in its control to break Kashmir and some of the North-Eastern states from India, the only way of countering China’s ‘One China Policy’ is that New Delhi should stand up for the cause of these Chinese colonies.

 

You have closely worked with the supreme Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama for almost five decades. What future do you see for him and the Tibetan people in the changing India-China relations?

 

VK:     Dalai Lama has been making all possible efforts to establish peace and understanding between China and Tibet while no government of the world stood by him. But the havoc created by the Chinese Wuhan virus on people’s safety and the world economy and Beijing leader’s decision to pick up fight with so many countries across the world has changed the world in a big way. You may soon see a host of countries standing up for the freedom of China’s colonies like Tibet, East Turkistan (Xinjiang), South Mongolia and Honk Kong only to ensure an utterly weak China. Dalai Lama can now hope for a free Tibet sooner than he could anticipate.

 

 

 Strangers in own home - 2 monks in a Lhasa street. Photo by Vijay Kranti

If you were to advise the Indian government on China affairs, what top things you  would suggest to ensure that the border dispute is settled for once and all? 

 

One basic suggestion is that GOI and people of India should stop remaining focused only on the border dispute and confrontation. At the best India can only defend its current positions by remaining vigilant, tense and paying ever increasing costs. In the new emerging world scenario India must identify China’s vulnerable points and hit where it hurts China most and costs India less. One area is raising cases of human rights of people of Tibet, East Turkistan, South Mongolia and Hong Kong on world forums. Second, India should stand up by and join hands with countries like Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand and all others who feel threatened by China and are willing to have India as a leading partner in challenging China on all possible fronts. Third, join hands with other countries to stop China from usurping most UN and other international forums. Fourth, take QUAD seriously and develop Andaman & Nicobar Islands as a joint military hub to tame China in the Malacca Strait and high seas. Fifth, challenge China on the diplomatic table by demanding parity and reciprocity on issues like opening Indian Consulate office in Lhasa; equal freedom for Indian media within China, Tibet, Xinjiangetc and in the field of import export………. India only needs to shed down its inertia and change its gears. Doors of a new, assertive, self-confident and self-respecting India will open up.

 

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Hope to revive lost varieties of trees from their broken seeds

 Hope to revive lost varieties of trees from their broken seeds 

By: Dipankar Chakraborty

After detailed experiments with the unique seed germination pattern of Garcinia gummi-gutta or kokum fruit-bearing tree, found in abundance in the Uttara Kannada parts of Western Ghats jungles, scientists have formulated a 'model-system' that can be used to protect the tree against vagaries of nature and ensure its survival in the difficult forest ecology.
The model system is also expected to open up fresh lines of investigations into seed biology and evolutionary ecology.
During their extensive research scientists Dr Geeta Joshi, Dr Arun Kumar and Dr Y B Srinivasa of Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) and Dr Balakrishna Gowda in the Department of Forestry and Environment Science at the University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, found that even the fragamented seeds of the rinds of the pulpy fruit of Garcinia gummi-gutta have the capacity to germinate and develop complete seedlings.
The conclusive evidence about the fragmented kokum seeds' regenerative capacity came to fore after scientists found that seeds damaged by fruit-eating animals germinated faster than the ones left intact. In the tropical evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, the period from June to August is the fruiting season. The season coincides with the peak of southwesterly monsoon, a good time for all the seeds in the jungle soil to germinate but for the Garcinia gummi-gutta seeds.
The hard coat of Garcinia gummi-gutta seeds prevented them from germinating during the rainy season. By the time the primary root could emerge out of the seed and the first seedling appear the rains would have been long over and a long spell of harsh summer months begins. The seeds of the majority of the trees species germinate coinciding with the monsoon. Their seedlings also take firm roots ahead of the summer months. This ensures a better chance of their survival in the competitive forest environs.
Scientists, however, have observed that Garcinia gummi-gutta seeds damaged by fruit-eating mammals in the forest while feeding on them germinate much before the onset of the long summer and hence stand a far better chance of survival. This is not the case with the fully coated seeds of the tree.
Speaking about their experiments with the germination process of the kokum fruit seeds, the scientists told the Bangalore Mirror: "A study was carried out to observe the effect of seed coat on germination by sowing seeds with and without seed coat separately in a sand bed and watered twice a day. Seeds with their seed coats intact took about four months to initiate germination. In case of seeds without the coat, the germination started by three weeks." What further surprised scientists was the fact that not only the seeds with broken coat germinated faster but also the seeds fragmented during animal feeding were capable of developing independent seedlings.
Speaking about their research into the germination of the fragmented seeds of kokum fruits of G. gummi-gutta tree, the four scientists observed: "We have shown that seed fragments not only produce root and shoot but also have enough reserve material to support the development of complete seedlings. Therefore, germination of seed fragments may have evolved as a unique way of exploiting mammalian frugivory (fruit-eating habit) for seed dispersal." This very fact has now prompted scientists to examine whether seed-dispersing during animal feeding of fruits and germination of fragmented seeds could be used as 'model system' for fresh lines of investigations into various other branches of science such as morphogenesis (the biological process that causes an organism to develop its shape), physiology (biology dealing with normal functions of a living organism and their parts), seed biology and evolutionary ecology (the science of how interactions between and within species evolved).


