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Plum (Prunus saliciana Lindl.) is a temperate fruit and grows on commercial scale in J&K, HP and Uttaranchal. In J&K, plum cultivation is spread over 4,038 hectares with total yield of 10,112 metric tones. In Jammu Division, plum is being grown in temperate areas of Poonch, Rajouri, Doda and Kathua districts covering an area of 2,665 hectares with an annual production of 14,240 metric tonnes.

Climate and Soil

Plums because of their wide variability between different species, exhibit considerate varietal differences in their climatic requirements. The Japanese plums do very well in the low and mid hill regions ranging between 650 to 1650 meters above mean sea level. Some varieties can be grown successfully in the warmer regions of plains.

For good growth and longer life of plants, well drained medium to deep soils are most suitable. Plums propagated on peach root stocks grow better on sandy loam soil, while for heavier soils apricot rootstock or Kabul green gage root stocks of plum can be used.

Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.) is a highly popular fruit crop grown in temperate regions of the world. In India, peach cultivation is confined to mid hill zone of Himalayas extending from J&K State to Khasi Hill at an altitude of 1500 to 2000 meters above mean sea level. Low chilling cultivars are also grown in sub mountainous zones of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Western U.P. and also gaining popularity in sub-tropical areas of Jammu. Peach crop in J&K state covers an area of 2,615 hectares with 1,699 hectares falling in Jammu Division. Total production of peach in J&K state is 6,221 metric tonnes, out of which 2,612 metric tonnes are being contributed by Jammu Division. Main peach growing areas in Jammu region are hilly areas of Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban Udhampur, Reasi, Rajouri and Kathua districts. Recently, the new orchards of low chill peaches are also being planted in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts.

Climate and Soil

Peach does well in wet and cool climate with cold winter and dry summer. It likes mild climate. The limiting factors in peach cultivation are the minimum winter temperature, chilling hours, spring frost, hail storms, high humidity and desiccating winds during summer. In sub-tropical areas of North, the low chilling cultivars require 50-300 hours of chilling during the winter for proper flowering and fruiting.

The peach thrives well on light textured soil. Deep, fertile, loam or sandy loam with good drainage is considered well for successful peach cultivation. Poorly drained soil should be rejected for peach cultivation.

Pear (Pyrus spp.) is a superior temperate fruit with good taste and flavour. Because of its tolerance to wide range of soil and climatic conditions, it is grown both in sub-tropical and temperate conditions. In J&K, 14,532 hectare area is under cultivation, with an annual production of 88,329 metric tones. In Jammu Division, pear is being grown on 7,600 hectare having 30,257 metric tonnes production annually. The pear is grown in Doda, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Kathua districts of Jammu Division.

Climate and Soil

Pear is adapted to wide range of climatic conditions. Most of the commercial cultivars require 900-1000 hours of chilling below 7^oC to break the dormancy. Pear is a temperate fruit crop; however, it can be grown successfully in subtropical regions of Jammu. There are several low chilling cultivars, which are well adapted for cultivation under sub-tropical conditions. Pears are grown successfully over a wide range of soils provided they have sufficient moisture. Compared to apples, they are less tolerant to drought and rather more tolerant to impeded drainage. Deep, well drained and fertile soil give high yield.

Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) is a premium fruit of the world. It is a typical temperate fruit and main fruit crop of J&K State. The area under this fruit in J&K State is 1,62,971 hectares with an annual production of 17,26,834 metric tones. The acreage under this fruit crop in Jammu Division is 18,146 hectares and the annual production is 38,421 metric tones. In Jammu Division, apple is being grown in upper areas of Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Poonch, Udhampur, Reasi, Kathua and Rajouri districts.

Climate and soil

Apple is a typical temperate fruit crop requiring 1000-1600 hours of rest period below 7^oC. The average temperature during growing season should be 21⁰C to 24⁰C. Sunshine is essential for colour development of the fruit. In general, a cool climate with low winter temperature and little rainfall in summer is most suitable for apple cultivation.

Apple is grown on a wide range of soils. However, a well drained slightly acidic (about 6.5 -6.7 pH) loam soil with good depth (more than 45 cm) is ideal for apple cultivation. Apple can’t tolerate wet field, and water logging may cause collar rot and death of trees.

