Hyderabad: President A P J Abdul Kalam on March 15 called for strategic integration of traditional knowledge in healthcare system and modern technologies to create wealth and help the country emerge as a leading player in global herbal market.

"We should not ignore traditional knowledge… We have a very rich biodiversity and Centuries-old tradition of herbal treatment. The challenge before us is how to transform this wealth into products using modern technologies," Kalam said while inaugurating a three-day international conference on 'Medicinal and Aromatic Plants'.

Stating that unless value addition was done using the emerging technologies the farmers would not benefit, he called upon scientists to evolve strategies for combining biotechnology research with traditional knowledge for quicker research and wealth generation.

The President said there was a need to put in place a whole chain of system covering cultivation, harvesting, value-addition and marketing linkages to help farmers reap rich benefits.

The conference is being organised by Ramananda Tirtha Institute of Socio-Economic Research headed by former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao who, in his welcome address, said the non-availability of organised market was the biggest problem being faced by farmers opting for medicinal and aromatic plants.

Despite being endowed with rich natural resources and traditional knowledge, India's share in the $ 61 billion global herbal product market was not even $ one billion, while China has a share of around $ 6 billion, Kalam said.

"India must add its own technology for conversion of such resources into value-added products for domestic requirement and also exports," the President said.

Pointing out that medicinal plants offered enormous scope for development of new drugs, he called for creation of database of traditional medicinal plants for specific bioactivity, which would lead to development of drugs.

"India has tremendous potential for herbal farming. But the big task lies in providing marketing linkages with the Industry," Kalam said.

He said biotechnology also has tremendous potential in leading to pest-free agriculture production, with genetically modified seeds to increase productivity.

Recalling his experience as a professor at Anna University, Kalam pointed out how combined efforts of a biotechnologist and a Siddha medical practitioner had resulted in development of a new molecule discovered from a herb as an anti-cancer drug.

"Indian biotechnologists along with business houses will have an opportunity of analysing the available genomic data and lead to development of drugs for healthcare and early treatment," he said.

PTI