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Active Covid-19 cases are decreasing, But is it end of the game for Corona in India ?

India's daily death and active cases are decreasing considerably, It may appear a very good sign, but the fact is that festival season is on, coming months would see an increase in pollution in Northern India. So there is no time to be complacent for authorities, rather take extra precaution in the coming festival seasons till December.

Even the AIIMS Director has warned of a spike in the coming months due to festival season and pollution in the air. 

From Europe and US experience, it is evident that the second wave is bound to hit India in the coming months. And till no vaccine hit the market, social distance and regular washing of hands are the only solutions.

 India continues to report a trend of steadily decreasing active cases.  For the fourth day after the active cases dropped below the 9L mark after a month, the decline continues unabated.

Presently the active cases comprise merely 12.10% of the total positive cases of the country standing at 8,61,853.

India is also reporting a high number of recoveries. The total recovered cases are close to 61.5 lakhs (61,49,535). The difference between active cases and recovered cases is consistently increasing and stands at 52,87,682  today.

71,559 patients have recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours whereas the new confirmed cases are 66,732. The national Recovery Rate has progressed to 86.36%.

77% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs .

Maharashtra and Karnataka contribute more than 10,000 to the single-day recovery.

66,732 new confirmed cases were recorded in last 24 hours.

81% of these are from 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra is still reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 10,000 cases followed by Karnataka  and Kerala with more than 9,000 cases each.

816 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of these, nearly 85% are concentrated in ten States/UTs.

More than 37% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (309 deaths).

                                                                                                                                        

India to launch World's first Paper Test Kit (FELUDA) for COVID-19 : Indian Health Minister

 

Indian scientists know how to convert adversities into opportunity. They have successfully developed, test and manufactured for commercial launch a Paper test kit (FELUDA) that could diagnose COVID-19 in just one hour. 

Indian Health Minister shared the good news of the rollout of the FELUDA Test in the near future. He said based on tests in over 2000 patients during the trials at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and on testing in private labs, the test showed 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity.

Which is at par with the ICMR’s current acceptation criteria of RT-PCR Kit of at least 95% Sensitivity and at least 99% Specificity, he stated. The Feluda paper strip test for SRS-CoV-2 diagnosis has been developed by CSIR-IGIB and has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for a commercial launch.

The kit has already been validated by the Department of Atomic Energy’s National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. “While I cannot put an exact date on the availability, we should expect this test within the next few weeks”, he said.

The Paper test has been named after a famous Indian fictional detective and is based on a gene-editing technology called Crispr. Feluda is going to be commercially manufactured by a leading Indian conglomerate, Tata, and could be the world's first paper-based Covid-19 test available in the market.

"This is a simple, precise, reliable, scalable and frugal test," The Union Health Ministry said.  The best part of the test kit is that it has 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity. The accuracy of a test is based on these two proportions. A test that's highly sensitive would detect almost everyone who has the disease, and a test that has high-specificity will correctly rule out almost everyone who doesn't have the disease.

While the first ensures not too many false-negative results, the second not too many false positives. India's drug regulator has cleared the test for commercial use.

How Paper test kid would be a gamer changer

In the traditional PCR test, the sample is sent to an accredited laboratory where it has to go through a number of "cycles" before enough virus is recovered. But Feluda test uses Crispr - short form for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats - or a gene-editing technology to detect the virus.

World Over

While scientists world over is working on these lines and developing a paper-based technology for the test, they are nowhere close to India. In the US and the UK, several companies and research labs are developing similar paper strip tests which can be cheap and mass-produced.

One of the most talked-about has been a paper-based strip developed by Sherlock Bioscience which has been cleared for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The test claims to detect the "unique genetic fingerprints of virtually any DNA or RNA sequence in any organism or pathogen". DNA and RNA are sister molecules responsible for the storage of all genetic information that underpins life.

