MRIDA Greens collaborates with Bharati Vidyapeeth for Research & Development of herbal formulations and health oriented food products
Mrida (Sanskrit for ‘Soil’) is a Social Enterprise that seeks to facilitate sustainable, scalable and holistic development of rural India through agricultural and other development initiatives. Mrida’s modern GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certified herbal extract processing facility in Umbergaon – Gujarat has a well equipped, DSIR (Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research) approved R&D facility for new product development in the areas of herbal extracts and formulations, healthy food products, technical partnerships and collaborations, and more.
The organisation has recently joined hands with the College of Ayurved and Hospital, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Pune to collaborate for the development and formulation of products in the field of alternative medicine especially Ayurveda, and for collaborative pre-clinical & clinical research.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 17-10-2022 between Mr Manoj Khanna (Director) representing Mrida and Prof. Dr. Abhijit Patil (Principal) & Prof. Dr. Asmita Wele (HOD, Rasashastra Bhaishajyakalpana), representing College of Ayurved and Hospital, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Pune.
The collaboration will also include research and development of health-oriented food products to serve the Indian and global markets. While Mrida will provide supply chain, sustainable sourcing and raw material support for production of this health-oriented product range, the Institute will provide the technical knowledge and infrastructural facilities required for product development and formulation support.
At Mrida, small and marginal farmers in remote villages are encouraged to cultivate high-value plants, crops and herbs. Mrida facilitates these efforts and seeks to build an end-to-end value chain, covering processing, value addition, branding and market access for a range of health and wellness-related products and services, including traditional Indian medicine.
Speaking about the collaboration, Mr. Arun Nagpal (Managing Director) termed this as “A collaborative venture and a positive step ahead for the advancement of not just Ayurveda but traditional Indian medicine and holistic health solutions as well. We at Mrida look forward to a mutually beneficial and fruitful association for many of our development projects with Bharati Vidyapeeth (BVDU) under this MoU.”
The College of Ayurved and Hospital, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, Pune caters to undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral students specialising in Ayurveda. They have successfully collaborated for over a dozen research projects with the Govt. of India, National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), private pharmaceutical companies and many Indian as well as foreign institutes.
Prof. Dr. Asmita Wele (BVDU) says, “As a part of this collaboration, Mrida will also be providing internship and other Project/learning opportunities to students from the College of Ayurved based on their ability and merit, to work alongside the team at Mrida.”
This collaboration comes into force at an appropriate time ahead of the Ayurveda Day which is on the 23rd of October.