Kashmir, called "Paradise on Earth" , is famous for scenic lakes, snow clad mountains, alpine meadows and pastures. But the state is also considered as a treasure trove of herbs which have high medicinal and edible value.
These herbs are of great significance to the manufacturing of ayurvedic and unani medicines. Researchers have not fully explored the herbal wealth of Kashmir and a lot needs to be done in this field.
Jammu and Kashmir is home to several medicinal herbs which have been traditionally used by forest-dwelling communities and other ethnic groups.
In an attempt to create awareness about them, the Department of Environment, Ecology and Remote Sensing of Jammu and Kashmir government, in association with Centre for Conservation of Culture & Heritage (CCCH) and Institute of Hotel Management Srinagar, organised the first ever "Forest Food Festival" on October 4, 2015, in Srinagar. The uses of more than 100 herbs were demonstrated to people. Some 35 dishes were also prepared using the herbs.
"Ann poshi teli, Yeli van poshi" is a famous quote by Kashmir’s 14th century Sufi saint, Sheikh ul Alam. This quote reflects the age-old understanding of the link between forests (van) and food productivity (ann) as forests are repositories of wild relatives of our food crops. It can also be linked to the wild habitat of flower pollinators such as bees, butterflies, beetles and birds. Soil health determines groundwater recharge. Vegetation on mountain slopes checks accelerated rainwater runoff, controlling flash floods and preventing droughts to sustain agriculture and food production.
With recent occurrences such as unprecedented cloudbursts, flash floods, unseasonal hailstorms, damage to orchard flowering and failure of healthy food crops, people are being compelled to adapt to changing seasonal extremes and mitigate the severity of climate change impacts.
The use of edible herbs by forest-dwelling rural communities and other ethnic groups is diminishing due to rapid land use changes, widespread invasion of exotic weeds, proliferation of invasive species in all disturbed soils and displacement of traditional edible plants like Dandelion, Purslane, Senna, Teasel, Nepal Dock, edible Campion, Starwort, Venus comb, Henbit, Adder's tongue, Medick, Paklana vine and Meadow Buttercup. Edible plants in forests have promising potential for innovative value addition and need to be cultivated outside forests so as to serve the twin purpose of biodiversity conservation and sustainable wild edible product usage.
Edible wild herbs, on the other hand, include Hand (Taraxacum officinale), Wopalhak (Dipsacus innermis), Ubaj (Rumex nepalensis), Prezdar (Eremurus himailicus), Nunar (Portulaca oleracea), Suchal (Malva neglecta), Koku (Stelleria media). They must be grown commercially as they have a lot of nutritional value and can be used in meals.
A study conducted by Mohit Husain along with Dr. Naseem Zafar Geelani in Gulmarg grassland found a wonder plant called as Polygonum hydropiper has unique medicinal value, but unfortunately still it has not found its place in medicinal uses in Kashmir valley.
More than 5000 aromatic/medicinal plants have been discovered in Jammu Kashmir till date. Around 4000 are found in the Valley forests. Scientific observations reveal that Kashmir could become the super power in the future times for herbal medicine and perfumes if the huge resources are exploited properly and effectively. Scientists have so for prioritized over 700 medicinal plants yielding high quality chemicals and other ingredients used in life saving medicaments and aromatherapy and in cosmetics. People in the west have craze to spray their bedding with flavors before going to sleep. Aromatherapy is gaining laurels the world over with Kashmir Lavender being the crown in the world of aroma.
Now faculty of forestry SKUAST-Kashmir are producing good quality Lavender plants in the trials fields of Faculty of forestry in Benhama, Ganderbal for medicinal uses and essential oil extraction purpose. This project is under the super vision of Professor Sajad Ahmad Gangoo (Chief scientist).
With suitable growing environment and favourable altitude, J&K has enormous potential for boosting their production and to become a hub of herbal entrepreneurship. To realize this dream, central government has released ‘Arogaya Gram Yojana’ scheme in J&K with support from Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB), Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Forest Department and other government agencies. Under this scheme experts will educate and train the local farmers to bring up the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. It would provide farmers with a new area of cultivation besides providing economic benefits by leaps and bounds to them. Keeping in view that our state has low land holdings, we can also adopt agro-forestry practice in a systematic way in orchards and other plantation areas by cultivating important medicinal herbs to achieve higher economic returns from the same piece of land. Medicinal plants are regarded as the only income options in waste and marginal lands, since the plants possess some secondary metabolites which enable them to combat stresses, whether biotic or abiotic. The various challenges to promote herbal gardens would require quality planting material, guidance, capital support, post harvesting processing facilities, linking farmers with industry and availability of assured marketing facilities in order to make it a successful enterprise.
Experts accuse the government of failure for ignoring these resources. They believe that Kashmir can find a place in the economic map of the world if appropriate measures are taken before it is too late.

Writer is a research scholar oF, SKUAST-Kashmir.
Email:----mohithusain@skuastkashmir.ac.in