The National Medicinal Plants Board and the University of Delhi, through Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, signed a research agreement on July 15, 2026. The Ayush Ministry identified post-harvest technology, product development and packaging among the areas of collaboration.
The emphasis extends beyond cultivating plants. A harvested botanical material still has to be sorted, dried and stored in ways that preserve its quality before it can become a dependable input for a processor.
NMPB's field-collection guidance explains why this matters: unwanted soil and other material can enter a batch during collection and handling, while drying procedures need validation and documentation. Different handling conditions can therefore affect the material even when its botanical identity is unchanged.
The college's food-technology and processing expertise gives the partnership a practical route into that stage of the supply chain. Research on packaging could examine how material is protected during storage and transport, alongside technology transfer to users.
Quality control follows the material through each stage. Careful collection can be undermined by poor drying, just as well-dried material can deteriorate during unsuitable storage. The partnership's combination of processing and packaging addresses those linked tasks.
