Present paper is based on the secondary data on lac production for four years (2006-2007 to 2009-2010). Status of lac production in a lac growing districts of Chhattisgarh has been assessed with parameters like minimum, maximum, average production and Simple Growth Rate. The analysis of data shows that Korba district recorded highest production i.e. 29.5 % of total production of the state followed by Kanker (18.7 %), Rajnandgaon (15.1 %) and others. Only two districts namely Korba and Raipur recorded positive growth to the extent of 9.6 and 4.3 % per annum. Highest negative growth rate was recorded in Durg (-52.3 %) and Sarguja (-50.2 %) districts but their contribution in state production is low. Kanker and Rajnandgaon, the two productive districts producing more than 1000 tons per annum recorded negative growth of 26.1 and 31.8 % per annum. For the state as whole, highest negative growth was recorded for rainy season crop of rangeeni 37.7 % followed by kusmi-summer (-17.5 %), kusmi-winter (-14.3 %) and rangeeni-summer crop (-5.7 %). The present analysis reflects need of better management practice to protect the lac crops from the effects of pest and diseases.

In the mountainous region marked variation in the site factors and vegetation occur due to change in aspect, which has considerable influence on the altitudinal distribution and growth of the species present. However, phenology is generally described as an art of observing the phases of the life cycle or the activities of the organism as they occurred through the year. These studies permit a calendar to be constructed for the vegetative activity of the plants especially the periods of leaf shading, flowering and fruiting superimposed on civil calendar. The present study deals with the floristic diversity and phenological behaviour of the woody elements in Dodra Kawar forest range in Himachal Pradesh.

The study is based on the economics of cultivation and essential oil distillation of Mentha arvensis on data collected from farmers of Rudarpur/Pant Nagar area of Uttarakhand. Total cost of cultivation, gross returns and net returns were calculated as Rs. 31,937, Rs. 58,500 and Rs. 26,563 respectively. Benefit cost ratio was noted as 1.83. Similarly, these economic parameters were calculated for Wheat and Paddy crop for comparison with M. arvensis. Percentage difference in net returns of M. arvensis over net returns of Wheat and Paddy crop was calculated as; 60.25% over Wheat and 72.76% over Paddy crop. Also BCR of Mentha arvensis was more than BCR of Wheat and Paddy crop respectively.

Exudate gums occupy a prime place among Non-Wood Forest Produce (NWFP) and are known to mankind since time immemorial. Use of exudate gums for domestic consumption and sale to earn some cash is very common among the forest dwelling communities particularly tribals in India. Thousands of forest dwellers particularly in Central and Western Indian states depend on exudate gums as a viable source of income. Gum collectors collect exudate gums by scraping it from trees using locally available devices (i.e. knife, pruning knife and axe) in bamboo basket or bag. The collected gums are cleaned by removing the bark and other foreign matters adhered to it. The cleaned gum is then dried in sun followed by grading manually based on size and colour of gum tears. Forest dwellers either sell graded gums in local market or store it in bamboo basket for their consumption or for sale later when prices are remunerative. The paper discusses the methods and devices used in primary processing unit operation of exudate gums, problems associated in carrying out the unit operation and scope of improvement.

In the present investigations, Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique has been used to detect polymorphism of Mucuna atropurpurea DC. in Southern Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India. The genomic DNA was extracted from the fresh and young healthy leaves of the selected species using modified CTAB method which successfully produced a good purity and quality of DNA. Alleles of various sizes ranging from 100 – 800bp were amplified. The average genetic distance range was 67% – 91%. Phylogenetic relationships among these accessions based upon DNA analysis were studied through dendrogram analysis. All the accessions were clustered in to two groups. In this cluster the Kothaiyar and Saduragiri accessions were found most distantly related to each other.

Quercus semecarpifolia (Smith) serves as a superior food plant of oak tasar silkworm among the other food plants. The seeds (acorn) are damaged by seed borer which creates problem in natural germination. Frequency of nature grown seedling is further decreased by tremendous grazing and heavy lopping so artificial regeneration has to be resorted as an alternative to supplement natural regeneration. Large size seeds collected during the month of June gave better germination (70.00%). Hence, seeds of large size should be collected during June-July just after their ripening for raising nursery for regeneration of Quercus semecarpifolia.

The study assessed the annual consumption of raw drugs by the Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing industry in Kerala. Although, about 400 raw drugs are used in the manufacture of various medicines, for the present study, 230 items which are consumed at the rate of over one thousand kg per year were selected. There are 713 pharmaceutical units having drug license from the Industries Department. The study focuses on the consumption/requirement of the licensed units. Based on the annual turnover, the medicine manufacturing units were classified into small, (below 1 crore) medium (1-3 crores) and large (over 3 crores). The annual consumption of the 230 raw drugs studied is 20,517 tonnes, of which 48% is consumed by the large units, 37% by small units and 15% by medium units. Annual consumption of 27 items of raw drugs is over 200 tonnes; 28 items between 200-100 tonnes; 39 items between 100-50 tonnes; 53 items between 50-25 tonnes and 53 items between 25-10 tonnes; 30 items below 10 tonnes. Sida rhombifolia ssp. retusa (Kurumthotti) [1,194 tonnes] and Phyllanthus emblica (Nellikkai) [860 tonnes] are most abundantly consumed items. The raw drugs consumption is highest in Thrissur (6,276 tonnes) and Malappuram (4,433 tonnes) districts, as some of the larger units are located here. The lowest consumption is in Kasaragod (22 tonnes) and Wayanad (133 tonnes), where the manufacturing units are very less.

