Speech On Importance Of Medicinal Plants

The Real Wealth of every nation lies in the health of its people. Medicinal plants are the nature’s gift to human beings to make disease free healthy life. Plants possess a miraculous power which could alleviate pain and cure illness. Plants have been used from the early civilization as a source of medicine of all types of diseases. Inspite of Synthetic drug development and production of antibiotics, Plants occupy an important place in the modern and traditional system of medicine in all over the world. Modern medicines are primarily from synthetic or plant origin and they may have toxic effects, while plant medicines have less toxicity and their importance being realized in both developed and developing countries. It is expected that in near future the plant products will play a major role in the health care programme of all countries.

The history of medicine in India can be traced to the remote past. Rig Veda, written between 4500 and 1600 BC, the oldest repository of human knowledge mentions the medicinal use of plants. During the Buddhist period, medicinal plants were cultivated with the help of highly qualified specialists. A large number of vegetables and other products came into use for the treatment of diseases. (Chopra et al., 1956) During the current decades medicinal plants gained a substantial significance in pharmacy, agricultural production and exportation because of their use as a raw material for the pharmaceutical industries (Abou – Arab and Abou, 2000).