Himalaya Drugs and Bangalore Agri University ink MOU

BANGALORE: Herbal Healthcare leader Himalaya Drug Company and University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore today signed an MoU to facilitate collaborative research on medicinal herbs and plants with a view to discovering new therapeutic drugs.

In addition to these objectives, the University will provide training to farmers under Himalaya's contract farming programme, assist Himalaya in setting up a botanical agarden which would serve as a centre for national and international research activities, Himalaya Drug Company Executive Director (R & D) Dr S K Mitra told a press conference here.

Himalaya Drugs would promote only organic farming and assure 100 per cent buy-back guarantee to farmers who cultivate medicinal plants, he said.

The research tie-up will leverage the academic resources and research capabilities of the UAS and the R&D strength of Himalaya to promote better understanding of herbs, he said. UAS Research Director, Dr Prabhakar Shetty said the university has 22 research stations across 17 districts in the state. For the first time, the university is entering into a private-public partnership model in research and there were several technologies it had developed which needed commercialisation.