The unripe harvesting of medicinally important commercial species from natural forest by various stakeholders not only threatened plant resources but also deteriorating quality of the raw produce. An attempt has been made to find out present collection practices, visual inspection of market samples and prevalent malpractices impacting raw material quality of Baibidang (Embelia ribes) in the Nagpur market. The city Nagpur is a major trading centre of raw medicinal plants of Central India. Observations reveal that fruits were collected prematurely by uprooting whole plant from wild. Visual analysis of market samples of its fruits shows presence of majority of infected, ill developed and hollow fruits. On the other hand, samples collected from forest after maturation contains maximum good quality (96.0%) fruits. Sample analysis also shows that traders as well as collectors mix Poi (Basella rubra) fruits as adulterants, which are similar in appearance and growing in the back yards of most of the villages as vegetable or as weeds. Fruits were collected at unripe or green stage. Broken fruits of the same species were generally mixed along with chaff matter to increase the volume. The study suggests that there is need to strengthen awareness generation and training to all the stakeholders about maintaining quality and period of collection at field level. It was also observed that most of the traders as well as collectors are unaware about WHO standards of Goods harvesting practices.

The present communication deals with the insects (aphids, geomatrid looper and hairy caterpillar), which feeds on Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent. a well-known medicinal tree belonging to the family Bignoniaceae. This is the first report of insect feeding on this highly medicinal plant from Kumaun Himalaya.

The term Ethnobotany in a broad sense refer to the study of plant and man interaction and traditional uses of the biota by observation of nature by indigenous people. Traditional knowledge of local peoples about natural resources is very valuable and useful. Apart from dealing with the scientific /taxonomical data of plants, ethnobotany also involves preparation of local vegetational account, recording the association of plant with the people in the same habitat, its uses in medicine and others uses. There is mention of plants in folklore and religion. Ethnobotanist, thus, prepares a thorough scientific account of plants and correlates them with people. The ethnomedicinal explorations were conducted in this area with a view to collect information on the medicinal plants along with the information on their uses in traditional medicines as practiced by tribals and medicine men of the region since time immemorial.

Harpullia arborea (Blanco) Radlk., is collected for the first time from Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Meghalaya and is reported as a new record for the state.

A study of the plants related to Magico-medico and religious beliefs in Jaunsar-Bawar reveals the indigenous magical, medicinal and religious uses of 16 plant species belonging to 16 genera and 14 families by the tribal people of Jaunsar-Bawar. Of these 4 species are trees, 5 species are shrubs and 7 species are herbs. Documentation of traditional knowledge on the magical, medicinal and religious uses of these plants is essential for conservation efforts for the plant resources.

During the survey of Eastern Ghats of Odisha (2009-2011), authors have been identified a threatened medicinal plant, which is rediscovered from Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary of Angul district, Odisha after a lapse of 25 years. This species was first reported from Ganjam district by Gamble followed by D.C.S. Raju (Podagara Forest, Nabarangpur) and B. Safui et al. (Kalahandi). The species is medicinally important and restricted to a small geographical region of the state. It is coming under RET category of Odisha state (Ved et al., 2007). Therefore, immediate steps should be formulated in order to preserve the threatened legume as soon as possible. A detailed description with photograph, distribution, ecology and phenology are provided.

The article attempts to highlight the issue of medicinal Plant, especially in the Garhwal Himalayas, Uttarakhand with their botanical names, life form, distribution, habitat, part used, other useses and current status. The medicinal uses of 94 plants species have been presented. The results reported here are the outcome of extensive study of the literature on Garhwal flora, its uses and future benefits. Information has also been gathered from local people by an ethnobotanical survey in Kedar valley villages like Triyuginarayan, Guptkashi, Phata Rampur, district Rudraprayag, region of Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand.

This study conducted during 2003-2005 in rural areas of Baghpat district provides first hand information on Ethnobotany of Agroforestry species commonly used for various purposes. A total of 46 species belonging to 39 genera and 25 families were reported from the study area. Maximum number of plant species belongs to family Moraceae (7), Mimosaceae (5) and Caesalpiniaceae (5). The 17 families are represented by single genus and single species.

The present paper puts on record Ipomoea digitata a new record for the flora of Jammu and Kashmir and its adjoining state in India. A brief description and illustration of the part of the plant is also given.

Seedling abnormality is one of the natural phenomena reported in many tropical tree species. In this paper, abnormality like double embryony is reported for the first time in Garcinia gummigutta. Seed lots collected from only one tree (out of 90 trees) from five populations of this species in the Western Ghats showed this abnormality.