How a team of scientists revived herbal kunapajala, and livelihood for many in Uttarakhand

Ayurveda is an ancient medical science which was widely practised in many parts of the Indian subcontinent centuries ago. A healthy and balanced life of a person mainly depended on this system of traditional health care, and many still practise it to treat various ailments and to maintain good health. Surprising as it may sound, but a similar ‘healing’ system existed for plants and trees. Yes. It is called ‘Vrikshayurveda’ (the science of plant life).

Vrikshayurveda is not a single text, it is a compilation of documents related to plant and agriculture written between 400 BC to 1725 AD. The term Vrikshayurveda was in use by the time Kautilya (296–321 BC) compiled his Arthasastra, according to Laxmi B Rananavare and Sanjay Chitnis. “The next document on Vrikshayurveda, a very brief one, was included in Brhat Samhita by Varahamihira (505-587 AD).

The two texts compiled in the 11th century AD: Surapala's Vrikshayurveda (c. 1000) and Vrikshayurveda chapter in Lokopakara composed by Chavundaraya (1025). In the 12th century AD, Chalukya King, Someshvardeva compiled an encyclopedia Abhilashitarthachitamani or Manasollasa in which a full chapter on Vrikshayurveda was included,” write Laxmi and Sanjay in their research paper titled “Technology from traditional knowledge – Vrikshayurveda-based expert system for diagnosis and management of plant diseases,” published in the National Library of Medicine.

There is an elaborate corpus of literature in the field of Vrikshayurveda which offers a range of practices for the nutrition and treatment of plants, including technologies such as Bhoominiroopanam (identification and classification of soil and soil conservation techniques), Beejopti Vidhi (various slowing techniques), Padapa Vivaksha (method of propagation), Ropana Vidhanam (planting techniques), Nishechana Vidhi (rules of watering), Poshana Vidhi (nutritional care and management) and Drumaraksha (plant protection) to name a few. Even though our forefathers had practised the techniques mentioned in Vrikshayurveda for a long time, it eventually lost its importance due to lack of awareness and other social and cultural conflicts. Scholars believe that many traditional practices mentioned in Vrikshayurveda have been overshadowed by some western techniques, which were unsuitable for our crops and agriculture.

A couple of years ago, the Central government decided to incorporate traditional knowledge in the agriculture curriculum of the universities. In the beginning of 2024, the G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) opened YL Nene Vriksha-Ayurveda Research and Training Centre with the support of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS). Established in 2020, the IKS is a division of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India which purports to promote indigenous Indian systems of knowledge. The idea was to revive Vrikshayurveda-based farming practises by introducing farmers to traditional methods.

It was veteran agriculture scientist Yeshwant Laxman Nene (1936-2018) who with his persistent efforts traced an old manuscript of Vrikshayurveda of Surapala in the form of a microfiche in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK in 1994. He got the manuscript translated into English by Nalini Sadhale, a professor of Sanskrit in Osmania University, Hyderabad. Nene later got the other Sanskrit texts of Vrikshayurveda also translated into English. The books are today available in Hindi and Marathi as well.

India is a treasure house of traditional knowledge and wisdom but they have been overshadowed by western ways of thinking. The usage of milk for seed dressing was recommended by Surapala (1000 AD). Mustard was recommended for soil drenching and fumigation. Rice and wheat flour was recommended by Varahamihira (505-587 AD) for seed dressing to ensure good germination. Surapala also recommended flour of wheat and barley (with honey and milk) and soil drench to control yellowing of trees. So there was a need to change the existing public mindset by creating awareness among people about IKS. However, rejuvenation of the ancient body of knowledge faced challenges. A validation was needed when it came to issues like maintaining the genuineness, quality of material, and relevance of the knowledge in modern times.

As a project collaborator of the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Sunita T Pandey’s first job was to check the livelihood potential of wild growing stinging nettle (urtica dioica) in Uttarakhand and explore the possibilities of nettle-based liquid fermented organic Vrikshayurveda concoction in various selected crops. “In the hilly areas of Uttarakhand, farmers are migrating away from agriculture due to uncertainties and risks associated with agriculture. We wanted to find a solution to this by making an effort to generate livelihood potentials among them. Through this project we could do a lot of effort in this direction and explore the livelihood potential of wild growing stinging nettle, a wild weed available in huge quantities in the hills of Uttarakhand,” said Sunita Pandey, professor, Department of Agronomy at GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology.

With a multidisciplinary team of scientists, Sunita created awareness among the farmers through training and demonstration programmes on how to revive the herbal kunapajala, a liquid fermented organic fertilizer based on Vrikshayurveda. Standardisation and validation of application of the nettle-based preparation of herbal kunapajala was also done. Three different variants of modified herbal kunapajala were developed, analysed and used to see its effect on growth, development and quality parameters of various field and horticultural crops viz. Chickpea, mustard, potato, gladiolus, the medicinal crop Matricaria chamomilla. Development of nettle-based herbal kunapajala and its testing as plant growth promoter and plant protector was important. “All variants of herbal kunapajala resulted in significant nutrient content and beneficial microbial population. Microbial community of the herbal kunapajala has a significant impact on its nutrient content. Application of different variants of herbal kunapajala on mustard crop resulted in better soil properties in comparison with control (conventional practices) treatment. However, nettle-based herbal kunapajala showed yield advantage and better soil health and economics compared with other herbal kunapajala and their doses in the terai region of Uttarakhand,” said Sunita T Pandey, while speaking on “Vrikshayurveda: A Legacy of Agriculture for Safe and Sustainable Food Production,” a talk conducted as part of the Chennai-based Tamil Heritage Trust’s monthly lecture series recently.

After being impressed by Surapala’s Vrikshayurveda, it was Valmiki Sreenivasa Ayangarya who developed the first Vrikshayurveda-based herbal Kunapajala, an ancient Indian organic manure. He also studied its efficacy, according to Sunita, on tea plantations in northeast India and found excellent results. “This herbal kunapajala was further refined by Nene and Choudhary of Asian Agri History Foundation in 2012. Later, several other variants (fermented products)were also developed by AAHF having their origin in the Vrikshayurveda followed by other social groups. Now, these variants are being used successfully by the farmers in different parts of India through various government and private schemes,” she added.

In their study, the team led by Sunita noticed that herbal kunapajala was found to be most superior treatment with respect to positive response in terms of seedling survival, its vegetative growth, biochemical parameters and leaf nutrients contents over the treatments of other biostimulant solutions in rose-scented litchi. The team also noticed that various kunapajala-based formulations are effective against all the pathogens inhibiting fungal growth. “Various kunapajala-based formulations are found to be effective for seed invigoration and have the potential to increase the plant vigor, fresh shoot/root weight. Kunapajala has the potential to induce host defence activity which may lead to resistance development against the pathogen,” she said. Even though Sunita is happy with the outcome, she said there should be continuous refinement in the tools and technologies of the Indian knowledge system with respect to crop production technologies and their dissemination, particularly plant production and protection through continuous research and development. “Let us recognise Vrikshayurveda-based natural farming knowledge and integrate it with modern technologies, which has more to offer to popularise ecological farming without losing productivity and resources,” said Sunita.