Pharma students set out on a mission to promote aloe vera
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
With summer heat becoming unbearable in the state, three new generation farmers
in the city are channelizing their energy towards propagating the benefits of
aloe vera to ward off the adverse effects of rising temperature.
Three fourth-year students of BPharm of College of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Government Medical College
Thiruvananthapuram have started an alo vera farm on 10 cents at Friends Nagar
near Kumarapuram. Alfiya Nizar from Pathanamthitta, Mebitha Thomas from
Kottayam and Aleena Basheer from Kozhikkode managed to save their time from
academics to pursue their interest in aloe vera farming. Since 2017, they are
supplying huge quantities of the medicinal plant to major ayurvedic
dispensaries, angadi stores and to households across the capital.
"The gel of aloe vera can be applied on the skin to treat rashes and boils due to sunburns. It is also good for allergies and insect bites. Drinking its juice in the morning helps one’s body to stay cool throughout the day,” said Aleena Basheer.
According to Alfiya, it was a remark of their
pharmaceutical science teacher in the second year of their course in the third
year proved a turning point in their life. “Our
teacher told us to do something productive along with studies. We thought of it
and three of us sat together and discussed it with our head of the department
and she suggested the idea of growing aloe vera. But we neither had land nor
water. With the help of a friend we managed to find 10 cents on lease and
started the cultivation,” she said.
Their main aim behind the venture is to spread
the medicinal values of the plant among the public. “We want to do research on the benefits of aloe vera in the
pharmaceutical sector and wish to establish a company which sells aloe vera
products”, said Mebitha.
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