Pecan (Carya illinoensis) is a highly nutritive and energy giving nut fruit. It has nutty flavor and superb tree characteristics. Area under pecannut in J&K is 414 hectares with annual production of 86 metric tonnes.

Climate and Soil

Pecan need warm temperate climate and extremes of both temperate and sub-tropical climates are undesirable. It needs adequate chilling hours ranging from 400-600 hours below 7.2^oC for different cultivars. Mean monthly temperature ranging from 24.0 to 29.5⁰C, with little diurnal variation during growing period is best for growth and fruiting. High humidity prevents pollination, increases the incidence of diseases and premature splitting of nuts.

Although pecan nuts are grown in varied soil conditions, but sandy loam soils (pH 5.0-8.0) which are deep, fertile and are rich in organic matter are best for its growth and fruiting. Symbiotic mycorrhiza and fibrous roots permeate the top 1 meter of soil.

Phalsa (Grewia subinaequalis) is one of the hardiest, drought resistant and quick growing fruit crop. Different parts of the plant are used for curing variety of ailments. The ripe phalsa fruits are consumed fresh, in desserts or processed into refreshing fruit and soft drinks enjoyed during hot summers.

Climate and Soil

Phalsa prefers dry conditions and can therefore, withstand drought. It flourishes well under variable climatic conditions, and requires protection from the freezing cold temperature. Also, adequate sunlight and warm or hot temperatures are required for fruit ripening, development of appropriate fruit colour and good eating quality. Kandi areas are, therefore, quite suitable for its cultivation. It can also be grown under irrigated conditions. Phalsa plant grows vigorously under wide range of soils including fine sand, clay or even limestone. However, best results are obtained in well-drained, loamy soils.

Ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) is one of the ancient and common fruits, indigenous to India. It is growing in wild, semi wild and cultivated forms all over the country in sub-tropical and tropical areas. Area under ber in J&K is 5,376 hectare with annual production of 10,779 metric tonnes.

Climate and Soil

Ber plant is hardy and can grow successfully even under poor soil and unfavourable climatic conditions, where most other fruit trees fail to grow. It prefers a hot and dry climate for its successful cultivation, but needs adequate water during its first fruiting season. It can be grown up to an elevation of 1000 meters above sea level. Excessive atmospheric humidity seems to be a limiting factor in its successful fruiting.

The ber tree develops a deep tap root system with in a short period of its growth and as such adopts itself to wide variety of soils. However, deep sandyloam soils appear to be better for its plantations. It is well known in its ability to thrive under adverse conditions of salinity, drought and water logging.

Guava (Psidium guajava), the apple of tropics, is one of the most common fruits in India. It is the fourth most important fruit in area and production after mango, banana and citrus. Being hardy, it gives assured crop even with little care, and is good for rainfed areas also. This fruit is popularly being grown in sub-tropical regions of Jammu on 2480 ha with annual production of 9153 MT.

Climate and Soil

Guava is successfully grown under tropical and sub-tropical climate. In areas with distinct winter season, the yield tends to increase and quality improves. It can be grown upto an altitude of 1515 m above mean sea level. Older plants can tolerate drought. High temperature at the time of fruit development can cause fruit drop.

Guava trees are very hardy and can thrive on all types of soils, but are sensitive to water logging. The best soils are deep, loamy and well drained.

The litchi (Litchi chinensis) is a delicious juicy fruit of excellent quality. It is liked very much as table fruit. Presently, litchi occupies 940 ha area in Jammu region with an annual production of 2315 MT.

Climate and Soil

Litchi being a sub-tropical fruit thrives best under warm humid sub-tropical climate. However, frost in winter and hot winds in summer limits its growth and production. Hot winds results in cracking of fruits before reaching maturity while excessive rainfall at the time of flowering interfere with pollination. The prolonged dry spell after fruit set reduces the crop considerably.

Litchi flourishes well on deep, well drained loamy soil, rich in organic matter and free from hard substrata.

Citrus (Citrus spp.) is one of the most important fruits grown in sub-tropical and foot hill regions of Jammu province (Kathua, Hiranagar, Samba, Jammu, Akhnoor, parts of Basohli, Nowshera, Ramnagar, Ramban and Udhampur) upto an elevation of 800 m amsl. The most important commercial citrus fruits in Jammu region are kinnow mandarin, sweet orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime. The area under citrus fruits in Jammu division of state is 14,542 ha with an annual production of 34,191 metric tones.