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In COVID-19 time, India's Agriculture export increases by 43.4 %, balance of trade turn positve from Rs - 2133 crore to Rs + 9002 crore

Despite Corona pandemic, Indian agriculture Industry has seen a steep increase in the export of agriculture products—an increase of 43.4 % during the first half of 2020-21 fiscal year is not only impressive but amazing as well.
The good news for Agriculture sector is that the balance of trade which was negative Rs 2133 crore has turned positive this year to Rs 9002 crore in the first half of this fiscal year. This means Indian Agriculture sector would not only feed the country but would also earn foreign exchange for the country in the coming years provided the trend continues.
The Union Agriculture Ministry claimed that the export of essential Agri commodities for the cumulative period of April-September, 2020 has increased by 43.4% to Rs 53626.6 crore as compared to Rs 37397.3 crore in the same period last year. Major commodity groups which have recorded positive export growth during April-Sept, 2020-21 vis-à-vis April-Sept, 2019-20 are Groundnut (35%), Refined Sugar (104%), wheat (206%), Basmati Rice (13%) and Non-Basmati Rice (105%).
Furthermore, the balance of trade during April-September 2020 has been significantly positive at Rs 9002 Crore as against the trade deficit of Rs. 2133 during the same period in 2019. On month to month basis (MoM), India’s agricultural export of essential agricultural commodities during   September 2020 has been of Rs 9296 crore against the export of Rs 5114 crore during September 2019, showing an increase of 81.7%.
In order to boost Agri exports, The government announced Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 which inter-alia provides for a cluster-based approach for export-centric farming of cash crops like fruits, vegetables, spices, etc. whereby clusters for specific Agri products are identified across the country and focused interventions are carried out in these clusters.
Eight Export Promotion Forums have been set up under the aegis of APEDA to boost export of agriculture/ horticulture products. The EPFs are created on Banana, Grapes, Mango, Pomegranate, Onion, Dairy, Rice Basmati and Rice Non-Basmati. The EPF is making concerted efforts to identify, document particulars of, and reach out to stakeholders across the entire production/ supply chain of export for increasing these exports significantly to the global market, through various interventions.
Recently, the Government has also announced Agri Infra Fund of Rs. 1 lakh crore to improve agribusiness-environment which shall promote Agri export in due course. Besides, DAC&FW has also prepared a comprehensive action plan/strategy towards promotion of Agri trade envisaging twofold approach viz. to boost Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and a detailed action plan for Import Substitution.
 
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Now, insect tracking devices can protect crops against damage

 Now, insect tracking devices can protect crops against damage

By: Dipankar Chakraborty

All was fine with Subabul — a popular fodder tree that was introduced to India in the 60s — till an insect, Heteropsylla cabana, Subabul Psyllid came all the way from Central America and played havoc with the fodder crop, across the length and breadth of India.
Agricultural scientists first spotted the deadly insect in the 80s but it spread its wings across the country's vast farmlands for want of any prior knowledge about its devastating nature.
Decades lapsed since Sababul plantations in India fell to the Subabul Psyllid attack and the crop is yet to recover. Today in India's largely agro-based economy, pest attacks account for damage to a large volume of agricultural crops every year.
Though various government agricultural research institutes in Bengaluru and other parts of the country have been engaged in efforts to protect crops against attacks from harmful insects, the fear of the spread of little known foreign insects entering India's vast agriculture eco-system has been giving scientists, farmers and government agencies sleepless nights.
The fear is not altogether misplaced in the light of recent research on the migration of insects. Studies have established that insects travel thousands of miles across oceans from one continent to other and return back to the country of their origin. In this context, a dragonfly, known as Globe skimmer or Pantala flavescence, found in southern India and said to travel 3,500 miles every year in the month of September or November to Eastern Africa and back to India is worth taking note of.
"Migrating Pantala dragonfly was first spotted in 2013-2014 in India. It is not known whether the Indian dragonfly like their American cousin Monarch Butterfly multiply on their return journey home from East Africa. Nobody knows what make these dragonflies travel such a long distance."
"The dragonflies have been spotted in Madagascar Island. The route of migration is unknown and a lot of research work is yet to be conducted. Entomologists in India have already been working on the matter," says entomologist at the University of Agricultural Sciences at GKVK, VV Belavadi, speaking to Bangalore Mirror.
Belavadi says it may appear a bit unbelievable for the dragonfly to have such high level of energy to fly across Arabian Ocean to reach African continent and then return home. He, however, says the migration of dragonfly have been now well documented in various publications on the subject. The senior agricultural scientist says the study of the migration of dragonfly and other pests of crops will greatly help in tracking unknown or little known insects and their arrival on Indian soil and impact on agricultural crops.
"It is thus very important to know how these insects migrate. We suddenly find that a new pest has arrived on a particular crop but we don't know wherefrom it has come and how they continue to stay on. We also don't know whether they return to the land of their origin or stay back," adds Belavadi.

