AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN

This campaign aims at propagation and conservation of traditional as well as latest herbal practices with special context to the rich heritage of herbal practices of Saraswats of coastal Karnataka.

Background
With the practical lessons learnt in the family to identify the plants used in traditional herbal preparations and after getting acquainted with the scientific aspects of useful plants while working in the forest based industries of Khadi & Village Industries Commission, I started my quest for fuller knowledge on the subject, after my retirement in 1985.

During my stay at Chitrapur, Shirali (Karnataka), from 1997 to 2000, I could collect wonderful information from the people of various localities from Bhatkal to Mallapur and Sirsi. I could observe that Chitrapur is a treasure trove of medicinal plants. But the fact that these plants are on the verge of extinction and that the traditional herbal practices are fast being out of mind, demands the attention of the crusaders of herbal heritage.

Beginning
I held a display of 25 plants in the ShivKrishna temple, Hubli, during the Shivratri Utsav in February 2001 and again in April 2001 at Chitrapur, during the Rathotsava, with 100 plants, naming the display as Swamy Krishnashram Aushadhi Sangrah. During a display-cum-talk programme arranged by Smt. Tara Chandavarkar, an active personality well known in cultural and industrial circles in Bangalore, with the encouragement I received there, I was inspired to continue my activity as a campaign under a rational banner viz CHITRAPUR HERBITAGE..

Objectives
· To enlist the plants and commercially available plant products used in traditional home made herbal preparations proposed to be propagated.
· To bring in the fold of the Herbitage the persons :
i. who can grow nurseries of the enlisted plants and take up workshops for educating interested people to identify the plants. and to train entrepreneurs in preparations of home made herbal products.
ii. persons who will supply planting material to the nurseries proposed to be grown, one each in Chitrapur, Bangalore, Hubli, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Karla and Nasik
iii. who can help the Herbitage for finding out botanical and Kannada names whichever are not given in the list or in the literature that will be sent to them.
iv. who will look after giving an organizational status to the Herbitage .
v. who will look after the legal aspects to get necessary clearance for the homemade Herbitage products, and to ensure The Intellectual Property Rights for these traditional products.

· To prepare printed literature required for training programmes.

· To make the plant parts available to the consumers in Karnataka at the rates and quality at par with those available in the cities of Maharashtra. Though Karnataka is a major producer of commercial herbal raw material, standard material is not available at economic rates in retail shops in the cities and towns there.

· To design herbal garden plants suitable for
a) window gardens of 30 plants for flat dwellers.
b) kitchen garden of 70 plants for bungalows
c) Herbitage garden of 250 plants for farm-houses.and nurseries.