Climate and soil

Citrus plants being sub-tropical cannot with stand extended cold period. Temperature below 3^oC and above 40^oC are injurious to the citrus. Hot winds and excessive heat during flowering and fruit set cause fruit drop and sun burning. These are the light loving crops.

Citrus fruits thrive well in deep, loose, well aerated soils with the pH of 5.5 to 6.2 devoid of any hard pan layers of calcium carbonate in the rooting zone up to 150 cm. High water table and poor drainage system are quite unsuitable for citrus fruits which cause drying of roots and nutritional imbalance, respectively.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the choicest and most ancient fruits known to mankind. It occupies a pre-eminent place amongst the subtropical fruits grown in Jammu region and occupies an area of 12,739 ha with annual yield of 24,150 metric tons. It is extensively grown in Jammu district and also in the sub-tropical areas of Udhampur, Reasi, Kathua and Rajouri districts.

Climate and Soil

Mango thrives well up to 600 m above mean sea level provided locality is frost free and there is no high humidity or rains during flowering. The favourable temperature is 24⁰ C to 27⁰ C, however, it can tolerate temperature as high as 48⁰ C provided that trees are getting regular irrigation.

Mango has been found to grow on a wide range of soils. However, deep and well-drained sandy loam soils are most suitable for its cultivation. Heavy black cotton, saline and alkaline soils should be avoided. The ideal range of soil pH for mango cultivation is 5.5 to 7.5.

Jammu division with three agro-climatic zones viz., sub-tropical, intermediate (low hills) and temperate (Fig. 1) has vast potential for horticultural industry by way of improving the productivity of existing orchards and using vast tracts of underutilized wastelands, kandi areas of sub-tropical zone and hilly areas of intermediate and temperate zones for fruit production. For this, there is need for plantation of suitable varieties, budded/grafted on proper rootstock and following of improved orchard management practices viz., training and pruning, nutrient and water management and pest and disease control. At present, fruits occupy an area of 118805.00 ha with the production of 274006.70 MT and productivity of 2.31 MT/ha in Jammu division.

Sub-tropical zone

It comprises both irrigated and unirrigated areas and goes upto an attitude of 500 m above mean sea level. This zone is characterized by hot summers and relatively dry but pronounced winters. The land is suitable for cultivation of mango, citrus crops (sweet orange, mandarin particularly kinnow, lime, lemon), guava, litchi, ber, papaya and other minor fruits. Some low chill varieties of temperate fruits like peach, plum, pear and strawberry have been introduced at Advanced Centre for Horticulture Research (ACHR) of SKUAST-J, Udheywalla and peach cultivars Shan-e-Punjab, Flordasun and Flordared and pear cultivars Patharnakh and LeConte have shown good yield and quality crop. Besides, strawberry cultivars Chandler, Gorella, Fern and Belrubi have also shown promising yield with proper management practices. For rainfed areas, hardy fruits like aonla, phalsa, ber, guava, lasoda, karonda and custard apple are more suitable with aonla, phalsa and ber being commercially more viable.

Floriculture  is  increasingly  regarded  as  a  viable  diversification  from traditional field crops due to increased per unit returns and increasing habit of “saying it with flowers” during all the occasions. All over the world, the floricultural sector is experiencing rapid changes. Opening up to the world, market  in  the  WTO  regime  paving  way  to  free  movement  of  floricultural products worldwide, globalization and its effect on income generation have all  contributed  to  increase  in  per  capita  consumption  of  flowers  in  most countries. Noticeable  feature  of  global  floriculture  is  the  development  and expansion of floriculture in non-traditional areas. Netherlands, Italy, Germany and  Japan  had  strong  tradition  for  growing  and  consumption  of  flowers. The  concept  of  commercial  floriculture  was perpetuated  across  the  world from those regions. New production centres are developing in Latin America, Africa and also in Asia to meet the demand of consuming countries and also to  expand  domestic  market,  commensuration  with  improved  economic conditions  these countries  provide  highly  qualitative  floricultural  products with low cost price which is finding a favourable place in markets of Western Europe, America and Japan. Emergence of new production centres has made floriculture  more  competitive  and  this  in  turn  is benefiting the  ultimate consumers.