Lost in the jungle, don't worry, look out for water-trees

 Lost in the jungle, don't worry, look out for water-trees 

By: Dipankar Chakraborty

The rapid expansion of human habitat deep into the fragile biodiversity of Western Ghats hotspots and extension of tea, coffee, cardamom and rubber plantations into dense humid forest regions have taken a heavy toll on the flora and fauna, including a large variety of aromatic plants, and the pristine forest cover of the region's delicate ecosystem.

This has been the finding of two Bengaluru-based scientists — Kavitha Sagar, a UGC postdoctoral fellow in Botanical Garden division of the University of Agricultural Sciences, and RR Rao, a well-known environmental scientist and former associate professor at the North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya.

The serious state of affairs at the Western Ghats came to light in course of their extensive survey of the region, as part of a joint study on the wild aromatic plants of the region. The scientists pointed out that the Western Ghats had already lost more than 90 per cent of the original forest cover. The traditional knowledge of medicinal and aromatic plants in the Western Ghats has become vulnerable and is being lost faster than any other indigenous intellectual heritage, they said.

Besides the diversity of aromatic species, the joint study also highlights the analysis of major chemical compounds and percentage of essential oils in different populations of some important shortlisted wild aromatic plant species such as Ocimum geatissisinum (African basil), Toddalia asiatica (orange climber), Gaultheria fragrantissima (Indian wintergreen), Hyptis suaveolens (American mint), Chloroxylon swietenia (East Indian satin wood) and a few others.

Raising a big question mark over the fate of the aromatic plants due to fast-shrinking forest space, Sagar says there is an urgent need of ex-situ (removing species from its natural setting) conservatories to protect these nearly 300 species of aromatic plants.

Many of the aromatic plants are yet to be studied and their properties chemically analysed and registered for future uses.

The scientist says such a step is the need of the hour to protect the entire diversity of aromatic plants of the Western Ghats. So far, about 73 aromatic plant species have been established at Bengaluru-based CIMAP (Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants) conservatory. CIMAP, engaged in the field of science and business of medicinal and aromatic plants, is a research institute under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Aromatic species Hyptis suaveolens (American mint), Limonia acidissima (wood apple), Pogostemon spp., Atalantia monophylla, Clausena dentate (horsewood), Toddalia asiatica var (orange climber), Floribunda, Plectranthus mollis (soft stem mint leaf), P. malabaricus, Lavandula bipinnata (feather leaved lavender), and Chloroxylon swietenia (East Indian satin wood) with high aromatic content have immense potential for further improvement and exploitation using modern biotechnological tools.

Scientific analysis of many of these aromatic plants have revealed that these plants are not only powerful germicides but also have anti-bacterial properties. The commercial value of these plants, having a wide ranging uses for perfumery and food flavouring industries, add to their importance as a great source of revenue generation for the country.

"A large quantity of the essential oils of the aromatic plants is utilised by the cosmetics, toiletries and allied industries. Commercially well established aromatic species Cymbopogon spp, Pelargonium graveolens L, Pogostemon patchouli L, Rosmarinus officinalis L, Artemisia sp, Vetiveria zizanioides and Mentha spp can yield up to 62 types of essential oils for the international trade," says Rao.

"India's current volume of foreign trade in the aromatic compound and essential oils produced from these plants is around Rs.65 million. This is however a meager 1.6 per cent of the world trade. This calls for the need of further research and development works to make improvements in the aromatic compounds sector," Sagar says.

Both Rao and Sagar, however, rue the fact that conservation of aromatic species has still remained largely neglected, though the same cannot be said of medicinal plants. "As a majority of the aromatic species are confined to roadsides and exposed areas, the existing protected area network of forests of the region may not protect all the wild aromatic species. The spread of alien weeds like Parthenium hysterophorus and Eupatorium spp and Mimosa invisa along the roadsides in the lower elevations and species like Pueraria phaseolioides at higher elevations have especially taken a heavy toll of such aromatic species which prefer exposed but moist roadside habitats. Therefore, we may have to adopt strategies that focus on the conservation of these wild aromatic species," the study says.