India successfully grows anti-malarial plant ‘artemisia’, says CSIR-CIMAP director
Researchers demonstrated that cultivating ‘artemisia annua’ provides farmers with a high return on their investment ( ₹65,000 per hectare) within four months.
Artemisia plant, which is used for developing artemisinin (drug) and its derivatives for treating acute malaria and parasitic worm (helminth) infections, will now be grown in India, for which it was largely dependent on China which is its largest and natural grower.
“Because the artemisia plant is naturally found primarily in China, it uses the plant to prepare artemisinin and export it to other countries. India was likewise reliant on China, but considerable research by the CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) resulted in the development of a new species with a high concentration of artemisinin content of 1.2%. With more than 200 varieties, the chemical extracted from the plant is used to make artemisinin, which is further used in making drugs for meningitis treatments. This plant is proving to be life-saving for meningitis patients,” said Prabodh Kumar Trivedi, director of CSIR-CIMAP in a recently held technology transfer programme.
As per the report published in the journal of medicinal and aromatic plant sciences this variety will benefit both farmers and industries involved in Artemisia cultivation/business. The industry may benefit from the reduced production cost by a margin of 20%.
It was demonstrated that the cultivation of ‘artemisia annua’ provides a high return ( ₹65,000 per hectare) to the farmers in a short span of about four months. This drug is presently being exported to several countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Myanmar and Cambodia.
CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chennai-based Sattva Vaid Natures Global Pvt Ltd for the technology related to the cultivation and processing of anti-malarial plant artemisia. Under the agreement, the company’s representatives, with the support of CSIR-CIMAP, will receive training in the technology of extracting artemisinin from the cultivation of artemisia crop (Artemisia Annua) from high-quality and yielding seeds of the CIM-Sanjeevani variety.
CIM-Sanjeevani results from extensive breeding work carried out in the past 12 years. It has been developed from poly cross progenesis between two existing varieties, Jeevan Raksha and CIM Arogya, as per the Journal.
“The company would engage with farmers on a contract basis to cultivate artemisia. Farmers’ vegetables will be purchased at fixed prices by the corporation, resulting in higher profits for farmers,” said Shri Shrenik Modi, director of M/s Sattva Veda Natures Global Private Limited Chennai.
Naresh Kumar, administrative officer of CSIR-CIMAP and Shrenik Modi, director at Sattva Ved Natures Global Pvt Ltd signed the contract, after that, the MoU was exchanged between Prabodh Kumar Trivedi, director of CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow and Shrenik Modi, director of M/s Sattva Veda Natures Global Pvt Ltd, Chennai.