North East India is a hub of ethnomedicinal diversity. Nearly 8,000 flowering plants are distributed and approximately 200 ethnic tribes and subtribes reside in the region. The cross-cultural diversity of the ethnic tribes and subtribes has enriched the ethnomedicinal practice in the region. Due to inaccessible terrains the ethnomedicinal practices are mostly confined to this region than the rest part of the country.More than 175 dialects are practiced in NE India. The ethnomedicinal documentation of the region in universally accepted languages was started in early 21^st century. The ethnomedicinal documentation requires multidisciplinary aspects viz., correct identification of plant species, updated nomenclature, geographical area of occurrence, IUCN status, conservational approach, vernacular names of the species, formulations, documentation of traditional knowledge informants, medicine men, specific indications of treatments, mode of preparation, mode of consumption etc, Optimum and sustainable utilization of ethomedicinal practice holds a good future for economic and societal development of the region. An insight covering various factors like challenges, scopes, legislative modalities of ethnomedicinal practices are discussed here along with a compiled list of commonly used ethnomedicinal species of the region.

Several ethnic communities inhabiting in the biodiversity-rich state of Meghalaya are primarily dependent upon the forest for their livelihood needs like food, vegetables, materials for construction of houses, firewood, medicine for curing numerous ailments and many other purposes. They have acquired vast knowledge about the wealth of plant and their utilisation. The present study was aimed to document such less-known wild edible plants used by Khasi people of the state. During the current investigation, a total of 94 species of such importance belonging to 80 genera under 47 families were documented. Among these, 46 are herbs followed by 29 shrubs, 12 trees and 02 are creepers. Based on the availability and commercial potential, 37 species have been sold in local markets for income generation. Of which 17 species are sold as fruit, 11 as leaves, six as root, rhizome and tuber, five species as a stem, two as inflorescence and one species sold as fronds. All the plants are arranged alphabetically in the tabular form, followed by families, vernacular name(s), plant part(s) used, habit (s), distribution and methodology. It has been observed that the knowledge of less known wild edible plants is significantly declining day by day. These plants are known for their importance in as food nutritional supplement and its medicinal value; if the information is not collected and documented, it may not last soon.

The review deals with 151 species of plants covering 138 genera and 66 families used by the tribes for curing women diseases involving 172 practices. Fabaceae is the dominant family with 13 species followed by Caesalpiniaceae (9 spp) and others curing a variety of ailments. The useful plants be subjected to phytochemical and pharmacological tests to determine the effective constituents and characteristic biological activity.

1. Introduction

Primitive man gets much enthusiasm towards green plants and started to examine the property of using plants by trial and error and obtained different beneficial properties. India is one of the 12 megadiversity countries and comprises of two hot spots. The World Health Organization (WHO) has compiled a list of 20,000 medicinal plants used in different parts of the globe. In India the scheduled tribe population is 104,545,716 constituting 8.6% of country total population of 1,210,726,932 (Census 2011) belonging to over 550 tribal communities and 227 ethnic groups. They inhabit about 5000 forested villages and occupying about 15% of country’s geographical area.

1. Introduction

Chirata (Swertia chirayita) belongs to the family Gentiniaceae, a potential medicinal plant used as bitter tonic in treatment of fever and for curing various skin diseases, is a perennial herb and distributed throughout the eastern Himalayan region of India. The plant is a native of temperate Himalayas, found at an altitude of 1200-3000 m (4000-10000 ft), from Kashmir to Bhutan and in the Khasi hills at 1200-1500 m (4000 to 5000 ft). It can be grown in sub-temperate regions between 1500 and 2100 m altitudes. It is used in traditional medicine to treat numerous ailments such as liver disorders, malaria, and diabetes and are reported to have a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties. Its medicinal usage is well-documented in Indian pharmaceutical codex, the British, and the American pharmacopeia’s and in different traditional medicine such as the Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Horopathy and other conventional medical systems. This ethno medicinal herb is known mostly for its bitter taste caused by the presence of different bioactive compounds that are directly associated with welfare of human health. The increasing high usage of Swertia chirayita, mostly whole plant, as well as the illegal overharvesting combined with habitat destruction resulted in a drastic reduction of its populations and has brought this plant to the verge of extinction. The increasing national and international demand for Swertia chirayita has led to unscrupulous collection from the wild and adulteration of supplies. The bitterness, antihelmintic, hypoglycemic and antipyretic properties are attributed to amarogentin (most bitter compound isolated till date) 1, swerchirin, swertiamarin and other active principles of the herb. Due to the high demand, this plant is being cultivated in many places of Darjeeling district both for domestic use within India and for exporting purpose. During our roving survey (2011-2014), it was observed that this high value medicinal plant facing a number of diseases (like seedling blight, leaf spot, Leaf blight etc.), ultimately, cultivation of Swertia chirayita is getting hampered. The quality of plant is affected due to the occurrences of diseases as whole plants part being used as medicinal purpose and also affects the marketing scenario; the demand of good quality chirata is increasing at a rate of 10% annually. To harvest the benefit of megabiodiversity zone of eastern Himalaya needs urgent attention to combat the upcoming epidemic of diseases of chirata. Here, we are trying to throw some light related to present status of diseases of chirata and standard management practices.

