It is said that knowledge is power. There is no doubt about it as knowledge given to farmers about plants helped them to harness the goodness in plants which otherwise were burnt as waste. Farmers in nine villages in the periphery of Vadodara, Gujarat have now learned to convert their farm waste into Ayurvedic medicines.

The farmers, unaware of the benefits of wild plants growing in their fields would bury or burn them. When the Gujarat Ecological Society (GES) began to educate them about the medicinal qualities of these plants, they were inspired to use the farm waste to make valuable medicines.

Workshops

The Gujarat Ecological Society conducted many workshops for the farmers to train them in the art of making Ayurvedic medicines from the wild plants growing in their fields. They informed the farmers about the medicinal and commercial benefits of plants like kuvadiyo,nagod, galo, damro, guggal , bhangro and gudmar. The farmers learned the procedure to make hair and body oil, sherbets, cough syrup, medicinal powders and mouth fresheners from the plants which they used to earlier consider as waste.

Addition To Farmer’s Income

Farmers who used to pay labour cost of removing and disposing of the farm waste can now see an addition to their income through the manufacture and marketing of medicinal products prepared from the farm waste. Villagers are given access to Ayurveda experts who provide them with formulas to make oils, cough syrups and other products that are helpful in joint pain, arthritis, diabetes, hypertension etc.  The farmers have also realized that the wild plants have good commercial value as they are in demand by pharmaceutical companies to make medicines.

Through proper guidance, the wild plants- that farmers earlier used to burn causing air pollution- are now being put to good use thus, benefitting the farmers as well as the environment.