Nauni university to run medicinal plants board's northern centre, gets Rs 82.7 lakh

The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), which works under the Union Ministry of Ayush, has chosen Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry at Nauni, Himachal Pradesh, to run its Regional-cum-Facilitation Centre for Northern Region-I. The selection, made through a national competitive process, was reported on 1 November 2026. The board has sanctioned Rs 82,71,812, about Rs 82.72 lakh, for the centre's work, in an order dated 16 October 2026. The centre will coordinate medicinal plant programmes in Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Medicinal plants are the raw material of Ayurveda and the other Ayush systems. When demand for a plant gathered from the wild rises faster than it can regrow, the species comes under pressure. The new centre is aimed at that supply side: according to the reports, its main focus will be high-quality planting material for species that are in high demand or under threat.

The choice of a horticulture and forestry university matters for that work. According to the university, its strengths are in tissue culture, which means growing many identical plants from small pieces of plant tissue in a laboratory, along with farm technology and handling after harvest. Those are the skills needed to produce reliable, disease-free planting material at scale, especially for species that are hard to grow from seed or are threatened in the wild. For growers in the seven states and union territories covered, that could mean better access to quality planting material.

The move also has a local history. The centre had been based at Jogindernagar since 2017, and earlier reports said the decision to relocate followed a failure to meet targets for medicinal plant cultivation and promotion. Residents there opposed the shift: a relay hunger strike was organised by the RCFC Bachao Sangharsh Samiti in August, and later reports said locals wanted the Ayush Ministry to explain why the move was needed, arguing that the centre had built ties with farmers. The latest reports describe the centre as entrusted to Nauni; whether the protest has ended has not been reported.

As with all Ayush stories, it helps to keep two things apart: this is a decision about growing and supplying plants, not a finding about whether any plant works as a medicine. Claims about health benefits need their own clinical evidence.

Peepals calculation: spread evenly, the Rs 82,71,812 grant works out to about Rs 11.8 lakh for each of the seven states and union territories the centre covers (82,71,812 ÷ 7 ≈ 11,81,687). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: The university takes over the regional work for the NMPB in northern India, with sanctioned funds to start programmes on planting material, farmer support and coordination across the seven states and union territories.

Long-term: If the centre delivers good planting material and farmer links, more medicinal plants could be grown as crops instead of being collected from the wild, easing pressure on threatened species and giving Ayush makers a steadier supply.

Who is affected: Medicinal plant growers and collectors in northern India, Ayush manufacturers, researchers at Nauni, and residents and staff at Jogindernagar who opposed the move.

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