1. Introduction

Over the centuries, the use of medicinal herbs has become an important part of daily life despite the progress in modern medical and pharmaceuticals research. It is estimated that 40% of the world populations depends directly on plant based medicine. India is one of the world’s 12 biodiversity centres. Herbal industry in India uses about 8000 medicinal plants. Indian export of raw drugs has steadily grown at 26% to Rs.165 crores in 1994-’95 from Rs.130 crores in 1991-’92 and this is likely to touch US $5 trillion by 2050. Thus, India has a great role to play, as supplier of herbal products not only to meet the domestic needs, but also to take advantage of the tremendous export potential.

Biotic stress related problems are important bottlenecks for the successful commercial cultivation of any crop. Medicinal plants are not the exception and are vulnerable to be attacked by several pests and pathogens resulting crop loss in terms of both quantity as well as quality. Therefore, the “health of these healthy plants” should be concerned. Without proper identification and prior knowledge of the pests and diseases, the management will be a waste of time and money and can lead to further plant losses.

1. Introduction

Intellectual property is a term referring to creations of the intellect for which a monopoly is assigned to designated owners by law. While intellectual property law has evolved over centuries, it was not until the 19^th century that the term Intellectual Property began to be used, and not until the late 20^th century that it became commonplace in the majority of the world.

Agriculture (including horticulture) and forestry are the two most important sectors in the land use system of India covering know 46.1% (141.2 m ha) and 22.2% (69.02 m ha), respectively of total geographic area of the country. Intellectual Property Right (IPR) was of limited significance in cultivation and improvement of agricultural, horticultural and forest crops and aggregation of these three sections comprises the Plant Genetic Resources (PGRs). IPRs were not applied to plants in earlier days. PGRs are the foundation for the development of food and nutritionally secured nation. Food is the foremost important to sustain life and livelihood followed by shelter and cloth. Thus, the slogan of 3Fs may be modified as, “Food, Frame (shelter) and Fibre (cloth)” instead of Food, Fodder and Fire-wood. All these 3Fs we get from PGRs.

1. Introduction

Medicinal plants are well known for their secondary metabolites which are alternatively called as active principles responsible for curing of diseases and disorders. India is a biodiversity rich country belongs within 12 mega diversity zones of the world and possesses four biodiversity hot spots, 8 phyto-geographic regions and 10 vegetation zones (Khandekar and Srivastava, 2014). This subcontinent holds 47000 different species of plants out of which 8000 plants are medicinal in nature (Hamilton, 2004, Owolabi et al., 2007). High rate of endemism and 426 habitats for specific species are the unique resource of the country (BSI, 2009; Khandekar and Srivastava, 2014). Still majority of the herbal raw materials are wildcrafted and hence habitat destruction and wildcrafting pose a serious problem to the natural population particularly where roots are the targeted plant part as the percentage of root yielding medicinal plants are higher in the subcontinent. Since these plants are purely industrial and not having alternative uses the commercial production is not flourishing at a higher pace. Still the production of medicinal and aromatic plants in India has reached 1031000 tonnes from 634000 hectares.

In the post-CBD regime with global developments in aspects of Plant Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property Rights, the outlook towards these lesser exploited species has been changed to bioprospecting from collection and documentation.Here lies the importance of value addition in medicinal plants. Value addition means a change of state of the produce which will give a manifold return than the additional investment. Value-added products can be obtained through processing of raw herb or crude drug which will improve its look and also increase its quality, longevity, efficacy and obviously the return.