Herb nursery for Visakhapatnam

The half-acre nursery in the Biodiversity Park, has 50 species of herbs including some rare ones sourced from across the country

If there is one lesson that the pandemic has taught everyone, it is the importance of building immunity and maintaining good health. As a result, people are increasingly moving to a lifestyle that includes native herbs in their diets. With an aim of encouraging every household to develop an herb garden, the Visakhapatnam-based organisation, Dolphin Nature Conservation Society Development (DNCS), has created a project called ‘Herbal nursery to promote herbal gardens’ in the Biodiversity Park within RCD Hospital premises. As part of the project, the Biodiversity Park has a dedicated half an acre with herbal plants, including some rare ones, which were procured from across the country. The herb nursery is one-of-its-kind in the region.

“Fifty species (40 herbs and shrubs and the remaining trees) are being developed in the first phase,” says M Ram Murthy, founder of DNCS and the Biodiversity Park that presently houses over 2,000 species of plants including 300 species of medicinal plants in a three-acre spread. More than 1,000 saplings of about 40 species are being reared in the first phase. These will be given to 25 organizations across Visakhapatnam district.

The nursery has many significant species such as Sarpagandha (Rauwolfia serpentine), Patalagarudi or Dusurateega (Cocculushirsutus), Asvagandha (Withaniasomnifera), Tippateega or Guduci (Tinosporacordifolia), Miriyalu (Piper nigrum), Tamalapaku (Piper betle), Pippallu (Piper longum), Dalchina or Tavak (Cinnamomumverum), Curcuma or pasupu (Curcuma longa), Podapatri (Gymnema sylvestre), Hanuman/Lakshman phal (Annona muricata), Jalabrahma (Bacopamonieri), Vasa (Acoruscalamus), and Insulin plant (Costuspictus).