LUCKNOW, Aug. 12 -- There is a need to take science from laboratories to farmers, villages and industries, said Padma Shri Prof Anil Kumar Gupta during his address as chief guest at the 48th Annual Day of CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) on Monday. Prof Gupta, a former IIM-A professor and activist for grassroots innovations, stressed that wherever a plant is grown, there must be an opportunity for its value addition. "There is a need to build networks and clusters by linking farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs and local communities. In products developed from traditional knowledge, farmers, local communities and original holders of knowledge must be given due recognition along with scientists," said Gupta. Special guest Hemant Patil, minister of state, Maharashtra said the institute's new partnership with the Government of Maharashtra in turmeric will play a key role in taking GI-tagged 'Vasmat Haldi' from farms to global markets and in strengthening farmers' income through science-based value addition. Guest of honour Shankarnarayanan Rajan, scientist, CSIR-CCMB Hyderabad, delivered a special lecture on 'Chiral Checkpoints in Protein Biosynthesis: An Unexpected Connection from Plant Development'. As part of the event, MoUs were signed with the Balasaheb Thackeray Haridra (Turmeric) Research and Training Centre for joint R&D, germplasm conservation, phytochemical profiling, value addition and farmer training to promote GI-tagged 'Vasmat Haldi'; with DUVASU, Mathura for research in veterinary and poultry applications of medicinal and aromatic plants; and with Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN), Ahmedabad for validation of Himalayan and tribal traditional knowledge and for promoting community micro-enterprises and e-commerce platforms in Baramulla, Gurez and West Sikkim. The institute also signed a collaboration agreement with Compliance Cart Private Limited, Noida for implementation of Carbon Credit and Green Credit programmes for farmers and agricultural communities.htc...