ASU became a member of the Federal Association of Manufacturers and Consumers of Traditional Herbal Medicines
The agreement on the inclusion of Altai State University in the association was signed at the "Revival of the Medicinal Plant Growing in Russia" All-Russian Practical Conference, which was held in Moscow on the premises of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. The conference was attended by representatives of federal and regional authorities, development institutions, as well as key companies and specialized academic institutions. Altai State University was represented by the head of the Department for Plant Systematics under South Siberian Botanical Garden of Altai State University, Candidate of Biology, Assistant Professor Sergey V. Smirnov.
"There are many problems concerning the issue of the revival of medicinal plant growing, from a purely scientific component to general economic activity. The given branch of Russian national economy appears to be abandoned not only in respect of business, but also in terms of regulatory legal documents. So, at the conference the question was raised about the lack of subsidization of this sector by the Ministry of Agriculture and, as a consequence, the reluctance to engage in it. The issue of creating scientific and consulting centers or competence centers was discussed, which will provide consulting and information support to projects within the association and deal with a number of other problems,” Sergey Smirnov said. “Altai State University will deal with the scientific and experimental part in this collaboration. It will work with issues related to various scientifically-grounded recommendations, development of agronomic measures, methods of primary processing, primary pharmaceutical screening of raw materials, search for new types of medicinal plants."
According to the organizers of the conference, Russia currently has ecologically clean lands in various climatic and geographic zones, and this provides a unique opportunity for the agro-industrial complex of Russia to revive the medicinal plant growing industry with export potential commensurate with the export of arms in the medium term, and in the long term with the export of hydrocarbons.
"Altai Krai has a powerful regional component: the Altai Mountains, unique climatic conditions, nature with medicinal plant diversity. This is one of the main advantages of Altai Krai over other constituent entities of Russia. Based on this component, we will build our own designs and vision for further scientific research. Altai State University has a great scientific and laboratory potential and is able to actively join the implementation of scientific direction on the revival of medicinal plant growing in Russia," Sergei Smirnov summed up.
It is to be added that in the near future the association plans to hold a meeting on the revival of medicinal plant growing in Russia on the premises of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.